Moving an FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operations) Role from One Domain Controller (DC) to Another

FSMO roles are critical to the operation of Active Directory. They are divided into two levels:

• Forest-level roles (two roles): Schema Master and Domain Naming Master.
• Domain-level roles (three roles): PDC Emulator, RID Master, and Infrastructure Master.

In some cases, you may need to move one or more FSMO roles from one domain controller (DC) to another for maintenance, availability, or redundancy reasons. This guide explains how to check the current FSMO roles and how to move an FSMO role to another domain controller using PowerShell.

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Identifying the Current FSMO Roles

Before moving an FSMO role, it's important to know which domain controller currently holds each role.

1. Check the domain-level FSMO roles

The domain-level FSMO roles include:

• PDC Emulator: Handles time synchronization, password updates, and also acts as the master for backward compatibility with NT4 servers.
• RID Master: Allocates pools of relative identifiers (RIDs) to domain controllers so that objects can be created in the domain.
• Infrastructure Master: Responsible for maintaining cross-domain update information (for multi-domain environments).