Active Directory Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D. © N. Ganesan, Ph.D. , All rights reserved. References • Technical overview of Windows 2003 Active Directory • Introduction to Windows 2003 Active Directory in application mode • Windows 2003 Reviewer’s Guide Agenda • What is Active Directory • Building an Active Directory • Using Active Directory Features • Active Directory Objects • Auditing Active Directory Group Names • Contributions made by – – – – Charles Guzman Daniel Gebretensai Ervand Akopyan Hovik Gharadaghi Introduction to Active Directory Overview of Active Directory • Directory services of the Windows server system • Stores information about network object and makes the information available to administrators, users, and applications • Provides a single point of network management allowing people to add, remove, and relocate users and resources easily • Integrated with Internet’s hierarchical domain naming system Active Directory Properties • Integration with DNS • Flexible querying • Information security • Simplified administration • Scalability Object and Schema • Objects are the basic entities that constitute the Active Directory – Each object will have it own globally unique identifier (GUID) • Schema – Describes the object classes – Defines the attributes for the object classes Structural Components • Objects based hierarchical structure with constructs – – – – – – Domains Trees Forests Trust relationships Organizational Units Sites A Simple Active Directory Structure Active Directory and DNS Integration Tree Parent and child domains in a domain tree. Double-headed arrows indicate two-way transitive trust relationships Forests One forest with three domain trees. The three root domains are not contiguous with each other, but EuropeRoot.com and AsiaRoot.com are child domains of HQ-Root.com. Internal Trusts in a Forest Shortcut trusts between Domains B and D, and between Domains D and 2 Trust Relationships • Transitive • Two-way • Shortcut trusts • External trusts Trust Relationships Organizational Units Intra-site replication with just one domain . Trust Relationships Intra-site replication with two domains and two global catalogs Directory Protocols • Based on standard directory protocols • Interoperate with other protocols • Example: LDAP – LDAP it is used to add, modify, delete and query information stored in AD – LDAP to AD is like SQL to Oracle – LDAP determines how a client can access the directory, operations within the directory and share directory data Active Directory Security • Based on Kerberos • Supports multiple security configurations for cross platform interoperability – Clients: A domain controller will authenticate clients running RFC-1510 Kerberos. This will include other clients running other operating systems. – Unix clients and services: A Kerberos principal is mapped to a Windows 2000 user or computer account Installation Of Active Directory Requirements • The computer must be Windows 2k, 2k3 Server, Advanced Server or Datacenter Server. • At least one volume on the computer must be formatted with NTFS. • DNS must be active on the network prior to AD installation or be installed during AD installation. • DNS must support SRV records and be dynamic. • The computer must have IP protocol installed and have a static IP address. • The Kerberos v5 authentication protocol must be installed. • Time and zone information must be correct. DCPROMO Role of DNS •Clients use DNS to locate Active Directory controllers. •Servers and client computers register their names and IP addresses with the DNS server Managing Active Directory Creating a Child Domain Requirements • Existing Domain • Member Server Managing Objects in Active Directory Frequently Managed Objects • Users • Computers • Groups Managing Users Managing Computers A Client Joining a Domain Managing Groups Group Policy Feature • Defines the various components of the users desktop environment that an administrator must manage • Applies not only to user and client computers but also to member servers, domain controllers, and other 2003 server in scope of management Group Policy cont’d • Manage registry-based policy with Administrative Templates • Assign scripts. This includes scripts such as computer startup, shutdown, logon, and logoff • redirect folders, such as My Documents and My Pictures, from the Documents and Settings folder on the local computer to network locations Configuring a Custom Console Adding a Group Policy Object Auditing Auditing • Audit related functional activities Some Auditable Activities • • • • • • • Account logon and logon events Object access Account management Directory service access Policy change System events Process tracking • Privilege Some Auditing Function • Logon/Logout • User access to resources – File, folder, registry key, printer etc. • Account management – Create users and groups, modify membership, change password etc. • Systems events – Service start/stop • Directory service access – User’ access to Active Directory objects The list of auditing options References • www.microsoft.com • www.windowsitpro.com • www.visualwin.com • http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/w indowsserver2003/library/DepKit/d2ff1315-171248e4-acdc-8cae1b593eb1.mspx • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active%5FDirectory • http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtec hnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/dire ctory/activedirectory/stepbystep/domcntrl. mspx#EFAA The End