Tombstone Lifetime in Active Directory in Windows Server 2008
When any object is deleted from Active Directory, the object is not actually removed from Active Directory. Instead, the object is marked as deleted, most of its attributes are removed, the object is renamed, and the deleted object is moved to the Deleted Objects container. This object is now referred to as a tombstone and is kept till tombstone lifetime time expires. Information of this tombstone object is replicated to all other domain controllers.
You can modify the default value for tombstone lifetime by using ADSIEdit.msc.
Default Tombstone Lifetime for New Active Directory Forests | |
Operating System | Default Tombstone Lifetime |
Windows 2000 Server | 60 days |
Windows Server 2003 no service pack | 60 days |
Windows Server 2003 SP1 | 180 days |
Windows Server 2003 R2 | 60 days |
Windows Server 2003 SP2 | 180 days |
Windows Server 2008 | 180 days |
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