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Determine Whether a Domain Controller Is a Global Catalog Server

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

You can use the setting on the NTDS Settings object to determine whether a domain controller is designated as a global catalog server.

Membership in Domain Users, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure when you perform the procedure remotely by using Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

To determine whether a domain controller is a global catalog server

  1. Open Active Directory Sites and Services: On the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, provide credentials, if required, and then click Continue.

  2. In the console tree, expand the Sites container, expand the site of the domain controller that you want to check, expand the Servers container, and then expand the Server object.

  3. Right-click the NTDS Settings object, and then click Properties.

  4. On the General tab, if the Global Catalog box is selected, the domain controller is designated as a global catalog server.