Need ADMT Replacement? Learn & Use the Best Alternative
Any Admin that has an Active Directory migration lined up wants it to go without any issues. But the problem comes when the native solution that Microsoft provides i.e. ADMT, is not up to the mark. So it’s not surprising that admins want a Microsoft ADMT alternative before anything else.
Moreover, it is rarely the case that an organization only operates a disjointed AD, meaning there are bound to be other services that need to be moved alongside it. Also, the need for an ADMT alternative is in the minds of all administrators, big and small. This includes those who just learned What is Active Directory migration to the ones with decades of experience.
So if a problematic AD mover is used, it is going to hurt other parts that are dependent on the AD. Let us visualize what problems an admin might face if they fail to select an appropriate alternative.
Table of Contents
Why do IT Admins Look for ADMT Alternatives?
The requirement for a replacement stems from the fact that ADMT is no longer the tool it used to be. Meaning that one cannot get the same performance and results that were once expected. The primary reason for this is that Microsoft has put an end to all updates to this on-premise tool.
Although it plays well into Microsft’s strategy to become a cloud behemoth, the real losers are the organizations that still wish to maintain an offline Active Directory. The problem is almost immediate for the ones that have a digital infrastructure shift scheduled soon.
- Currently, the only available version is ADMT 3.2. New admins might not know that even this version is more than 10 years old. Which is reflected in its primitive design even more so.
- Even if one can ignore the Windows XP era GUI admins can’t excuse ADMT’s inability to work on any OS that came after Windows 8.1. Likewise, server-level systems that are updated beyond Windows Server 2012 R2 can’t run ADMT.
- This is by far the biggest limitation, as it means only people who can use it are the ones who are on legacy systems by choice.
- Even when Microsoft has deprecated the ADMT code base, there is still a tight safeguard against accessing it. Meaning that development-oriented stem admins can’t deploy their custom solutions to enhance the ADMT.
These points make it clear that ADMT is not the ideal choice by any means. So what should admins pick then, as the date for a data movement cannot be postponed indefinitely?
Admins may feel stuck, the only options are to keep AD in its original environment or risk using a suboptimal method. However, this is merely a misconception, as a professional alternative is there; you only need to identify it.
What Qualities Should an ADMT Replacement Possess?
We by no means want you to think that ADMT violates Active Directory security practices. After all countless organizations have used it in the past. It is just that in the modern digital space, even the potential to be seen as a threat must be acted upon ASAP. That’s why the alternative should not oppose what ADMT does but improve upon it. The following improvements will suffice for most cases.
- No password handling mechanic inside the main ADMT framework. Users have to install PES separately and use it alongside ADMT. Even after this, users can either keep the password or reset it. Other advanced user-level changes are absent. Not to mention the extra complexity that’s added to setting up an additional program. Passwords are the backbone of user verification. Any errors in this can’t be justified, that’s why our alternative must be able to handle all password-related issues.
- Active Directory users often create a local profile on the device that is allotted to them. However, ADMT cannot replicate this setup at the destination. So users have to set up the profile on their own once again manually. That’s why, to save user time the tool should automate this task as much as possible.
- If your source account users have any special characters in their usernames, then the tool replaces them with the underscore ”_” essentially changing the username from its original state. This can lead to confusion and potentially incorrect users getting access to a particular account. So our alternative must not act in such a way.
Also Read: Steps to Get AD User Login History with PowerShell
A small commitment to a reliable solution is all that an admin needs to get to a solid alternative. So let’s get to the candidate in the category.
Which is the Best ADMT Alternative?
That would be none other than the SysTools Active Directory Migration Utility. The tool is designed to simplify the process and skip over all the hurdles that admins complain about with ADMT. Be it UI or the ability to handle passwords, even the difficult sID history maintenance is made easy with this alternative. Even when compared to other similar solutions, this tool outshines them in the per-bit cost of transfer.
With little time taken to learn this tool even a beginner-grade administrator can safely execute the AD transfer on their own. The same cannot be said for ADMT, as even experts may get stuck with it in one or the other phase. So before we tell you the procedure to use the tool it is better to see how this tool outperforms the ADMT in various departments. For that, we have a one-on-one comparison of the most important AD transfer metrics.
Tabular Comparison of ADMT with Its Alternative
| Feature | ADMT | Alternative Tool |
| Object Migration Scope | Mainly for Users, Groups | Users, Groups, Computers, Printers, Contacts, Shared Folders, OUs |
| User Profile Migration | No | Yes |
| Multiple Job Creation | No | Yes |
| Object Mapping | Limited | CSV import for Source & Destination mapping |
| Object Creation/Merging | Limited options | Create or Merge options for Destination AD objects |
| Forest Migration | Limited | Migrate objects and properties within and between AD forests |
| New AD Object Properties | No | Migrate newly added properties of AD objects |
| Coexistence Support | No | Supports coexistence of Source & Destination domains |
| SID History Migration | No | Supports migration of Access Controls (SID History) |
| User Profile Migration | No | Supports migration of existing user profiles |
| Computer Auto-Joining | No | Auto-joins computers to the Destination domain |
| Password Experience | Password reset required | Seamless migration of users with existing passwords |
| Downtime | Potential downtime | Zero downtime migration |
| Network Connectivity Check | Manual | Automated network connectivity check using VPN for computer migration |
| Supported OS Versions | Up to Windows Server 2008 R2 | Windows Server 2012 R2, 2016 & 2019 |
| User Interface | Outdated | Modern, intuitive interface (assumption based on your previous writing) |
| Automation | Almost all the work is done by the admin. | Automation is present for many migration tasks. |
| Force Restart Client PCs | No | Yes, enforces a restart of migrated computers remotely. |
| Exclude Property | No | Yes, allows to exclude specific properties. |
| Bidirectional Password Sync | No | Yes, synchronizes passwords bidirectionally. |
Steps for Using the Alternative to ADMT
Step 1. Type the default credentials (administrator) on the launch screen in both the user ID and password area.
Step 2. Press the Register Domain Controller button. This opens a new window where you have to enter Domain Friendly name and IP address Click on Save and Continue to proceed.
Step 3. In ADMT alternative’s Domains Details screen, put your actual Admin User name and Password spaces then press Save and Continue.
Step 4. Toggle the Active Directory subsection of the Domain Controller and hit the Fetch Active Directory Objects button. Inside the pop-up box put a check next to the object you want at the destination.
Step 5. Do the last two steps for the AD objects at the target.
Step 6. Go to the Migration screen, Click on the Create Migration Scenario button.
Step 7. Enter the migration name, pick the source/target, and press Save and Continue.
Step 8. In the Migration scenario page, select the Task tab and click on the Create Task option.
Step 9. On the Create Task window, put a name, pick workloads, and select a password configuration option. Admins can choose to maintain the user and group sID history as it is if they wish.
Step 10. Then, click on 3 horizontal dots at the rightmost part of the screen of any object.
Step 11. On the next screen, you have two options either Create or Merge. Choose one and press Select. Do the same for the remaining objects.
Step 12. Hit Validate and wait till the signal turns green.
Step 13. Click on Start Task at the top right corner. Confirm your selection by pressing the Start icon in the dialog box.
Conclusion
So this wraps up the tutorial for an ADMT replacement for now. Here we saw what problems exist with the traditional Microsoft product and why it is best to use an alternative. Moreover, for users, we gave them the sure-shot solution right here. On seeing the one-on-one comparison it became clear why the substitute is better. So users can now ditch the inferior ADMT and go with the professional utility instead.