[URGENT] Only DC went down; can I DCPROMO another server + restore AD while old DC is repaired?

[Ross Presser]

Our single domain had a single domain controller running almost the
whole show -- DHCP, DNS, Active Directory in all roles, and also our
most important shared volumes ... classic eggs/basket mismanagement on
my part. Today it is down, I *hope* temporarily; repair efforts are
underway. While it is rebuilding I would like to get at least some
functionality back on my network.

I do have a very current backup of system state. What I would like to
do is set up another server as a domain controller, restore active
directory from that system state backup, add DNS, DHCP, etc., so the
network will be usable at least in part while the original DC goes
through the RAID recovery process.

Is this possible? Where do I start?

 

[Guest]

I've never done this in a production environment but I have done it in
development. I took a Windows 2000 Server box, ran dcpromo and made it
domain X. I then restored the system state from my production domain and
everything was there and usable for my test lab.

Good luck.