Domain Controller starts up in Safe Mode
Products: Veeam Backup & Replication
Version: 7.x, 8.x, 9.x
Published: 2011-10-06
Last Modified: 2016-08-08
Challenge
After doing a full Virtual Machine restore, Instant Recovery, or testing of a Replica, you will find that the Virtual Machine boots up in what appears to be safe mode.
When the Domain Controller boots for the first time it is actually in Active Directory services restore mode.
Cause
This is normal for this to happen as we’re booting from a backup file, however it should reboot automatically.
Solution
Login with the Directory services restore mode account (typically .\administrator) and open a command prompt and run the following:
shutdown -t 01 -r
Afterwards it should reboot in normal mode.
BCDEdit does not work for Windows 2003 server, so you may use BOOTCFG.exe or Edit BOOT.INI file to remove the SAFEBOOT parameter of the entry.
More Information
Please reference the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article below for further details:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816897(WS.10).aspx
For a complete guide of how to restore a Domain Controller from a Veeam Backup please see this KB: