Basics of Active Directory

A KT session to delegate Account Operator role Target Team : NOC team member
Prepared by : Ashoka Kumar, IT Services Date : 22nd Sep 2010

Expectation
A basic session and discussion on Active Directory, its services and other terminology to carry out Account Operator admin rights on tcprod.local domain

Active Directory
It is the central repository for configuration information, authentication requests, and information about all of the objects that are stored within the forest.

Using Active Directory, you can efficiently manage users, computers, groups, printers, applications, and other directory-enabled objects from one secure, centralized location

Active Directory
Advantages: Single sign on AD integrated application Multimaster replication Improved Scalability Centralized management ...

Active Directory usage

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol LDAP is the industry standard directory access protocol, making Active Directory widely accessible to management and query applications. Active Directory supports LDAPv3 and LDAPv2. Kerberos-based authentication DNS-based naming and other network information Central location for network administration and delegation of authority Information security and single sign-on for user access to networked based resources The ability to scale up or down easily Central storage location for application data Synchronization of directory updates amongst several servers

Active Directory
Builtin Tools to manage: Active Directory Domains & Trusts Active Directory Sites & Services Active Directory Users & Computers

Organizational units
Organizational units are Active Directory containers into which you can place users, groups, computers, and other organizational units. An organizational unit cannot contain objects from other domains.

Active Directory Structure

Active Directory Services

Naming Context Global Catalog
Active Directory Groups

Active Directory Naming Context

Domain
Configuration Schema
Example: cn=system administrator,dc=travelclick,dc=com cn=Carlos Vesga,ou=domainadmin,dc=travelclick,dc=com

Active Directory Global Catalog

Global catalog: A grand repository for all objects and the most frequently used attributes for each object in all domains. Each tree has one global catalog.

Active Directory Group Information

Security groups
Distribution groups Domain local, global, universal

Active Directory Group Information

Active Directory User Creation

Active Directory User Creation

Active Directory User Creation

Active Directory User Creation

User Management

User Management

User Management unlocking account

User Management Adding to groups

User Management Adding to groups

User Management Adding to groups

User Management Resetting Password

User Management Resetting Password

User Management Resetting Password

User Management Resetting Password

Password Policy
Minimum 8 character length Alphanumeric combination Atleast one Capital letter Special letter can be used

Recommended reading

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782657(WS.10).aspx