Technical Interview Questions – Active Directory

• What is Active Directory?

An active directory is a directory structure used on Microsoft Windows based computers and servers to

store information and data about networks and domains. It is primarily used for online information and

was originally created in 1996. It was first used with Windows 2000.

An active directory (sometimes referred to as an AD) does a variety of functions including the ability to

rovide information on objects, helps organize these objects for easy retrieval and access, allows access by

end users and administrators and allows the administrator to set security up for the directory.

Active Directory is a hierarchical collection of network resources that can contain users, computers,

printers, and other Active Directories. Active Directory Services (ADS) allow administrators to handle and

maintain all network resources from a single location . Active Directory stores information and settings in a

central database

· What is LDAP?

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, or LDAP , is an application protocol for querying and modifying

directory services running over TCP/IP. Although not yet widely implemented, LDAP should eventually make

it possible for almost any application running on virtually any computer platform to obtain directory

information, such as email addresses and public keys. Because LDAP is an open protocol, applications need

not worry about the type of server hosting the directory.

· Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few options.

-Yes you can connect other vendors Directory Services with Microsoft’s version.

-Yes, you can use dirXML or LDAP to connect to other directories (ie. E-directory from Novell or NDS (Novel

directory System).

-Yes you can Connect Active Directory to other 3rd -party Directory Services such as dictonaries used by

SAP, Domino etc with the help of MIIS ( Microsoft Identity Integration Server )

· Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?

AD Database is saved in %systemroot%/ntds. You can see other files also in this folder. These are the main

files controlling the AD structure

ntds.dit

edb.log

res1.log

res2.log

edb.chk

When a change is made to the Win2K database, triggering a write operation, Win2K records the transaction

in the log file (edb.log). Once written to the log file, the change is then written to the AD database. System

performance determines how fast the system writes the data to the AD database from the log file. Any time

the system is shut down, all transactions are saved to the database.

During the installation of AD, Windows creates two files: res1.log and res2.log. The initial size of each is

10MB. These files are used to ensure that changes can be written to disk should the system run out of free

disk space. The checkpoint file (edb.chk) records transactions committed to the AD database (ntds.dit).

During shutdown, a “shutdown” statement is written to the edb.chk file. Then, during a reboot, AD

determines that all transactions in the edb.log file have been committed to the AD database. If, for some

reason, the edb.chk file doesn’t exist on reboot or the shutdown statement isn’t present, AD will use the

edb.log file to update the AD database.

The last file in our list of files to know is the AD database itself, ntds.dit. By default, the file is located

in\NTDS, along with the other files we’ve discussed

· What is the SYSVOL folder?

- All active directory data base security related information store in SYSVOL folder and its only created on

NTFS partition.

- The Sysvol folder on a Windows domain controller is used to replicate file-based data among domain

controllers. Because junctions are used within the Sysvol folder structure, Windows NT file system (NTFS)

version 5.0 is required on domain controllers throughout a Windows distributed file system (DFS) forest.

This is a quote from microsoft themselves, basically the domain controller info stored in files like your

group policy stuff is replicated through this folder structure

· Name the AD NCs and replication issues for each NC

*Schema NC, *Configuration NC, Domain NC

Schema NC This NC is replicated to every other domain controller in the forest. It contains information

about the Active Directory schema, which in turn defines the different object classes and attributes within

Active Directory.

Configuration NC Also replicated to every other DC in the forest, this NC contains forest-wide

configuration information pertaining to the physical layout of Active Directory, as well as information about

display specifiers and forest-wide Active Directory quotas.

Domain NC This NC is replicated to every other DC within a single Active Directory domain. This is the NC

that contains the most commonly-accessed Active Directory data: the actual users, groups, computers, and

other objects that reside within a particular Active Directory domain.

· What are application partitions? When do I use them

Application directory partitions: These are specific to Windows Server 2003 domains.

An application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific domain

controllers. A domain controller that participates in the replication of a particular application directory

partition hosts a replica of that partition. Only Domain controllers running Windows Server 2003 can host a

replica of an application directory partition.

· How do you create a new application partition

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_create_a_new_application_partition

· How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?

By using replication monitor

go to start > run > type replmon

· What is the Global Catalog?

