Modifies attributes of one or more existing partitions in the directory.

Dsmod is a command-line tool that is built into Windows Server 2008. It is available if you have the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) server role installed. To use dsmod, you must run the dsmod command from an elevated command prompt. To open an elevated command prompt, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

For examples of how to use this command, see Examples.

Syntax

dsmod partition <PartitionDN> ... [-qdefault <Value>] [-qtmbstnwt <Percent>] [{-s <Server> | -d <Domain>}] [-u <UserName>] [-p {<Password> | *}] [-c] [-q] [{-uc | -uco | -uci}]

Parameters

Term

Definition

Specifies the distinguished names of one or more directory partitions that you want to modify. If values are omitted, they are obtained through standard input (STDIN) to support piping of output from another command to input of this command.

-qdefault <Value>

Specifies that the default quota for the directory partition be set to Value. The default quota applies to any security principal (user, group, computer or inetOrgPerson) who owns an object in the directory partition, if no quota specification exists that governs the security principal. To specify an unlimited quota, use a value of -1.

-qtmbstnwt <Percent>

Required. Sets the percentage by which tombstone object count should be reduced when calculating quota usage. You must specify a value between 0 and 100 for Percent. For example, a value of 25 means that a tombstone object counts as 25% of a normal object when AD DS calculates quota use. If you assign a quota of 100 to a user, that user can own a maximum of 100 normal objects or 400 tombstone objects in AD DS.

{-s <Server> | -d <Domain>}

Connects a computer to a remote server or domain that you specify. By default, dsmod connects the computer to a domain controller in the logon domain.

-u <UserName>

Specifies the user name with which the user logs on to a remote server. By default, -u uses the user name with which the user logged on. You can use any of the following formats to specify a user name:

user name (for example, Linda)
domain\user name (for example, widgets\Linda)
user principal name (UPN) (for example, Linda@widgets.contoso.com)

-p {<Password> | *}

Specifies to use either a password or an asterisk (*) to log on to a remote server. If you type *, dsmod prompts you for a password.

-c

Reports errors, but continues with the next object in the argument list when you specify multiple target objects specified (continuous operation mode). If you do not supply this parameter, dsmod exits when the first error occurs.

-q

Suppresses all output to standard output (quiet mode).

{-uc | -uco | -uci}

Specifies that output or input data is formatted in Unicode. The following table shows each format.

Value	Description
-uc	Specifies a Unicode format for input from or output to a pipe (\|).
-uco	Specifies a Unicode format for output to a pipe (\|) or a file.
-uci	Specifies a Unicode format for input from a pipe (\|) or a file.

Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

This command supports only a subset of commonly used object class attributes.
If a value that you use contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text, for example, "CN=DC2,OU=Domain Controllers,DC=Contoso,DC=Com".
The default quota applies to any security principal (for example, user, group, computer, or InetOrgPerson) that creates an object in the directory partition when no quota specification exists that governs the security principal.
The default quota for a specified directory partition is an attribute (that is, ms-DS-Default-Quota) of a special container of class ms-DS-Quota-Container, as specified by CN=NTDS Quotas,<DirectoryPartitionRootDN>.
The tombstone quota weight for a given directory partition (set with the -qtmbstnwt option) is an attribute (that is, ms-DS-Tombstone-Quota-Factor) of a special container of class (that is, ms-DS-Quota-Container), specified by CN=NTDS Quotas,<DirectoryPartitionRootDN>.
Dsmod does not support the addition of security principals in one forest to groups that are located in another forest when a forest trust joins both forests. You can use Active Directory Users and Computers to add security principals across a forest trust.