When you promote your server to Domain Controller, the Global Catalog is selected by default as one of the Domain Controller capabilities. If you are wondering what the hell Global Catalog is and how to enable or disable it on the Windows server, stay with me till the end of this session.
Global Catalog, in simple terms, is data storage that stores partial attributes of all the objects in the forest. Since you can have multiple Domains and Domain controllers in a forest, you need a place to keep a copy or partial copy of all objects in the forest for easy access. The GC is the server that makes it possible to maintain a copy of objects from the local domains and a partial copy of objects from other domains in the forest.
When you enable the first domain controller in the domain environment, the Global Catalog role does install automatically. And if you add a new domain controller to an existing domain, enabling the Global Catalog or GC is optional.
Today, I will write about enabling or disabling the Global Catalog role in Windows 2022 using the two Server manager and PowerShell ways.
Note: The steps are the same in Windows server 2019, so you can also apply them on Windows server 2019.
Related: How to promote a windows server to a domain controller?
Enable or Disable the Global Catalog while adding a new Domain Controller
First, you have noticed that you can enable or disable the Global catalog option while promoting to a new domain controller. Since I have already written about upgrading your server to a domain controller, you can check the article “How to install the Active Directory Domain Services and promote your server to a domain controller.”
How to enable or disable the Global Catalog on Windows Server 22
Suppose you have added the Global Catalog role to your DC. And your mind changed after a while or vice versa, for such cases use the NTDS settings properties to enable or disable the GC on your domain. To do that:
- Open Server Manager from the start menu or search box.
- Click on the management tools > Active Directory sites and services.
- In the Active Directory sites and services window, expand the Sites folder, the Default-first-site-Name, and the Servers folder.
- Expand the server you want to modify the GC on it.
- Right-click on the NTDS settings and click on the properties.
- Select the Global Catalog check box in the General tab of the NTDS settings properties if you want to enable it. Unselect the Global Catalog check box if you wish to disable the GC role on the server. And, click on Apply button and Ok.
That’s it! You successfully enabled or disabled the Global catalog server role on your server.
Deploy the Global Catalog on Windows 22 from PowerShell
Another straightforward way to modify the Global Catalog in Windows Server 2022 is through PowerShell.
Open PowerShell from the Start Menu, Write the following code and enter;
Set-ADObject -Identity (Get-ADDomainController Server_Name).ntdssettingsobjectdn -Replace @{options='1'}
Note: I strongly suggest you copy and paste the command. Remember to write your server name instead of the Server_Name
If the command is processed without an error, the GC has been enabled successfully.
After a while, if your mind changed and you wanted to disable the Global Catalog role on your server, write the following command and enter.
Set-ADObject -Identity (Get-ADDomainController DC02).ntdssettingsobjectdn -Replace @{options='0'}Conclusions
The Global Catalog is a role in the Active directory that allows DC to provide information on any objects in the forest. Regardless of whether the object is a member of the local domain or other domains in the forest.
If you have any questions or comments, share them in the comment section.
