copy ou structure to another domain in active directory

Copy OU Structure from One Domain to Another

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In this guide, I’ll show you how to copy the OU structure from one domain to another using the AD Pro Toolkit.

To copy an OU structure in Active Directory, you will need to export the OUs from your source domain and then import them into the target domain.

Video Demo

If you don’t like videos scroll down for written steps.

Step 1. Click on “OU Reports” and “All OUs”

ou report

Step 2. Select an OU by clicking browse or click run to export the entire OU structure

In this example, I’m exporting the OU structure of my “test” OU.

select ou path

Step 3. Click the Export button and choose “Export to CSV”.

export ous to csv

Step 4. Edit the CSV and modify the distinguishedName to the new domain

  1. Remove the whenCreated and whenChanged columns from the csv
  2. Modify the distinguishedName to match distinguishedName of the target OU and domain.
    • If copying in the same domain, you just need to modify the OU paths
    • if copying to another domain you need to modify the DC paths.
update csv distinguishedName

You can use excel and do a find and replace.

find and replace ou in excel

This is what my csv file looks like after updating it to the new domain.

csv example updated ou

Step 5. On your target domain open the AD Pro Toolkit and click on “Import OUs”.

select import ous tool

Step 6. Select your CSV file and click “Run”.

When you click “Run” it will start importing the OUs into the domain based on your csv file.

select csv file and click run

Now I have the same OU structure in both domains.

example of ou structure copied to another domain

The AD Pro Toolkit contains multiple tools to simplify managing and reporting on Active Directory environments. You can download a 14-day trial or a schedule a demo and talk to a real person 😀.