Back Up a Windows Server 2012 R2 Domain Controller

Russell Smith

Jan 6, 2014

How can I back up a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller?

In this Ask the Admin, I’ll walk you through the simple procedure of backing up a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller using Windows Backup.

Third-party backup solutions are ubiquitous in the enterprise, but Windows Server 2012 R2’s built-in backup program might suffice in some situations. Windows Backup no longer supports backup to tape, so you’ll need a disk available that doesn’t host the operating system files or the Active Directory NTDS database and log files.

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Install Windows Backup Components

Log on to the domain controller (DC) with a domain admin account and open a PowerShell prompt using the blue icon on the desktop taskbar or from the Start screen.

In the PowerShell console, type add-windowsfeature windows-server-backup and press Enter.
Open Server Manager from the desktop taskbar (or from the Start screen if it’s not already open) and select Windows Server Backup from the Tools menu.
In the wbadmin console, click Local Backup in the left pane.
Now select Backup Once under Actions in the far right pane. You can also choose to perform the same task but create a regular backup by defining a schedule.
In the Backup Once Wizard, select Different Options and click Next.
On the Select Backup Configuration screen, select Full server (recommended) and click Next.
On the Specify Destination Type screen, select Local drives and click Next.
On the Select Backup Destination screen, select your dedicated backup volume in the Backup destination drop-down menu.
Click OK to confirm that you want to exclude the selected drive from the backup items.
Click Backup on the confirmation screen.
Close the Backup Once Wizard.

If you leave the backup wizard open, it will show you whether the backup job completed successfully. Alternatively you can run repadmin /showbackup to see when the last backup of AD completed successfully.