Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers include a new feature named Offline Domain Join. A new utility named Djoin.exe lets you join a computer to a domain, without contacting a domain controller while completing the domain join operation, by obtaining a blob from a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller at an earlier point in time. The computer is domain-joined when it first starts, so no restart is needed as with a normal domain join. The general steps for using Djoin.exe are:

1. Run djoin /provision to create the computer account metadata. The output of this command is a .txt file that includes a base-64 encoded blob.
   
2. Run djoin /requestODJ to insert the computer account metadata from the .txt file into the Windows directory of the destination computer.
   
3. Start the destination computer, and the computer will be joined to the domain.
   

The computer where you run djoin /provision and the destination computer both need to run Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7. We have a step-by-step guide published at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392267(WS.10).aspx and appreciate any feedback you have.

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