Practice
So, you have a server in use — an Active Directory domain controller — that is no longer needed and from which you want to remove the domain controller role. Usually, administrators used to the GUI go into Server Manager for this and click the "Add or Remove Role" button.
The only trouble is that, for some reason, the "Domain Controller" item is missing from the list of roles to add or remove in Server Manager. Meanwhile, for example, this item may well be present on a neighboring server.
Why? And what should you do?
Try running the "dcpromo" command (Start -> Run -> "dcpromo" -> Enter), and you will most likely see a message saying that you can't remove the domain controller as long as the certificate services role is still hanging around on it.
If that's the case, it's enough to remove that service and try to demote the server again. If that was the only thing in the way, then, firstly, the "Domain Controller" item will finally appear in the Server Manager list (in the add/remove roles window), and secondly, dcpromo will no longer complain and will simply allow you to remove the "Domain Controller" role from this server.
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