The global catalog contains a complete replica of all objects in Active Directory for its Host domain, and

contains a partial replica of all objects in Active Directory for every other domain in the forest.

The global catalog is a distributed data repository that contains a searchable, partial representation of

every object in every domain in a multidomain Active Directory forest. The global catalog is stored on

domain controllers that have been designated as global catalog servers and is distributed through

multimaster replication. Searches that are directed to the global catalog are faster because they do not

involve referrals to different domain controllers.

In addition to configuration and schema directory partition replicas, every domain controller in a Windows

2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 forest stores a full, writable replica of a single domain directory

partition. Therefore, a domain controller can locate only the objects in its domain. Locating an object in a

different domain would require the user or application to provide the domain of the requested object.

The global catalog provides the ability to locate objects from any domain without having to know the

domain name. A global catalog server is a domain controller that, in addition to its full, writable domain

directory partition replica, also stores a partial, read-only replica of all other domain directory partitions in

the forest. The additional domain directory partitions are partial because only a limited set of attributes is

included for each object. By including only the attributes that are most used for searching, every object in

every domain in even the largest forest can be represented in the database of a single global catalog

server.

· How do you view all the GCs in the forest?

C:\>repadmin/showreps

domain_controller

OR

You can use Replmon.exe for the same purpose.

OR

AD Sites and Services and nslookup gc._msdcs.%USERDNSDOMAIN%

· Why not make all DCs in a large forest as GCs?

The reason that all DCs are not GCs to start is that in large (or even Giant) forests the DCs would all have to

hold a reference to every object in the entire forest which could be quite large and quite a replication

burden.

For a few hundred, or a few thousand users even, this not likely to matter unless you have really poor WAN

lines.

· Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?

adsiedit.exe

option to view the schema

register schmmgmt.dll using this command

c:\windows\system32>regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

Open mmc –> add snapin –> add Active directory schema

name it as schema.msc

Open administrative tool –> schema.msc

· What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?

Support Tools are the tools that are used for performing the complicated tasks easily. These can also be

the third party tools. Some of the Support tools include DebugViewer, DependencyViewer, RegistryMonitor,

etc. -edit by Casquehead I beleive this question is reffering to the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools,

which are included with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. They are also available for

download here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=96A35011-FD83-419D-939BA772EA2DF90&

displaylang=en

You need them because you cannot properly manage an Active Directory network without them.

Here they are, it would do you well to familiarize yourself with all of them.

Acldiag.exe

Adsiedit.msc

Bitsadmin.exe

Dcdiag.exe

Dfsutil.exe

Dnslint.exe

Dsacls.exe

Iadstools.dll

Ktpass.exe

Ldp.exe

Netdiag.exe

Netdom.exe

Ntfrsutl.exe

Portqry.exe

Repadmin.exe

Replmon.exe

Setspn.exe

> What is REPLMON? What is ADSIEDIT? What is NETDOM? What is REPADMIN?

ADSIEdit is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that acts as a low-level editor for Active

Directory. It is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool. Network administrators can use it for common

administrative tasks such as adding, deleting, and moving objects with a directory service. The attributes

for each object can be edited or deleted by using this tool. ADSIEdit uses the ADSI application

programming interfaces (APIs) to access Active Directory. The following are the required files for using this

tool:

. ADSIEDIT.DLL

. ADSIEDIT.MSC

Regarding system requirements, a connection to an Active Directory environment and Microsoft

Management Console (MMC) is necessary

A: Replmon is the first tool you should use when troubleshooting Active Directory replication issues. As it is

a graphical tool, replication issues are easy to see and somewhat easier to diagnose than using its

command line counterparts. The purpose of this document is to guide you in how to use it, list some

common replication errors and show some examples of when replication issues can stop other network

installation actions.

for more go to http://www.techtutorials.net/articles/replmon_howto_a.html

NETDOM is a command-line tool that allows management of Windows domains and trust relationships. It is

used for batch management of trusts, joining computers to domains, verifying trusts, and secure channels

A:

Enables administrators to manage Active Directory domains and trust relationships from the command

prompt.

Netdom is a command-line tool that is built into Windows Server 2008. It is available if you have the Active

Directory Domain Services (AD DS) server role installed. To use netdom, you must run

the netdom command from an elevated command prompt. To open an elevated command prompt,

click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

REPADMIN.EXE is a command line tool used to monitor and troubleshoot replication on a computer running

Windows. This is a command line tool that allows you to view the replication topology as seen from the

perspective of each domain controller.

