When demoting a 2003 domain controller using dcpromo, you may run into the following error:

Error

The operation failed because:

Failed to configure the service NETLOGON as requested

"The wait operation timed out"

The error message is quite misleading as the real cause has got nothing to do with NETLOGON, but is in fact a DNS issue. You will most likely have the server's primary DNS pointing to itself using loopback address (127.0.0.1) or its own IP address.

You can correct the issue by having the DNS point to remaining domain controllers, and remove any DNS pointing to itself (i.e. loopback address or any other IP owned by the server being demoted).

When your DC replication has halted, check whether there's an entry in the event log: NTFRS event id 13568 (JRNL_WRAP_ERROR).

This error occurs when the DC on which this event id is generated has been powered off unexpectedly, or when the system volume was full. The error signifies that the database journal (used during replication) has been cut off, resulting in the replication being halted, which is by design.

To resolve, you can tell NtFRS to automatically repair the problem and continue with the replication by changing the value of a certain registry parameter. The parameter can be found at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NtFrs\Parameters\Backup/Restore\Process at   ...