Resolution
Which Domain Controller does Domain Migration Administrator (DMA) connect to and pull the information from when doing a migration?
fact
Domain Migration Administrator 7.1
fix
DMA pulls the information from the closest DC when collecting information from the source domain. If you would like to specify the DC you would like DMA to pull the information from (you can also specify a different DC where you want the information to be written to), please refer to the following:
- Navigate to the %root%:\program files\netiq\dma> and open up the Protar.mdb.
- In the Protar.mdb (if you are using a project, go to the projects folder instead of the protar and open the specific project you are working with) open the 'Settings' table.
- In the 'Settings' table, add the properties Options.SourceServerOverride and/or Options.TargetServerOverride. Set the 'VarType' to 8 and the 'Value' to the server name which you would like to pull information from (\\servername).
If you wish to disable the source account, this will only be possible if you are migrating from a PDC (since only the PDC holds a writeable copy of the SAM in a NT4 environment). Also, if you have chosen to migrate with SID History, DMA must contact a PDC in the source domain.
Please be advised that adding this entry to the Settings table only ensures that DMA will request a connection to the PDC. The native API is still responsible for fulfilling this request. You can test if the PDC is responding to a native call by using Command Prompt Utility:
Netdiag /v /d:(domain_name) /test:DcList.
For more information regarding Network troubleshooting and the Netdiag tool please reference this Microsoft Technet Article Chapter 3 - TCP/IP Troubleshooting
If all is functioning properly, the PDC should be listed when the results come back. If not, check WINS replication and insure that all WINS tables are corruption free. Specifically, make sure that all WINS tables contain the correct IP address for the PDC.