REPADMIN is a built-in Windows diagnostic command-line utility that works at the Active Directory level.

Although specific to Windows, it is also useful for diagnosing some Exchange replication problems, since

Exchange Server is Active Directory based.

REPADMIN doesn’t actually fix replication problems for you. But, you can use it to help determine the

source of a malfunction.

· What are sites? What are they used for?

Active directory sites, which consist of well-connected networks defined by IP subnets that help define the

physical structure of your AD, give you much better control over replication traffic and authentication

traffic than the control you get with Windows NT 4.0 domains.

Using Active Directory, the network and its objects are organized by constructs such as domains, trees,

forests, trust relationships, organizational units (OUs), and sites.

· What’s the difference between a site link’s schedule and interval?

Schedule enables you to list weekdays or hours when the site link is available for replication to happen in

the give interval. Interval is the re occurrence of the inter site replication in given minutes. It ranges from

15 – 10,080 mins. The default interval is 180 mins.

· What is the KCC?

The KCC is a built-in process that runs on all domain controllers and generates replication topology for the

Active Directory forest. The KCC creates separate replication topologies depending on whether replication

is occurring within a site (intrasite) or between sites (intersite). The KCC also dynamically adjusts the

topology to accommodate new domain controllers, domain controllers moved to and from sites, changing

costs and schedules, and domain controllers that are temporarily unavailable.

· What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?

Intersite Topology Generator (ISTG), which is responsible for the connections among the sites. By default

Windows 2003 Forest level functionality has this role. By Default the first Server has this role. If that server

can no longer preform this role then the next server with the highest GUID then takes over the role of ISTG.

·

What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?

. An NTFS partition with enough free space (250MB minimum)

. An Administrator’s username and password

. The correct operating system version

. A NIC

. Properly configured TCP/IP (IP address, subnet mask and – optional – default gateway)

. A network connection (to a hub or to another computer via a crossover cable)

. An operational DNS server (which can be installed on the DC itself)

. A Domain name that you want to use

. The Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 CD media (or at least the i386 folder)

From the Petri IT Knowledge base. For more info, follow this link:

http://www.petri.co.il/active_directory_installation_requirements.htm

· What can you do to promote a server to DC if you’re in a remote location with slow WAN link?

First available in Windows 2003, you will create a copy of the system state from an existing DC and copy it

to the new remote server. Run “Dcpromo /adv”. You will be prompted for the location of the system state

files

· How can you forcibly remove AD from a server, and what do you do later? • Can I get user passwords

from the AD database?

Demote the server using dcpromo /forceremoval, then remove the metadata from Active directory using

ndtsutil. There is no way to get user passwords from AD that I am aware of, but you should still be able to

change them.

Another way out too

Restart the DC is DSRM mode

a. Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ProductOptions

b. In the right-pane, double-click ProductType.

c. Type ServerNT in the Value data box, and then click OK.

Restart the server in normal mode

its a member server now but AD entries are still there. Promote teh server to a fake domain say ABC.com

and then remove gracefully using DCpromo. Else after restart you can also use ntdsutil to do metadata as

told in teh earlier post

· What tool would I use to try to grab security related packets from the wire?

you must use sniffer-detecting tools to help stop the snoops. … A good packet sniffer would be “ethereal”

www.ethereal.com

· Name some OU design considerations ?

OU design requires balancing requirements for delegating administrative rights – independent of Group

Policy needs – and the need to scope the application of Group Policy. The following OU design

recommendations address delegation and scope issues:

Applying Group Policy An OU is the lowest-level Active Directory container to which you can assign Group

Policy settings.

Delegating administrative authority

usually don’t go more than 3 OU levels

· What is tombstone lifetime attribute?

The number of days before a deleted object is removed from the directory services. This assists in

removing objects from replicated servers and preventing restores from reintroducing a deleted object. This

value is in the Directory Service object in the configuration NIC by default 2000 (60 days) 2003 (180 days)

·

What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 DC in a Windows 2000 AD?

