HOW TO: Verify That Active Directory Partitions Are Replicated Properly on All Domains in Windows 2000

This step-by-step article describes how to use the Dsastat.exe command-line tool to verify that Active Directory partitions are being replicated to the appropriate domains. The Dsastat tool compares and detects differences between directory partitions on domain controllers. The tool retrieves capacity statistics such as megabytes per server, objects per server, and megabytes per object class. Then, the tool compares the attributes of replicated objects. You can use the tool to compare two directory trees across replicas in the same domain or, for a global catalog, across different domains. You can use this tool to monitor the replication status at a "higher" level than monitoring detailed transactions. This tool is helpful, along with the other replication monitoring tools (Repadmin and Replmon), in ensuring that domain controllers are current with one another. For more information about Repadmin and Replmon, see the "References" section in this article.

Requirements

• The Windows 2000 Support Tools must be installed on the server.
• You must be logged on with administrator permissions.

To Use Dsastat.exe to Verify Replication

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt, type dsastat -s:domainservername1;domainservername2, and then press ENTER. A report compares the directory information for both servers.

Example

For example, to compare all of the users in the Marketing organizational unit in the Adatum.com domain with those in another directory partition, use the following command: With this command, you can determine whether both domain controllers agreed on the contents of the "OU=Marketing,DC=Adatum,DC=com" subtree. The tool detects objects that are contained in one subtree but not the other (for example, if a creation or deletion has not been replicated). The tool also detects differences in the values on objects that do exist on both domain controllers.

This example specifies a base search path on a subtree in the domain. In this case, the organizational unit name is "Marketing." The filter specifies that the comparison is concerned only with user objects, not the computer objects.

For more information about the Repadmin and Replmon tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site: