Recipe 12.12 Viewing Object Metadata

12.12.1 Problem

You want to view metadata for an object. The object's replPropertyMetaData attribute stores metadata information about the most recent updates to every attribute that has been set on the object.

12.12.2 Solution

12.12.2.1 Using a graphical user interface

12.12.2.2 Using a command-line interface

In the following command, replace <ObjectDN> with the distinguished name of the object for which you want to view metadata:

> repadmin /showobjmeta <DomainControllerName> <ObjectDN>

This command was called /showmeta in the Windows 2000 version of repadmin. Also, the parameters are switched in that version, where <ObjectDN> comes before <DomainControllerName>.

12.12.2.3 Using VBScript

' This code displays the meta data for the specified object.
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strObjectDN = "<ObjectDN>"          ' e.g. dc=rallencorp,dc=com
strDC   = "<DomainControllerName>"  ' e.g. dc1
' ------ END CONFIGURATION ---------

set objIadsTools = CreateObject("IADsTools.DCFunctions")
intRes = objIadsTools.GetMetaData(Cstr(strDC),Cstr(strObjectDN),0)

if intRes = -1 then
   Wscript.Echo objIadsTools.LastErrorText
   WScript.Quit
end if

for count = 1 to intRes
   WScript.Echo count & ". " & objIadsTools.MetaDataName(count)
   WScript.Echo vbTab & " Version:    " & _
                          objIadsTools.MetaDataVersionNumber(count)
   WScript.Echo vbTab & " Last Write: " & _
                          objIadsTools.MetaDataLastWriteTime(count)
   WScript.Echo vbTab & " Local USN:  " & _
                          objIadsTools.MetaDataLocalUSN(count)
   WScript.Echo vbTab & " Source USN: " & _
                          objIadsTools.MetaDataSourceUSN(count)
   WScript.Echo vbTab & " Server:     " & _
                          objIadsTools.MetaDataServerName(count)
next

12.12.3 Discussion

Object metadata can be an invaluable source of information when you need to troubleshoot replication problems or find out the last time an attribute was set for a particular object. In fact, a quick way to determine if two domain controllers have the same copy of an object is to look at the metadata on both servers for the object. If they both have the same metadata, then they have the same version of the object.

Unfortunately, the replPropertyMetaData attribute is stored as an octet string, so you cannot simply read the attribute to view all of the metadata information. In the VBScript solution, the IADsTool GetMetaData method is a wrapper around the DsReplicaGetInfo method call. This method understands the format of the replPropertyMetaData attribute and can return it into a readable format. The following data is stored for each attribute that has been set on the object:

Attribute ID

Attribute that was updated.

Attribute version

Number of originating writes to the property.

Local USN

USN of the property on the local DC. This will be the same as the originating DC if the originating DC and local DC are the same.

Originating USN

USN stored with the property when the update was made on the originating DC.

Originating DC

DC that the originating write was made on.

Time/Date

Time and date property was changed in UTC.

12.12.4 See Also

See IadsTools.doc in the Support Tools for more information on the IADsTools interface