Q. How can I use the command line to move the Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles in Windows Server 2008?

A. The process of using the command-line utility Ntdsutil to move the FSMO roles is essentially the same as with previous versions of Windows Server. However, before you can issue commands, you must ensure that you’ve activated the Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) instance within Ntdsutil. Also, note that the Domain Naming Master FSMO role is now just Naming Master. Following is a sample FSMO move of all five roles, using Ntdsutil.

ntdsutil: activate instance ntds
Active instance set to "ntds".
ntdsutil: roles
fsmo maintenance: connections
server connections: connect to server savtstrwdc01
Binding to savtstrwdc01 ...
Connected to savtstrwdc01 using credentials of locally logged on user.
server connections: quit
fsmo maintenance: transfer naming master
Server "savtstrwdc01" knows about 5 roles
Schema - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SAVTSTDC01,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN
=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=savdemo,DC=local
Naming Master - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SAVTSTRWDC01,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Sit
e-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=savdemo,DC=local
PDC - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SAVTSTDC01,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Si
tes,CN=Configuration,DC=savdemo,DC=local
RID - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SAVTSTDC01,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-Name,CN=Si
tes,CN=Configuration,DC=savdemo,DC=local
Infrastructure - CN=NTDS Settings,CN=SAVTSTDC01,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site
-Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=savdemo,DC=local

The following code moves the remaining four roles, without all the typical output of running the commands.

fsmo maintenance: transfer infrastructure master
fsmo maintenance: transfer schema master
fsmo maintenance: transfer rid master
fsmo maintenance: transfer pdc