Backup a Windows Server 2012 R2 Domain Controller

In this article, I'll walk you through with the simple procedure of backing up a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller using native backup tool of Windows Server 2012 which is Windows Backup. Windows Backup tool is a good enough tool to backup a domain controller. Unlike other third-party backup solutions, Windows backup tool no longer supports backup to tape feature, so you'll need a disk available that doesn't host the operating system files or the Active Directory NTDS database and log files.

In my lab environment, I've a domain controller running Windows Server 2012 R2 with two disks.

• C:\ - Windows operating system (Also contains NTDS database and log files of Active Directory)
• D:\ - A dedicated drive used for backups.

Before we can start the backup on a domain controller or on any Windows Server, we need to install Windows Backup feature. You can follow the below procedure to install the Windows Backup feature on a domain controller and to backup a domain controller.

1. Log on to the domain controller (DC01) with a domain admin credentials.
2. Open Powershell and type Add-Windowsfeature windows-server-backup and press Enter
3. Open Server and click Tools to select Windows Server Backup \
4. In the Windows Server Backup console, click Local Backup in the left pane.
5. Select Backup Once under Actions in the right pane. If required, you can create a backup schedule to backup the server on a regular basis.
6. In the Backup Once Wizard, select Different Options and click Next.
7. On the Select Backup Configuration screen, select Full server (recommended) and click Next.
8. On the Specify Destination Type screen, select Local drives and click Next. 
9. On the Select Backup Destination screen, select your dedicated backup volume in the Backup destination drop-down menu. My dedicated backup volume is D:\
10. Click OK to confirm that you want to exclude the selected drive from the backup items.
11. Click Backup on the confirmation screen.
12. Now the domain controller will be backed up. Once the backup is successful. You can close the Backup Once Wizard.
    

To check the last successful backup of AD, you can run repadmin /showbackup

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