Root DSE should be synchronized
AD-ROOTDSE-03LowActive DirectoryReplication
Part of Active Directory · Active Directory · Replication · All checks
Invoke-Maester -TestId AD-ROOTDSE-03Overview
Section titled “Overview”The Root DSE (Directory Service Agent) synchronization status indicates whether a domain controller has completed its initial replication with replication partners:
- Directory Consistency: Unsynchronized DCs may have stale data
- Authentication Reliability: Users may experience authentication failures
- Replication Health: Indicates overall replication topology health
- Operational Readiness: New or recovered DCs need to complete sync before serving clients
A synchronized status (isSynchronized = TRUE) indicates the DC is ready to serve directory requests with current data.
Control Type
Section titled “Control Type”Detective
Security Recommendation
Section titled “Security Recommendation”- Monitor synchronization status after DC promotion or recovery
- Investigate DCs that remain unsynchronized for extended periods
- Ensure all DCs complete initial synchronization before production use
- Include synchronization status in regular health checks
- Alert on unexpected synchronization failures
How the Test Works
Section titled “How the Test Works”This test checks the Root DSE isSynchronized attribute and reports:
- Synchronization status (Yes/No)
- Server DNS name
- Domain, forest, and DC functionality levels
Related Tests
Section titled “Related Tests”Test-MtAdDisabledReplicationConnectionCount- Checks for disabled replication connectionsTest-MtAdNonAutoReplicationConnectionCount- Identifies manual replication connections
Details
Section titled “Details”Every attribute of this check
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Test ID | AD-ROOTDSE-03 |
| Severity | Low |
| Suite | Active Directory |
| Product | Active Directory |
| Feature | Replication |
| Area | Infrastructure hardening |
| Resource type | DomainController |
| User impact | Low |
| Implementation cost | Medium |
| MITRE ATT&CK | None |
| PowerShell test | Test-MtAdRootDseSynchronizedStatus |
| Services | ActiveDirectory |
| Permissions | ActiveDirectory:Ldap:domainDNS:ReadProperty |
Source
Section titled “Source”- Test:
tests/ad/replication/Test.AD-ROOTDSE-03.ps1 - Documentation:
tests/ad/replication/Test.AD-ROOTDSE-03.md