backing up the AD for installation on another system?

[xyyz]

i'm looking to change HD's on my domain server, and i'm thinking about moving the AD over to another computer while i do this.

is there anyway to back up the AD and then import it to another machine, or the same machine that has had a new installation?

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: xyyz
i'm looking to change HD's on my domain server, and i'm thinking about moving the AD over to another computer while i do this.

is there anyway to back up the AD and then import it to another machine, or the same machine that has had a new installation?

I have done this in a test envrionment.
You can use the built in backup utility. When you go into it do a system state backup and store it somewhere.
Once you reinstall the OS and get AD up and running reboot the server and from the boot menu select AD restore or soemthing similar. Then simply open up the backup utility and restore the system state.

I would search the micrsoft site for the exact instructions. It wasnt terribly difficult however can be a little nerve wracking if you dont have a backup AD controller. If the restore is corrupted or fails ouchy!

 

[MrChad]

How to perform a disaster recovery restoration of Active Directory on a computer with a different hardware configuration

 

[spyordie007]

Why not just ghost the existing install to the new hard drive?

Or if I'm reading that incorrectly and you want to move to the new server why not just promote the new server to a DC than demote the existing server?

 

[xyyz]

the problem with ghosting is that i want to repartition the drive. i need to allocate more space to the root partition. now, i'm having a problem with the new system which isn't showing screen output. so i guess it's a matter of backing up then reinstalling. :/