If you plan to install windows 2003 server domain controllers into an existing windows 2000 domain or

upgrade a windows 2000 domain controllers to windows server 2003, you first need to run the Adprep.exe

utility on the windows 2000 domain controllers currently holding the schema master and infrastructure

master roles. The adprep / forestprer command must first be issued on the windows 2000 server holding

schema master role in the forest root doman to prepare the existing schema to support windows 2003

active directory. The adprep /domainprep command must be issued on the sever holding the infrastructure

master role in the domain where 2000 server will be deployed.

· What do you do to install a new Windows 2003 R2 DC in a Windows 2003 AD?

A. If you’re installing Windows 2003 R2 on an existing Windows 2003 server with SP1 installed, you require

only the second R2 CD-ROM. Insert the second CD and the r2auto.exe will display the Windows 2003 R2

Continue Setup screen.

If you’re installing R2 on a domain controller (DC), you must first upgrade the schema to the R2 version

(this is a minor change and mostly related to the new Dfs replication engine). To update the schema, run

the Adprep utility, which you’ll find in the Cmpnents\r2\adprep folder on the second CD-ROM. Before

running this command, ensure all DCs are running Windows 2003 or Windows 2000 with SP2 (or later)

· How would you find all users that have not logged on since last month?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_would_you_find_all_users_that_have_not_logged_on_since_last_month

· What are the DScommands?

New DS (Directory Service) Family of built-in command line utilities for Windows Server 2003 Active

Directory

New DS built-in tools for Windows Server 2003

The DS (Directory Service) group of commands are split into two families. In one branch are DSadd, DSmod,

DSrm and DSMove and in the other branch are DSQuery and DSGet.

When it comes to choosing a scripting tool for Active Directory objects, you really are spoilt for choice. The

the DS family of built-in command line executables offer alternative strategies to CSVDE, LDIFDE and

VBScript.

Let me introduce you to the members of the DS family:

DSadd – add Active Directory users and groups

DSmod – modify Active Directory objects

DSrm – to delete Active Directory objects

DSmove – to relocate objects

DSQuery – to find objects that match your query attributes

DSget – list the properties of an object

· What are the FSMO roles? Who has them by default? What happens when each one fails?

FSMO stands for the Flexible single Master Operation

It has 5 Roles: -

· Schema Master:

The schema master domain controller controls all updates and modifications to the schema. Once the

Schema update is complete, it is replicated from the schema master to all other DCs in the directory. To

update the schema of a forest, you must have access to the schema master. There can be only one schema

master in the whole forest.

· Domain naming master:

The domain naming master domain controller controls the addition or removal of domains in the forest.

This DC is the only one that can add or remove a domain from the directory. It can also add or remove

cross references to domains in external directories. There can be only one domain naming master in the

whole forest.

· Infrastructure Master:

When an object in one domain is referenced by another object in another domain, it represents the

reference by the GUID, the SID (for references to security principals), and the DN of the object being

referenced. The infrastructure FSMO role holder is the DC responsible for updating an object’s SID and

distinguished name in a cross-domain object reference. At any one time, there can be only one domain

controller acting as the infrastructure master in each domain.

Note: The Infrastructure Master (IM) role should be held by a domain controller that is not a Global Catalog

server (GC). If the Infrastructure Master runs on a Global Catalog server it will stop updating object

information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is because a

Global Catalog server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest. As a result, cross-domain object

references in that domain will not be updated and a warning to that effect will be logged on that DC’s event

log. If all the domain controllers in a domain also host the global catalog, all the domain controllers have

the current data, and it is not important which domain controller holds the infrastructure master role.

· Relative ID (RID) Master:

The RID master is responsible for processing RID pool requests from all domain controllers in a particular

domain. When a DC creates a security principal object such as a user or group, it attaches a unique Security

ID (SID) to the object. This SID consists of a domain SID (the same for all SIDs created in a domain), and a

relative ID (RID) that is unique for each security principal SID created in a domain. Each DC in a domain is

allocated a pool of RIDs that it is allowed to assign to the security principals it creates. When a DC’s

allocated RID pool falls below a threshold, that DC issues a request for additional RIDs to the domain’s RID

master. The domain RID master responds to the request by retrieving RIDs from the domain’s unallocated

RID pool and assigns them to the pool of the requesting DC. At any one time, there can be only one

domain controller acting as the RID master in the domain.

