Command to get the list of DCs in a Domain

Get list of Domain Controllers for domain ABC.com

1. Open Command Prompt and type the below command:
nltest /dclist:ABC.com

2. Hit Enter

3. You will get a list of DCs in the mentioned domain.

Transfer FSMO roles using NtdsUtil command

Transfer FSMO roles

1. Log on to domain controller that is located in the forest where FSMO roles are being transferred. It    is recommended that you log on to the domain controller that you are assigning FSMO roles to.
 
   Note: The logged-on user should be a member of the Enterprise Administrators group to transfer Schema master or Domain naming master roles, or a member of the Domain Administrators group of the domain where the PDC emulator, RID master and the Infrastructure master roles are being transferred.

2. Click Start, click Run, type ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.

3. Type roles, and then press ENTER.

4. Type connections, and then press ENTER.

5. Type connect to server <servername>, where <servername> is the name of the server you want to use (i.e. domain controller that you are assigning FSMO roles to), and then press ENTER.

6. At the server connections: prompt, type q, and then press ENTER again.

7. Type transfer <role>. where <role> is the role you want to transfer, press ENTER.

Example:
transfer schema master
transfer domain naming master (In Server 2003)
transfer naming master (In Server 2008)
transfer rid master
transfer pdc
transfer infrastructure master

8. You will receive a warning message asking if you want to perform the transfer. Click on Yes.

9. After you transfer the roles, type q and press ENTER until you quit Ntdsutil.exe.

FSMO Roles

FSMO roles

There are five FSMO roles. Two of them are Forest-wide and three of them are Domain-wide roles.

The Forest-wide FSMO roles are common for entire forest and by default are there on the first Domain Controller within forest-root domain.

The Domain-wide roles are separate for each domain within the forest.

Forest-wide FSMO roles:

Schema master

The Schema master role is forest-wide and there is one for each forest. This role is required to extend the schema of an Active Directory forest. Schema contains the attributes or properties of each object of an Active Directory object.

Domain Naming master

The Domain naming master role is forest-wide and there is one for each forest. This role is required to add or remove domains or application partitions to or from a forest.

Domain-wide roles are:

Relative Identifier (RID) master

The RID master role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This role is required to allocate the RID pool so that new or existing domain controllers can create user accounts, computer accounts or security groups.

PDC Emulator master

The PDC emulator role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. PDC is the core and most important role for any domain. PDC is used to sync time between Domain Controllers and between Domain Controllers and other Computers.

It is used to keep track of wrong password entered by user and also receives an update of user and computer password changed on another Domain Controller.

Infrastructure master

The Infrastructure master role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This role is responsible for updating group membership updates and other references of objects from one domain to another domain. It is required for multi domain environment and not for single domain environment. And to update SID attributes and distinguished name attributes for objects that are referenced across domains.

Note: It is not recommended to have Global Catalogue and Infrastructure role on the same Domain Controller in Multi Domain Controller, which is an exception if all the Domain Controllers are Global Catalogue. Global Catalogue has partial information of all the objects of other domain therefore it does not allow updates of cross domain.

Active Directory Integrated Zones

An Active Directory-integrated zone can be defined as an improved version of a primary DNS zone because it can use multi-master replication and the security features of Active Directory. The zone data of Active Directory-integrated zones are stored in Active Directory. Active Directory-integrated zones are authoritative primary zones.  

A few advantages that Active Directory-integrated zone implementations have over standard primary zone implementations are:  

Active Directory replication is faster, which means that the time needed to transfer zone data between zones is far less.  

The Active Directory replication topology is used for Active Directory replication, and for Active Directory-integrated zone replication. There is no longer a need for DNS replication when DNS and Active Directory are integrated.  

Active Directory-integrated zones can enjoy the security features of Active Directory.  

The need to manage your Active Directory domains and DNS namespaces as separate entities is eliminated. This in turn reduces administrative overhead.  

When DNS and Active Directory are integrated; the Active Directory-integrated zones are replicated,  

automatically. Synchronization takes place automatically when new domain controllers are deployed.  

and stored on any new domain controllers 

Active Directory Partitions

In simple words a directory partition is the space where the AD information is segregated and logically stored.

There are three native partitions Schema/Configuration/Domain and additionally there is also the Application partition.

1. Schema information contains - definition details about objects and attributes that one CAN store in the AD. Replicates to all domain controllers. Static in nature.
2. Configuration information contains - configuration data about forest and trees. Replicates to all domain controllers. Static as your forest is.
 3. Domain information contains - object information for a domain. Replicates to all domain controllers within a domain. The object portion becomes part of Global Catalog.
 4. Application Partition contains - information about applications in Active Directory. E.g. when AD integrated DNS is used there are two application partitions for DNS zones – ForestDNSZones and DomainDNSZones.

Look here for details - http://www.tech-faq.com/directory-partitions.html


You can only configure the Application partition manually to use with AD integrated applications. Refer to this article for details- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884116