Active Directory Recycle Bin is a new feature welcomed in Windows Server 2008 R2. In Windows Server 2012 it has a GUI too :)
Active Directory Recycle Bin helps you recover accidental deletion of users or objects very easily. Basically what it does is helps to reduce downtime.
Back in the days of WS2003/2008 you could restore a backup, DSRM via ntdsutil.exe or ADRestore...., so how are we gonna enable this AD Recycle Bin? Default feature is disabled.
- Start Powershell.
- Type the following without the quotes:
" Enable-ADOptionalFeature –Identity ‘CN=Recycle Bin Feature,CN=Optional Features,CN=Directory Service,CN=Windows NT,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=Voovode,DC=local’ –Scope ForestOrConfigurationSet –Target ‘Voovode.local’ " - Powershell will prompt for comfirmation,... proceed.
- This will enable the recycle bin feature on voovode.local domain.
- In Active Directory Administrative Center, action panel - you will find 'Deleted Objects'. You will see there anything that's deleted, Cheers.
Warning: The forest functional level of the AD Service must be 2008 R2 and above!