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How to see if FSMO roles have been seized

Hello,
I am working on transitioning a server 2003 R2 active directory to a server 2012 R2 active directory. There is some question as to whether the FSMO role where seized when the original server had crashed. We are in the process repairing the original server but are not sure weather the roles were seized by the backup PDC or transfered. I was wondering if there is some way to tell? Some command line tool or other means.

Thank you in advance.

it_saige

Yes, you can use ntdsutil to determine your FSMO holder(s).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/234790

-saige-

jplatt1

ASKER

Thank you for your response. I am specifically looking for a command that will tell me whether the FSMO roles were seized from the old server. Wondering if there is a way to tell that. I know who is holding the roles now, but not sire whether they were transffered or seized.

Lee W, MVP

Why is it important if they transferred or seized? The seizure process attempts a safe transfer first and then seizes if it cannot safely transfer.

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Lee W, MVP

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jplatt1

ASKER

Thank you. Will try that and get back to you.

Will Szymkowski

We are in the process repairing the original server but are not sure weather the roles were seized

When you talk about repairing the server are you talking about the Hardware or the OS? If you are having issues with a DC the best method is just to demote it (seize, only if you have to) and then re-load the OS and re-promote the server as a DC again, if that is what you are planning on doing.

As for checking the FSMO roles there is a much easier and faster way to identity the FSMO role holder. Use the below command...
- netdom query fsmo

Also you might want to run another command which will list all of the domain controllers that are present in AD
- netdom query dc

The netdom query dc is a good command because it will provide a list of all the DC's that are registered in AD. So if you have a DC that you know is no longer online due to demotion or seizer and it shows up in using this command then you know it was not properly demoted and you will need to perform a metadata cleanup.

Will.

jplatt1

ASKER

Thank you very much for the suggestion. The time frame was over a year ago and the relevant logs were missing. In order to make sure we did not make a tragic mistake we decided to go with a metadata cleanup of the the old server objects in active directory. Thank you all for the info and thank you for the event code, very helpful for future reference.