Enable or disable a global catalog

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To enable or disable a global catalog

Open Active Directory Sites and Services.
In the console tree, click the domain controller where you want to enable or disable the global catalog.

Where?
- Active Directory Sites and Services/Sites/site that contains the domain controller that you want to disable or enable/Servers/domain controller
In the details pane, right-click NTDS Settings, and then click Properties.
Select the Global Catalog check box to enable the global catalog, or clear the check box to disable the global catalog.

Notes

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group (in the domain of the selected domain controller) or the Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.
To open Active Directory Sites and Services, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Active Directory Sites and Services.
The Builtin Administrator account in the domain can always log on to the domain, even when a global catalog is not available.
Enabling a global catalog can cause additional replication traffic.
A domain controller on which you enable the global catalog does not advertise itself in Domain Name System (DNS) as a global catalog until all partial domain directory partitions have been received.

Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.