Active Directory Cookbook

10.20. Deactivating Classes and Attributes

Problem

You want to deactivate a class or attribute in the schema because you no longer need it.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the Active Directory Schema snap-in.

2. In the left pane, click on the Classes folder.

3. In the right pane, double-click the class you want to deactivate.

4. Uncheck the box beside Class is active.

5. Click OK.

Using a command-line interface

You can deactivate a class using the ldifde utility and an LDIF file that contains the following lines:

dn: cn=<SchemaObjectCommonName>,cn=schema,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN>
changetype: modify
replace: isDefunct
isDefunct: TRUE
-

If the LDIF file were named deactivate_class.ldf, you would run the following command:

> ldifde -v -i -f deactivate_class.ldf

Using VBScript

' This code deactivates a class or attribute.
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strName = "<SchemaObjectCommonName>"   ' e.g. rallencorp-LanguagesSpoken
' ------ END CONFIGURATION ---------

set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE")
set objSchemaObject = GetObject("LDAP://cn=" & strName & "," & _
                                objRootDSE.Get("schemaNamingContext"))
objSchemaObject.Put "isDefunct", TRUE
objSchemaObject.SetInfo
WScript.Echo "Schema object deactivated: " & strName

Discussion

There is no supported way to delete classes or attributes defined in the schema. You can, however, deactivate them, also known as making them defunct. Before you deactivate a class you should make sure that no instantiated objects of that class exist. If ...