How to Transfer FSMO Roles to a New Server

Transferring the FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operations) roles to a new domain controller is one of those Active Directory tasks that admins only do occasionally, which makes it easy to forget the exact syntax when the time comes. There are five FSMO roles spread across a forest and domain: the Schema Master and Domain Naming Master (one each per forest), and the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master (one each per domain).

We originally pointed to a video walkthrough for this, which is still a good visual reference and is linked below, but here is the actual command syntax so you can carry out the transfer directly.

Option 1: Transfer with ntdsutil

Run the following from an elevated Command Prompt on the new server that will hold the roles:

ntdsutil
roles
connections
connect to server NEWSERVERNAME
quit
transfer schema master
transfer naming master
transfer rid master
transfer pdc
transfer infrastructure master
quit
quit

You will be prompted to confirm each transfer. If a role holder is offline and cannot be reached, ntdsutil will offer a “seize” option instead of “transfer” — only use seize as a last resort, and never bring the old role holder back online afterwards without first cleaning up its metadata.

Option 2: Transfer with PowerShell

If you have the Active Directory PowerShell module available, this is generally quicker:

Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity "NEWSERVERNAME" -OperationMasterRole SchemaMaster,DomainNamingMaster,PDCEmulator,RIDMaster,InfrastructureMaster

Verifying the transfer

Once complete, confirm the new role holder with:

netdom query fsmo

For a visual walkthrough of the process, the video below is still a useful companion to the commands above:

Watch the FSMO role transfer walkthrough on YouTube

If you have any questions or comments about transferring FSMO roles then please feel free to leave a comment below using our comments system.

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Andrew Armstrong

Andrew Armstrong is a UK-based IT professional with 26+ years of hands-on experience in Windows, Windows Server, SCCM/ConfigMgr, Active Directory, PowerShell, and enterprise infrastructure.

He founded TechyGeeksHome in 2010 and has published over 1,500 practical guides covering real-world IT problems and solutions. When not solving IT problems,

Andrew develops free Windows utilities including Ultimate Settings Panel, which has been downloaded over 850,000 times.

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3 thoughts on “Transfer FSMO roles to a new Server”

Maryan says:

2 March 2015 at 13:47

Hello,

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Maryan says:

19 August 2018 at 14:48

Hello,

Is it normal that the files " .vib " be in the format " .vib.exe " ?

thank you ,
Maryan says:

4 August 2019 at 16:11

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