Remotely restart into Microsoft Windows server directory restore mode

Came up against a situation where i needed to restart a server remotely into directory restore mode to restore from backup after a jrnl wrap error restore didn't work correctly.

 

Follow the steps below: To restart the domain controller in Directory Services Restore Mode remotely Use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the domain controller that you want to restart in Directory Services Restore Mode.

Right-click My Computer, click Properties, and then click the Advanced tab. Click Settings for startup and recovery. Click the Edit button to edit the startup options file.

Modify the default entry to include the /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR switch, as shown in the following example:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="W2K DC \\ your server name " /fastdetect /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR

**Note** The /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR switch works for domain controllers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003.

Save the modified Boot.ini file, and then close Notepad. On the Start menu, click Shut Down, and then click Restart. During the restart process, the Terminal Services client reports that the session is disconnected.

*** Caution *** Be sure to click Restart and not Shut Down at this step. If you click Shut Down, you cannot restart the domain controller remotely.

Wait until the restart process completes on the remote domain controller, and then reconnect the client session.

When the client session is reconnected, log on as the local administrator.

Right-click My Computer, click Properties, and then click the Advanced tab.

Click Settings for startup and recovery.

Click the Edit button to edit the startup options file.

Delete the /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR switch from the default entry in the Boot.ini file, save the file, and then close Notepad.

***Important*** If you restart the domain controller before you modify the Boot.ini file, the domain controller remains offline.

The Boot.ini file is now returned to its original state, which starts the domain controller normally.

Also worth resetting the local administrator password as well, as per these instructions:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322672

Click, Start, click Run, type ntdsutil, and then click OK. At the Ntdsutil command prompt, type set dsrm password. At the DSRM command prompt, type one of the following lines: To reset the password on the server on which you are working, type reset password on server null. The null variable assumes that the DSRM password is being reset on the local computer. Type the new password when you are prompted. Note that no characters appear while you type the password.

-or- To reset the password for another server, type reset password on server servername, where servername is the DNS name for the server on which you are resetting the DSRM password. Type the new password when you are prompted. Note that no characters appear while you type the password. At the DSRM command prompt, type q. At the Ntdsutil command prompt, type q to exit.