Performing an Authoritative System State Restore for a Windows 2000 or 2003 Domain Controller

Important: Incorrectly restoring a computer's Windows 2000/2003 System State can make the computer unusable. We generally recommend that you restore the System State only when recovering the entire computer as part of a disaster recovery. See Restoring an Entire Computer and contact Customer Service.

Usually it is not necessary to perform an authoritative System State restore. However, it may be necessary in some instances, for example, if your replicated Active Directory objects were mistakenly deleted or modified, or if your backup domain database is corrupted. The authoritative restore allows you to restore the System State data (such as Active Directory Service) to your Primary Domain Controller and have it replicated to your other domain controllers. For assistance in determining whether you need to perform an authoritative restore, see Non-Authoritative Versus Authoritative Restore and consult your Windows 2000/2003 documentation. You can also contact Customer Service for assistance.

If it is determined that you must perform an authoritative System State restore as part of a disaster recovery for your Primary Domain Controller, during the disaster recovery you will first restore the System State in non-authoritative mode. Following the completion of the steps in the disaster recovery procedure up to the point at which they direct you to this procedure, you will then perform the authoritative restore steps in this topic. After completing the steps in this topic, you will return to the disaster recovery procedure to complete the recovery process.

If your backup domain database is corrupted, you may need to perform these steps several times, using the Time-Slice restore to bring back historical versions until you find a version from before the corruption.

Important: The Active Directory and Certificate Services cannot be running on the domain controller during the restore process.

Note: The ability to restore the System State on media may not be available to your Agent at this time. In this case, you will not see a Delivery tab on the Computer Restore form. Instead, you can restore the System State over the Internet. If you have questions, contact Customer Service.

To perform an authoritative System State restore for a domain controller

  1. Decide if you want to have the restored System State delivered over the Internet (a Network restore) or on media (a Media restore):

  2. In MyLiveVault, suspend backup for the computer whose System State you are restoring.

  3. Restart the computer in Directory Services Restore Mode, a special safe mode:

    1. Restart the computer.

    2. During the normal boot process, look for the following message at the bottom of the screen:

      For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for Windows 2000, press F8

      When this message is displayed, press F8. This message may only be displayed for a few moments; you must press F8 while it is displayed.

    3. From the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Directory Services Restore Mode and press ENTER.

    For more information about Directory Services Restore Mode, refer to your Windows 2000/2003 documentation.

  4. When the computer finishes restarting, log in to Windows with local Administrator rights.

  5. Reinstall the LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent software on the computer, then restart the computer in Directory Services Restore Mode:

    • If you are performing this authoritative System State restore following a disaster recovery restore that was delivered over the Internet, reinstall the service software using the same Agent software kit that you downloaded and installed during the disaster recovery process.

    • If this authoritative restore is not associated with a disaster recovery of the computer or if the disaster recovery restore was delivered on media, then contact Customer Service. They will provide an Agent software kit for your computer.

    To install the Agent software and restart the computer:

    1. Place the Agent kit (a self-extracting service software executable) on the computer.

    2. Double-click the self-extracting service software executable.

    3. The software files will be unpacked in an installation folder. If you are prompted for a path for the installation folder, use the existing installation folder and then click Continue.

    4. The Agent Setup program starts running. Follow the instructions in the Setup program dialog boxes to install the software. Ensure you use the existing options. If you require help during the installation process, you can press the F1 key to view help for the displayed dialog box. If you require additional assistance, contact Customer Service.

    5. When prompted to restart the computer, restart it in Directory Services Restore Mode:

      1. Restart the computer.

      2. During the normal boot process, look for the following message at the bottom of the screen:

        For troubleshooting and advanced startup options for Windows 2000, press F8

        When this message is displayed, press F8. This message may only be displayed for a few moments; you must press F8 while it is displayed.

      3. From the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select Directory Services Restore Mode and press ENTER.

  6. Restore the System State; your steps depend on the delivery method chosen:

    • If on media: When you receive the media, follow the steps in the document provided in the media package (either "Restoring Your Data From a NAS Device" or "Restoring Your Data From the CD-ROM"). These documents are also available from Restoring Your Data from Media. You will:

      1. Restore the System State from the media to your computer. It is automatically restored to its original location, overwriting the existing System State data on the computer.

      2. After the restore job completes, do not restart your computer at this time.

    • If over the Internet:

      1. Start MyLiveVault.

      2. On the MyLiveVault Home page, the All Computers form lists all the computers on your company account. Click Backup/Restore in the Action column for the Windows computer whose System State you want to restore.

      3. On the Computer Information form, click the Restore tab.

      4. In the New Restore section, click Restore Registry/System State.

      5. Click Restore.

      6. On the Computer Restore form, type a name for the System State restore job in the Name of restore box.

      7. In the Restore tab on the Computer Restore form, specify the version of the System State that you want to restore, either current or historic.

      8. Click the Delivery tab on the Computer Restore form, and click Network to restore your System State over the Internet.

      9. When you are done configuring your restore request, click Save.

      10. Review the information in the Computer Restore form's Properties and Specifications columns.

      11. Do one of the following:

        • Click Submit to accept the restore request and start the restore process.

        • Click Back to make changes to the restore request.

        • Click Cancel if you do not want to submit the restore request.

      12. Note the identification number assigned to this request, and click Done. This number is used in MyLiveVault with the restore job name you specified to uniquely identify this restore job.

      13. The restore job is automatically started, with the System State delivered over the Internet. You can track its progress in MyLiveVault. After the restore job completes, we will send an e-mail to the user who requested the restore notifying the requestor that the restore is complete.

      14. After the restore job completes, do not restart your computer at this time.

  7. Run the ntdsutil on the computer as described in the following steps:

    1. At a command prompt, type the following command and press ENTER:

      ntdsutil

    2. At the ntdsutil prompt, type the following command and press ENTER:

      authoritative restore

    3. At the authoritative restore prompt, type one of the following commands and press ENTER:

      • To restore the entire directory, type:

        Restore database

      • To restore a portion or subtree of the directory (for example, a specific organizational unit), type:

        Restore subtree <subtree distinguished name>

      For additional help and options for ntdsutil, refer to your Windows 2000/2003 documentation.

    4. To exit the ntdsutil, type the following command and press ENTER, then again type the command and press ENTER:

      quit

    For more information about ntdsutil, refer to your Windows 2000/2003 documentation.

  8. Restart the computer in normal mode.

  9. Reinstall the LiveVault Online Backup Service Agent software on the computer, then restart the computer in normal mode:

    1. On the computer, double-click the self-extracting service software executable for the Agent kit.

    2. The software files will be unpacked in an installation folder. If you are prompted for a path for the installation folder, use the existing installation folder and then click Continue.

    3. The Agent Setup program starts running. Follow the instructions in the Setup program dialog boxes to install the software. Ensure you use the existing options. If you require help during the installation process, you can press the F1 key to view help for the displayed dialog box. If you require additional assistance, contact Customer Service.

    4. When prompted to restart the computer, restart it in normal mode.

  10. Verify that Active Directory and other System State components were restored successfully. For example, browse Active Directory and check that the expected objects such as user objects are available.

    For more information about Active Directory, refer to your Windows 2000/2003 documentation.

  11. In MyLiveVault, resume backup for this computer.

Related Information

Understanding System State and Registry Restore
Non-Authoritative Versus Authoritative Restore
Restoring the Windows 2000 or 2003 Cluster Database
Canceling a System State/Registry Restore Job
Restoring an Entire Computer
 
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