LDIFDE for backup of entire forest/domain

I wanted to know why some admins like doing LDIFDE exports of their entire fores/domain as a sort of backup. Can anyone tell me what is the proper syntax to do this? I have got a single domain Windows Server 2003 forest by the way.

Actually, the LDIFDE is not usually a backup tool. You can try to export all entries and also import them. But as a backup of the Active directory you will need atleast the system state from your DC.

Check the article on "Using LDIFDE to import and export directory objects to Active Directory" from this link - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237677. LDIF can be used to export and import data, allowing batch operations such as add, create, and modify to be performed against the Active Directory.

You can also use NTBACKUP instead to backup the AD domain. It can be used to restore a user or group or whatever if it is deleted. With LDIFDE, you can try to restore some attribute value if it got changed.

Hello,

I am not sure if this should be posted here... But i have an ldif file that holds a bunch of groups that were backed up from AD. My question is if i was to import this file into AD. would it restore the groups, the groups members, and even the group types such as distribution, security, global or universal? Also if the groups already existed will it overwrite them?

Thank you in advance.

When you import this file into Active Directory, it should restore all your group. LDIF is drafts Internet standard for a file format that can be used to execute operations on directories commands obey the rules to LDAP standards. LDIF can be used to export and import data, with the aptitude to carry out operations commands such as Add, Edit and Delete in Active Directory. Ldifde.exe utility, included with the operating system Windows Server 2003, supports batch operations based on the standard LDIF.