· PDC Emulator:

The PDC emulator is necessary to synchronize time in an enterprise. Windows 2000/2003 includes the

W32Time (Windows Time) time service that is required by the Kerberos authentication protocol. All

Windows 2000/2003-based computers within an enterprise use a common time. The purpose of the time

service is to ensure that the Windows Time service uses a hierarchical relationship that controls authority

and does not permit loops to ensure appropriate common time usage.

The PDC emulator of a domain is authoritative for the domain. The PDC emulator at the root of the forest

becomes authoritative for the enterprise, and should be configured to gather the time from an external

source. All PDC FSMO role holders follow the hierarchy of domains in the selection of their in-bound time

partner.

:: In a Windows 2000/2003 domain, the PDC emulator role holder retains the following functions:

:: Password changes performed by other DCs in the domain are replicated preferentially to the PDC

emulator.

Authentication failures that occur at a given DC in a domain because of an incorrect password are

forwarded to the PDC emulator before a bad password failure message is reported to the user.

Account lockout is processed on the PDC emulator.

Editing or creation of Group Policy Objects (GPO) is always done from the GPO copy found in the PDC

Emulator’s SYSVOL share, unless configured not to do so by the administrator.

The PDC emulator performs all of the functionality that a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server-based PDC or

earlier PDC performs for Windows NT 4.0-based or earlier clients.

This part of the PDC emulator role becomes unnecessary when all workstations, member servers, and

domain controllers that are running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier are all upgraded to Windows 2000/2003.

The PDC emulator still performs the other functions as described in a Windows 2000/2003 environment.

· What FSMO placement considerations do you know of?

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called FSMO

(Flexible Single Master Operation), as described in Understanding FSMO Roles in Active Directory.

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders (all 5 of them) in the same spot (or actually,

on the same DC) as has been configured by the Active Directory installation process. However, there are

scenarios where an administrator would want to move one or more of the FSMO roles from the default

holder DC to a different DC.

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory is a bit different than the Windows 2000 version when dealing with

FSMO placement. In this article I will only deal with Windows Server 2003 Active Directory, but you should

bear in mind that most considerations are also true when planning Windows 2000 AD FSMO roles

· What’s the difference between transferring a FSMO role and seizing one? Which one should you NOT

seize? Why?

Certain domain and enterprise-wide operations that are not good for multi-master updates are performed

by a single domain controller in an Active Directory domain or forest. The domain controllers that are

assigned to perform these unique operations are called operations masters or FSMO role holders.

The following list describes the 5 unique FSMO roles in an Active Directory forest and the dependent

operations that they perform:

· Schema master – The Schema master role is forest-wide and there is one for each forest. This role is

required to extend the schema of an Active Directory forest or to run theadprep

/domainprep command.

· Domain naming master – The Domain naming master role is forest-wide and there is one for each

forest. This role is required to add or remove domains or application partitions to or from a forest.

· RID master – The RID master role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This role is required

to allocate the RID pool so that new or existing domain controllers can create user accounts, computer

accounts or security groups.

· PDC emulator – The PDC emulator role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This role is

required for the domain controller that sends database updates to Windows NT backup domain

controllers. The domain controller that owns this role is also targeted by certain administration tools

and updates to user account and computer account passwords.

· Infrastructure master – The Infrastructure master role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain.

This role is required for domain controllers to run the adprep /forestprep command successfully and to

update SID attributes and distinguished name attributes for objects that are referenced across domains.

The Active Directory Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe) assigns all 5 FSMO roles to the first domain

controller in the forest root domain. The first domain controller in each new child or tree domain is

assigned the three domain-wide roles. Domain controllers continue to own FSMO roles until they are

reassigned by using one of the following methods:

· An administrator reassigns the role by using a GUI administrative tool.

· An administrator reassigns the role by using the ntdsutil /roles command.

· An administrator gracefully demotes a role-holding domain controller by using the Active Directory

Installation Wizard. This wizard reassigns any locally-held roles to an existing domain controller in the

forest. Demotions that are performed by using the dcpromo /forceremoval command leave FSMO roles

in an invalid state until they are reassigned by an administrator.

We recommend that you transfer FSMO roles in the following scenarios:

· The current role holder is operational and can be accessed on the network by the new FSMO owner.

