How to Use the MoveTree Utility to Move Objects Between Domains in a Single Forest

An organization can have multiple domains configured to simplify users and resources management. In such organizations, an administrator may need to move objects, such as organizational units (Ous), users, computers, contacts, etc. from one domain to another domain in a single forest. Moving objects between domains in a single forest is required at the time of Organizational restructuring or domain"??s reconsolidation. To help the administrator effectively move objects between domains, Microsoft provides MoveTree.exe (Active Directory Object Manager), a command-line utility.

To use MoveTree.exe to transfer objects from one domain to another, the administrator must have a hand-on exposure on the syntax used for the purpose. This article elaborates the MoveTree syntax in a clear and concise way for the ease of understanding and use. In addition, the guidelines that must be cared of while using the MoveTree.exe are also enlisted in this article.

Guidelines

Mentioned below are the guidelines that you must read before using MoveTree.exe:

. Make sure that the Domain Name Server (DNS) resolution is perfectly working.

. Make sure that you have admin rights on both source and destination domains in a single forest. If you do not have admin rights on any of the domain, following error message gets logged into the MoveTree.err (error logs) file:

"Error: 0x2098 Insufficient Access Rights to perform the operation.
MoveTree cross domain move failed. The extended error is 00002098: SrcErr:DSID-0031B02E2, problem 5003 (WILL_NOT_PERFORM), data 0"

Parameters with spaces should be separated with quotation marks.

MoveTree.exe commands are case sensitive, so always use lowercase letters to specify the sub-tree root domain names. You must be proactive while typing the sub-tree root domain names because if by mistake you type an uppercase letter, the following error message will be logged into the MoveTree.err file:

"Error: 0x20e4 The Naming Context could not be found.

MoveTree cross domain move failed.

The extended error is 0000020e4: SvcErr: DSID-031B02E2, problem 5003 (WILL_NOT_PERFORM), data 0"

After having a quick glance over the aforementioned guidelines, let us elaborate the MoveTree syntax. The MoveTree syntax that enables you to move objects between domains is:

MoveTree [/start | /continue | /check] [/s SrcDSA] [/d DstDSA] [/sdn SrcDN] [/ddn DstDN] [/u DomainUserName] [/p Password] [/quiet]

. Parameters used with the MoveTree command in the preceding syntax are:

/start:Starts the process of moving objects between domains with /check option by default. The /check option checks the efficiency of the whole tree before moving any object between domains. In case, you do not want to check the tree before moving objects then you can use the /startnocheck option. While the /continue option continues the move operation even after the operation gets failed.

. /s SrcDSA: Indicates the DSA name of the source domain and it is a required parameter.

. /d DstDSA: Indicates the DSA name of the destination domain and it is a required parameter

. /sdn SrcDN: Indicates the domain name of the source subtree"??s root. It is a required with /start and /check but optional with /continue.

. /ddn DstDN: Indicates the domain name of the destination subtree"??s root. It is a required parameter.

.  /u DomainUserName: It is an optional parameter, which indicates the domain and user name.

. /p Password: It is an optional parameter, which indicates the password of the specified user name.

. /quiet: It is an optional parameter, which quiets the process without displaying any message.

The aforementioned MoveTree syntax can be used in different forms depending on the requirement. Some of the examples demonstrating the use of MoveTree syntax are:

. MoveTree /check /s Srvrx /d Srvry /sdn OU=SrcOU, DC=D1 /ddn OU=DestOU, DC=D2

. MoveTree /start /s Srvrx /d Srvry /sdn OU=SrcOU, DC=D1 /ddn OU=DestOU, DC=D2 /u D1net_admin /password

. MoveTree /startnocheck /s Srvrx /d Srvry /sdn OU=SrcOU, DC=D1 /ddn OU=DestOU, DC=D2 /quiet

During the process of moving objects from one domain to another, the MoveTree.exe first copies the objects into the Lost and Found container in the source domain and then moves them to the destination domain. Information about all the objects that are successfully moved between domains is logged into the MoveTree.log file; and if an error occurs during the operation then the related error message is logged into the MoveTree.err file.

However, MoveTree.exe is a good tool for moving objects between domains in a single forest; the process used to move objects between domains is very complex and error-prone. Moreover, the utility also has a limitation that it cannot move the data associated outside the Active Directory, computer objects, etc. between domains. To get rid of such a complex process to move objects between domains, the administrator can use other Objects Management utilities that enable him to move objects using an interactive graphical user interface instead of typical command-line interface in which you have to remember long and complex commands. An effective Active Directory Management utility replaces typical time-consuming and error-prone processes with simple, less error-prone and less time-consuming processes. In addition, there will be no limitation with objects movement.