Essentials of Windows Active Directory

Set up Windows Server 2022 domain controllers, DC one and DC two, with 4 GB RAM each and IPs 192.168.1.254 and 192.168.1.253, enabling remote desktop for a lab-ready Active Directory.

Learn how to promote a Windows Server 2022 into a primary domain controller by installing Active Directory Domain Services, configuring DNS, and setting forest and domain functional levels.

Learn to verify a domain controller installation in Windows Active Directory by checking DNS records, AD tools, Netlogon and Sysvol, and Event Viewer.

Promote a second domain controller and add it to an existing domain using PowerShell, configure Active Directory Domain Services and DNS, and enable replication with a global catalog.

Explore Active Directory tools for managing a Windows Server 2022 domain, including Active Directory Administrative Center, Domains and Trusts, PowerShell module, Sites and Services, and Active Directory Users and Computers.

Explore core Active Directory tools, manage users, groups, computers, and organizational units with the graphical console and PowerShell module, and optimize sites, trusts, and schema for scalable authentication.

Add custom attributes in Active Directory via the schema master and attribute editor, then attach them to the user class and assign values.

Active Directory offers a centralized domain-based network to manage users and resources, with centralized administration, password policies and MFA, scalability, and integration with Exchange Server, SharePoint, and Office 365.

this lecture demonstrates creating a new domain user (user three) in Active Directory, setting the logon name, requiring a password change at first login, and logging in from a client.

Learn how computer accounts authenticate to Active Directory with passwords, recover from trust issues by resetting or deleting accounts, and rejoin the domain through renaming and workgroup changes.

Differentiate Active Directory containers from organizational units: containers hold objects but cannot be deleted or linked to group policy, while organizational units support GPO links and granular administration.

Learn to create and manage organizational units in Windows Active Directory, protect containers from accidental deletion, delegate control for helpdesk teams, and apply group policies within OUs.

Explore the Active Directory login flow in a lab, including how a client authenticates to a domain controller via the local DNS server using 127.0.0.1 and service location responses.

Explore how group policy centralizes management of Windows operating systems in Active Directory, covering security settings, software deployment, desktop customization, network resource access, and user experience.

Explore the four levels of group policy processing—local policy, site level, domain level, and OU level—and learn how OU policies are most commonly applied to all users and computers.

Create and link a new GPO to the India OU to govern desktops, laptops, and users. Apply computer configuration for pre-login policies and user configuration for post-login policies.

Create GPOs with the group policy management wizard, configuring computer and user policies, including device installation restrictions and drive map policies, with insights into selecting critical policies.

Explore read only domain controllers that hold a read-only partial Active Directory replica. See how selective replication uses allowed and denied groups to protect branch offices, reducing attack surface.

Deploy a read only domain controller at the Bombay branch office and configure the password replication policy to allow only selected users to replicate to the RDC.

Delete the compromised read-only domain controller to secure the environment. Reset passwords for accounts replicated to that RODC and rejoin affected computers.

Explore Active Directory sites and services, dns manager, and dns zones, then create Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad sites and subnets to enable service localization.

Develop understanding of Active Directory sites and services, configure site links between Pune and Mumbai, and manage replication frequency, schedules, and hub-and-spoke topology with cost-based path selection.

Explore Active Directory domain trust types: forest trusts, external trusts, and Kerberos realm trusts, and learn how one-way or two-way trusts enable cross-domain resource access.

Establish a DNS conditional forwarder and a two-way forest-wide trust between cyber security hub local and dhananjayan local, then test DNS resolution and cross-domain folder sharing.