Tombstone windows 2003

However, you can change this value if required. Usually tombstone lifetime value is kept longer than the expected replication latency between the domain controllers so that the tombstone is not deleted before the objects are replicated across the forest.

The tombstone lifetime attribute remains same on all the domain controllers and it is deleted from all the servers at the same time.

This is because the expiration of a tombstone lifetime is based on the time when an object was deleted logically from the Active Directory, rather than the time when it is received as a tombstone on a server through replication. You need to install it separately by installing support tools from Windows Server CD.

Expand CN-Services node. Double-click the tombstoneLifetime attribute in the Attributes list. The Integer Attribute Editor window appears, as shown below: Set the number of days that tombstone objects should remain in Active Directory in the Value field. Tombstone enables the deletion action to be replicated. Now, imagine if you deleted an object before an AD restored.

In this scenario, the last available backup will still contain the deleted object. If not for tombstones, the deleted object would find its way back into AD. By marking the deleted object as a tombstone, you can ensure that the object does not become active after being replicated to the restored DC. What happens in the back end when you delete an object? Type LDP. EXE and then press Enter.

Go into the Connection menu, and choose Bind. Ensure that Bind as currently logged on user is selected, and click OK. You will see the screen shown below. This confirms that you are authenticated as the administrator of the DC. Click on the Options menu, choose Controls , and then choose Return deleted objects under the Load Predefined drop-down. Click OK. Go into the View menu, select Tree , and then choose the fully qualified distinguished name of your domain.

You will then get the screen below. That would be an easy thing to miss! If I make any progress I'll update the OP. We've agreed internally to leave the tombstone lifetime setting as is for now, after all, the reason this DC was off for so long was due to what must have been a powercut ages ago and the VM wasn't set to auto-boot when the power came back up from the host.

That's been resolved now, so hopefully, we won't get this issue again. At least not with this DC.. What about bringing back online the seized DC? This should not be done, as per all the documents I have read over the years. To continue this discussion, please ask a new question. Spiceworks Help Desk. The tombstone lifetime determines the lifetime of your backup media. If you resuscitate a server with a backup that is older than that period of time, it will contain objects that have already been removed from other domain controllers by the process of garbage collection.

For that reason, this server's AD will never agree with those of its partners. Therefore, backups older than the tombstone lifetime are not safe to use. Right-click suptools.