Tag: AD Recycle Bin

Systems Admin

Change the Retention Period in AD Recycle Bin

AD Recycle Bin defaults to a 180-day recovery window - long enough that 'please restore the user my predecessor deleted last quarter' lands on day 181. Two attributes on CN=Directory Service control end-to-end retention: msDS-DeletedObjectLifetime (Recycle Bin window, fully recoverable with Restore-ADObject) and tombstoneLifetime (permanent-death horizon, garbage collection cutoff). Walks the ADSI Edit edit: connect to the Configuration partition, navigate CN=Configuration / CN=Services / CN=Windows NT / CN=Directory Service, raise both attributes from 180 to 365 (always tombstoneLifetime first - the directory enforces DOL

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Systems Admin

Enable the Active Directory Recycle Bin

Step-by-step guide to enabling the Active Directory Recycle Bin forest-wide using Active Directory Administrative Center. Covers prerequisites, the irreversible nature of the change, GUI and PowerShell verification, restoring deleted objects with Restore-ADObject, and follow-up hardening like Protect from accidental deletion.

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Systems Admin

Permanently Delete Objects from the Active Directory Recycle Bin

Learn how to permanently delete objects from the Active Directory Recycle Bin using PowerShell. This guide explains why the ADAC GUI cannot permanently delete recycled objects and shows the exact Get-ADObject and Remove-ADObject commands to safely and irreversibly remove an AD object before its tombstone lifetime expires.

5 min read
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