Windows Server 2008 : Using ntdsutil - Resetting the Directory Services Restore Mode Password, Changing the Garbage Collection Logging Level

1. Resetting the Directory Services Restore Mode Password

The following steps show how to reset the Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) password.

Step	Command
1.	Start a command prompt with administrative permissions on a domain controller.
2.	Type ntdsutil and press Enter.
3.	Type set dsrm password and press Enter. This accesses the Reset DSRM Administrator Password prompt.
4.	Type reset password on server servername and press Enter. Substitute servername with the name of the domain controller.
5.	Type a new password and press Enter. Type the same password and press Enter again.
6.	Type quit and press Enter. Type quit and press Enter again.

2. Changing the Garbage Collection Logging Level

Garbage collection runs regularly in a DC and removes deleted (or tombstoned) objects from the database.

Note

This is also known as online defragmentation.

When objects are deleted, it frees up space in the database but the database file size does not change. In other words, if the database is 100 MB, and then you delete 100 objects, the database size will still be 100 MB but it will have more free space. However, if you do an offline defragmentation, you can reclaim the free space. Before you do this, figure out how much free space you’ll gain by doing the offline defragmentation.

If you change the garbage collection logging level, the garbage collection process will log Event ID 1646 (as shown in Figure 1) in the Directory Service log. This log entry shows how much free space an offline defragmentation will reclaim (only 2 MB in Figure 1).

Figure 1. Event ID 1646 after changing the garbage collection logging level

Tip

Before modifying the registry, you should create a backup.

The following steps show how to reset the garbage collection logging level.

Step	Command
1.	Click Start, type regedit, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
2.	Browse to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Diagnostics entry.
3.	Locate the Garbage Collection value and double-click it. Enter 1 as the value. Your display should look similar to Figure 2.
4.	Click OK. Close the Registry Editor.

Figure 2. Changing the garbage collection logging level