Active Directory Cookbook

2.5. Removing an Orphaned Domain

Problem

You want to completely remove a domain that was orphaned because “This server is the last domain controller in the domain” was not selected when demoting the last domain controller, the domain was forcibly removed, or the last domain controller in the domain was decommissioned improperly.

Solution

Using a command-line interface

The following ntdsutil commands (in bold) would forcibly remove the emea.rallencorp.com domain from the rallencorp.com forest. Replace <DomainControllerName> with the hostname of the Domain Naming Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) for the forest:

                  > ntdsutil "meta clean" "s o t" conn "con to server <
                  
                     DomainControllerName

                  >" q q
metadata cleanup: "s o t" "list domains"
Found 4 domain(s)
0 - DC=rallencorp,DC=com
1 - DC=amer,DC=rallencorp,DC=com
2 - DC=emea,DC=rallencorp,DC=com
3 - DC=apac,DC=rallencorp,DC=com
select operation target: sel domain 2
No current site
Domain - DC=emea,DC=rallencorp,DC=com
No current server
No current Naming Context
select operation target: q
metadata cleanup: remove sel domain

You will receive a message indicating whether the removal was successful.

Discussion

Removing an orphaned domain consists of removing the domain object for the domain (e.g., dc=emea,dc=rallencorp,dc=com), all of its child objects, and the associated crossRef object in the Partitions container. You need to target the Domain Naming FSMO when using the ntdsutil command because that server is responsible for creation and ...