Is there a way to determine when a role was added to a Windows Server?
Probably a longshot, but...is there a way to determine the date that a role was added on a server? Or even in what order roles were added? In particular for a client site I want to try and determine when the DC role was added to a particular server. This server also has SQL Server on it, and I have a feeling that the DC promo (it's a backup, not the primary) was done after SQL was implemented, and that this may be the root of some SQL Server issues. No one at the site can remember, and of course it is not documented, so before I uninstall/reinstall SQL, I'm hoping there may be some way from the system to pinpoint when the role change happened.
July 26th, 2012 8:03pm

how about event viewer?
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July 26th, 2012 10:16pm

Hi, Open Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Setup You can filter your Setup to looking for this Microsoft-Windows-ServerManager source and you will be able to determine when it is added or removed by who. Log Name: Setup Source: Microsoft-Windows-ServerManager Date: 19/10/2011 6:18:14 p.m. Event ID: 1611 Task Category: None Level: Warning Keywords: User: DOMAIN\Administrator Computer: REDMOND.DOMAIN.COM Description: Installation succeeded. A restart is required. Roles: Remote Desktop Services Warning: You must restart this server to finish the installation process.Remember to Vote as helpful for others and accept the the proposed Answer if it is relevant to build KB in this Forum. [MCITP] | [MCITP:EA] | [MCITP:VA] | [MCITP:EMA] | [MCITP:SPA] | [MCSE] | [MCSE:M+] | [MCSA] | [MCSA:M+] | [ITILv3] | [CCNA] | [IPSWITCH:WhatsUpGold]
July 27th, 2012 4:12am

Thanks for your reply -- it is helpful, but not definitive. On one of the servers I checked, the logs must have been cleared at some point because there are only 4 entries in the Setup log. The source value to select is just 'ServerManager' (even though the output adds 'Microsoft-Windows-'). The below output is from my own server, and does correspond with when it was set up. With my server, I know I ran dcpromo as the next step. I don't know if that was necessarily the case on any of the other sites, and there is nothing further logged relating to dcpromo, on my server, nor on the others I have checked. I'm going to have to proceed under the assumption that it may not be 100% possible to find out from a given system when it became a 'fullly functional domain controller' but definitely this aspect of the logs helps. Log Name: Setup Source: Microsoft-Windows-ServerManager Date: 12/15/2011 3:48:41 AM Event ID: 1610 Task Category: None Level: Information Keywords: User: DOMAIN\Administrator Computer: [machine name] Description: Installation succeeded. Roles: Active Directory Domain Services The following role services were installed: Active Directory Domain Controller Informational: Use the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe) to make the server a fully functional domain controller. : Close this wizard and launch the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe). Features: .NET Framework 3.5.1 Features The following features were installed: .NET Framework 3.5.1
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July 27th, 2012 8:12pm

Hi, If you are planning to find out when DCPromo is executed, try the DCPromo.log and Dcpromoui.log at %SystemRoot%\Debug folder on the log content or the creation date of those files.Remember to Vote as helpful for others and accept the the proposed Answer if it is relevant to build KB in this Forum. [MCITP] | [MCITP:EA] | [MCITP:VA] | [MCITP:EMA] | [MCITP:SPA] | [MCSE] | [MCSE:M+] | [MCSA] | [MCSA:M+] | [ITILv3] | [CCNA] | [IPSWITCH:WhatsUpGold]
July 28th, 2012 2:43am

Hi, If you are planning to find out when DCPromo is executed, try the DCPromo.log and Dcpromoui.log at %SystemRoot%\Debug folder on the log content or the creation date of those files.Remember to Vote as helpful for others and accept the the proposed Answer if it is relevant to build KB in this Forum. [MCITP] | [MCITP:EA] | [MCITP:VA] | [MCITP:EMA] | [MCITP:SPA] | [MCSE] | [MCSE:M+] | [MCSA] | [MCSA:M+] | [ITILv3] | [CCNA] | [IPSWITCH:WhatsUpGold]
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July 28th, 2012 2:49am

Ah ha! Now that is exactly what I was looking for! I guess someone could delete those log files, but that would be pretty rare. They do exist on all the servers I've needed to check, so that is perfect. Thanks very much.
July 29th, 2012 1:08am

No problem. Very gladful to help you. If you think my responses are very helpful, please kindly vote those replies which you think that are helpful. Cheers.Remember to Vote as helpful for others and accept the the proposed Answer if it is relevant to build KB in this Forum. [MCITP] | [MCITP:EA] | [MCITP:VA] | [MCITP:EMA] | [MCITP:SPA] | [MCSE] | [MCSE:M+] | [MCSA] | [MCSA:M+] | [ITILv3] | [CCNA] | [IPSWITCH:WhatsUpGold]
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July 29th, 2012 3:19am

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