· You are gracefully demoting a domain controller that currently owns FSMO roles that you want to assign

to a specific domain controller in your Active Directory forest.

· The domain controller that currently owns FSMO roles is being taken offline for scheduled maintenance

and you need specific FSMO roles to be assigned to a “live” domain controller. This may be required to

perform operations that connect to the FSMO owner. This would be especially true for the PDC Emulator

role but less true for the RID master role, the Domain naming master role and the Schema master roles.

We recommend that you seize FSMO roles in the following scenarios:

· The current role holder is experiencing an operational error that prevents an FSMO-dependent

operation from completing successfully and that role cannot be transferred.

· A domain controller that owns an FSMO role is force-demoted by using the dcpromo

/forceremoval command.

· The operating system on the computer that originally owned a specific role no longer exists or has been

reinstalled.

As replication occurs, non-FSMO domain controllers in the domain or forest gain full knowledge of changes

that are made by FSMO-holding domain controllers. If you must transfer a role, the best candidate domain

controller is one that is in the appropriate domain that last inbound-replicated, or recently inboundreplicated

a writable copy of the “FSMO partition” from the existing role holder. For example, the Schema

master role-holder has a distinguished name path of CN=schema,CN=configuration,dc=<forest root

domain>, and this mean that roles reside in and are replicated as part of the CN=schema partition. If the

domain controller that holds the Schema master role experiences a hardware or software failure, a good

candidate role-holder would be a domain controller in the root domain and in the same Active Directory

site as the current owner. Domain controllers in the same Active Directory site perform inbound replication

every 5 minutes or 15 seconds.

A domain controller whose FSMO roles have been seized should not be permitted to communicate with

existing domain controllers in the forest. In this scenario, you should either format the hard disk and

reinstall the operating system on such domain controllers or forcibly demote such domain controllers on a

private network and then remove their metadata on a surviving domain controller in the forest by using

the ntdsutil /metadata cleanup command. The risk of introducing a former FSMO role holder whose role

has been seized into the forest is that the original role holder may continue to operate as before until it

inbound-replicates knowledge of the role seizure. Known risks of two domain controllers owning the same

FSMO roles include creating security principals that have overlapping RID pools, and other problems.

Transfer FSMO roles

To transfer the FSMO roles by using the Ntdsutil utility, follow these steps:

1. Log on to a Windows 2000 Server-based or Windows Server 2003-based member computer or domain

controller that is located in the forest where FSMO roles are being transferred. We recommend that you

log on to the domain controller that you are assigning FSMO roles to. The logged-on user should be a

member of the Enterprise Administrators group to transfer Schema master or Domain naming master

roles, or a member of the Domain Administrators group of the domain where the PDC emulator, RID

master and the Infrastructure master roles are being transferred.

2. Click Start, click Run, type ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.

3. Type roles, and then press ENTER.Note To see a list of available commands at any one of the prompts in

the Ntdsutil utility, type ?, and then press ENTER.

4. Type connections, and then press ENTER.

5. Type connect to server servername, and then press ENTER, where servername is the name of the domain

controller you want to assign the FSMO role to.

6. At the server connections prompt, type q, and then press ENTER.

7. Type transfer role, where role is the role that you want to transfer. For a list of roles that you can

transfer, type ? at the fsmo maintenance prompt, and then press ENTER, or see the list of roles at the

start of this article. For example, to transfer the RID master role, type transfer rid master. The one

exception is for the PDC emulator role, whose syntax is transfer pdc, not transfer pdc emulator.

8. At the fsmo maintenance prompt, type q, and then press ENTER to gain access to the ntdsutil prompt.

Type q, and then press ENTER to quit the Ntdsutil utility.

Seize FSMO roles

To seize the FSMO roles by using the Ntdsutil utility, follow these steps:

1. Log on to a Windows 2000 Server-based or Windows Server 2003-based member computer or domain

controller that is located in the forest where FSMO roles are being seized. We recommend that you log

on to the domain controller that you are assigning FSMO roles to. The logged-on user should be a

member of the Enterprise Administrators group to transfer schema or domain naming master roles, or a

member of the Domain Administrators group of the domain where the PDC emulator, RID master and

the Infrastructure master roles are being transferred.

