Installing an Additional Domain Controller by Using the Command Line

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Use the following procedure to perform an unattended installation of a new domain controller from the command line. For a complete list of unattended installation options, including default values, allowed values, and descriptions, type dcpromo /?:Promotion at a command prompt, or see Promotion Operation.

Administrative credentials

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group.

To install a new domain controller by entering unattended installation parameters at the command line

  1. At a command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

    **dcpromo /unattend /unattendOption:**value **/unattendOption:**value ...

    Where

    • unattendOption is an option in the Promotion Operation table. Separate each option:value pair with a space.

    • value is the configuration instruction for the option.

    The following example creates an additional domain controller with the global catalog and installs and configures DNS Server service:

    dcpromo /unattend /InstallDns:yes /confirmGC:yes /replicaOrNewDomain:replica /replicaDomainDNSName:contoso.com /databasePath:"e:\Windows\ntds" /logPath:"e:\Windows\ntds" /sysvolpath:"e:\Windows\sysvol" /safeModeAdminPassword: FH#3573.cK /rebootOnCompletion:yes

  2. When you have typed all the options that are required to create the additional domain controller, press ENTER.