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Apologies in advance, I've already Googled this and I keep finding things about domain controllers not promoting, etc. I found one question that was close, but they didn't actually go into depth about it.

Let me start with why I'm asking this at all. I have a client that is running Server 2016. It is their only domain controller. Previous IT company replaced their Server 2012 instance with Server 2016. It has all of the roles but I just noticed today it hasn't been promoted to DC... (According to server manager > Flag with Warning Sign> "Post deployment configuration.... promote this server to domain controller".

I just verified - FSMO roles are on this Server 2016 machine. I'm baffled because I didn't think a domain would work without a domain controller. I thought the roles were just for management of a domain controller.

I guess I'm now questioning things that I once thought I knew. The server 2012 machine is still available but has been offline over a year since the previous IT powered it off.

It does have sysvol and netlogon shares.

I guess at this point, what is a domain controller? I would think there wouldn't be users or groups, computers, etc. Couldn't join to the domain if it didn't exist yet we can do all of these things. Have a feeling right now it might be missing a small item that is triggering the Server Manager Alert. I haven't ran it yet.

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  • Voting to close. Choose your reason: Either WAY too broad, or searching for learning material.
    – TomTom
    Oct 12, 2020 at 19:50
  • While presentation of the question could be improved to fit SF's standards, I think the basis of the question is a good one. "If the Server Manager appears to suggest that dcpromo is not complete, but the rest of the server's functionality looks like it is....how does the operator validate that nothing is missing?"
    – Sam Erde
    Oct 12, 2020 at 19:58
  • He objectively didn't ask that question. He asked I guess at this point, what is a domain controller? and What does “Promote this server to domain controller” actually mean? which is too broad. I'm voting to close this one, too. You may be right, but if OP doesn't narrow the question down, I don't think that it is useful for others.
    – Daniel
    Oct 12, 2020 at 22:24
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    ADHD does cause some limitations with the way I word things and solve math questions. So I deeply appreciate those of you that made a solid attempt at answering the question to the way I worded it. I am not in need of learning material - have been setting up domain controllers since Server 2003. It is the "beauty cover" that is "Server Manager" that was confusing me. Under the covers looked fine. Thanks again.
    – perqyt
    Oct 12, 2020 at 22:53
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    Keep it open - I edited the title to reflect that the server is indeed already a DC. This is a good question.
    – mfinni
    Oct 14, 2020 at 17:25

1 Answer 1

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Your understanding of promoting a domain controller is not wrong. If the AD DS role is installed on the server, and you can point the AD Users and Computers MMC to this particular server, then the DC promotion process is probably complete.

What you are most likely looking at is the checklist within Server Manager that suggests next steps for the server. This may or may not have updated according to what was actually completed already.

How can you verify? Try the following commands and verify that your server in question shows up in the list of domain controllers:

PowerShell: Get-ADDomainController -Filter * | Select-Object HostName

or NETDOM: netdom.exe query DC

Also, run these two commands to make sure that replication is functioning successfully for the name of your domain controller:

repadmin.exe /showrepl and repadmin.exe /replsummary

You should not see any errors or failures, and hopefully your server in question shows up in the list of successful replication partners for AD.

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  • I think this really answers my question. I mean I had already done it, but it is good to ask experienced people in case I was missing something. Probably just all this work-from-home time making me overthink it. :) I appreciate your answer and the time you put in to it.
    – perqyt
    Oct 12, 2020 at 22:49
  • Thanks for confirming. It would be great if you could mark the answer as accepted as well!
    – Sam Erde
    Oct 13, 2020 at 2:15

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