Repadmin Remarks

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Repadmin Remarks

Repadmin Terminology

The following terminology is used in discussing Repadmin syntax:

  • NamingContext refers to the directory partitions that Active Directory comprises. Naming contexts include the three Read/Write naming contexts — domain, schema, and configuration — and the optional Read-only naming contexts that are present on domain controllers that are global catalog servers. A naming context can also be an application directory partition. A naming context is specified as a distinguished name, which indicates its hierarchical relationship to the forest root domain (for example, DC=MyDomain,DC=Microsoft,DC=Com).

  • GUID (globally unique identifier) refers to the 128-bit number used to uniquely identify objects stored in the directory (for example, fa1a9e6e-2e14-11d2-aa9b-bbfc0a30094c). The GUID is sometimes referred to in the syntax line as a universally unique identifier (UUID). For the purposes of Repadmin, these two terms are synonymous.

  • DN is an X.500 distinguished name (for example, CN=Server1,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=Microsoft,DC=Com).

Difference Between the objectGUID and the InvocationID

In the Repadmin Examples, DC object GUID and DC InvocationID returned by showrepl and other commands show identical hexadecimal values. However, these two values identify different objects. DC object GUID is a unique identifier for the NTDS Settings object on the domain controller. The value of DC object GUID does not change unless Active Directory is removed from the domain controller and subsequently reinstalled. DC Invocation ID identifies the directory database on the domain controller. This value changes during the process to restore Active Directory from backup. When a domain controller is first installed, the values for these two identifiers are the same; however, each time Active Directory is restored from backup, the Invocation ID value changes.

See Also

Concepts

Repadmin Overview
Repadmin Syntax
Repadmin Examples
Alphabetical List of Tools
Search Overview
Replmon Overview
Movetree.exe
Ldp Overview
Dsastat Overview
Clonepr Overview
ADSI Edit (adsiedit.msc)
Acldiag Overview