Working with Active Directory snapshots

This recipe shows how to work with Active Directory snapshots as an alternative to having to restore entire backups for a domain controller to restore only a handful of objects.

Getting ready

To work with snapshots for a domain controller, sign in to a domain controller with a user account that is a member of the Domain Admins group or the Backup Operators group.

How to do it...

1. To make a snapshot, type the following command in an elevated Command Prompt (cmd.exe) window:

   ntdsutil.exe "activate instance ntds" "snapshot" "create" q q

2. To view all snapshots, type the following command in an elevated Command Prompt (cmd.exe) window to get a numbered list of all available snapshots:

   ntdsutil.exe "activate instance ntds" "snapshot" "list all" q q

3. To mount a snapshot, type the following command in an elevated Command Prompt (cmd.exe) window, using the Universally unique...