2. Click Start, click Run, type ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK.

3. Type roles, and then press ENTER.

4. Type connections, and then press ENTER.

5. Type connect to server servername, and then press ENTER, where servername is the name of the domain

controller that you want to assign the FSMO role to.

6. At the server connections prompt, type q, and then press ENTER.

7. Type seize role, where role is the role that you want to seize. For a list of roles that you can seize, type ?

at the fsmo maintenance prompt, and then press ENTER, or see the list of roles at the start of this

article. For example, to seize the RID master role, type seize rid master. The one exception is for the

PDC emulator role, whose syntax is seize pdc, not seize pdc emulator.

8. At the fsmo maintenance prompt, type q, and then press ENTER to gain access to the ntdsutil prompt.

Type q, and then press ENTER to quit the Ntdsutil utility.Notes

o Under typical conditions, all five roles must be assigned to “live” domain controllers in the

forest. If a domain controller that owns a FSMO role is taken out of service before its roles are

transferred, you must seize all roles to an appropriate and healthy domain controller. We

recommend that you only seize all roles when the other domain controller is not returning to

the domain. If it is possible, fix the broken domain controller that is assigned the FSMO roles.

You should determine which roles are to be on which remaining domain controllers so that all

five roles are assigned to a single domain controller. For more information about FSMO role

placement, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge

Base: 223346 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223346/ ) FSMO placement and optimization

on Windows 2000 domain controllers

o If the domain controller that formerly held any FSMO role is not present in the domain and if it

has had its roles seized by using the steps in this article, remove it from the Active Directory by

following the procedure that is outlined in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

216498 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498/ ) How to remove data in active directory

after an unsuccessful domain controller demotion

o Removing domain controller metadata with the Windows 2000 version or the Windows Server

2003 build 3790 version of the ntdsutil /metadata cleanup command does not relocate FSMO

roles that are assigned to live domain controllers. The Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

(SP1) version of the Ntdsutil utility automates this task and removes additional elements of

domain controller metadata.

o Some customers prefer not to restore system state backups of FSMO role-holders in case the

role has been reassigned since the backup was made.

o Do not put the Infrastructure master role on the same domain controller as the global catalog

server. If the Infrastructure master runs on a global catalog server it stops updating object

information because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not hold. This is

because a global catalog server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest.

To test whether a domain controller is also a global catalog server:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and

Services.

2. Double-click Sites in the left pane, and then locate the appropriate site or click Default-first-sitename

if no other sites are available.

3. Open the Servers folder, and then click the domain controller.

4. In the domain controller’s folder, double-click NTDS Settings.

5. On the Action menu, click Properties.

6. On the General tab, view the Global Catalog check box to see if it is selected.

For more information about FSMO roles, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the

Microsoft Knowledge Base:

· How do you configure a “stand-by operation master” for any of the roles?

1. Open Active Directory Sites and Services.

2. Expand the site name in which the standby operations master is located to display the Servers folder.

3. Expand the Servers folder to see a list of the servers in that site.

4. Expand the name of the server that you want to be the standby operations master to display its NTDS

Settings.

5. Right-click NTDS Settings, click New, and then click Connection.

6. In the Find Domain Controllers dialog box, select the name of the current role holder, and then click OK.

7. In the New Object-Connection dialog box, enter an appropriate name for the Connection object or

accept the default name, and click OK.

· How do you backup AD?

Backing up Active Directory is essential to maintain an Active Directory database. You can back up Active

Directory by using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and command-line tools that the Windows Server

2003 family provides.

You frequently backup the system state data on domain controllers so that you can restore the most

current data. By establishing a regular backup schedule, you have a better chance of recovering data when

necessary.

To ensure a good backup includes at least the system state data and contents of the system disk, you must

be aware of the tombstone lifetime. By default, the tombstone is 60 days. Any backup older than 60 days is

not a good backup. Plan to backup at least two domain controllers in each domain, one of at least one

backup to enable an authoritative restore of the data when necessary.

System State Data

Several features in the windows server 2003 family make it easy to backup Active Directory. You can

backup Active Directory while the server is online and other network function can continue to function.

System state data on a domain controller includes the following components:

Active Directory system state data does not contain Active Directory unless the server, on which you are

backing up the system state data, is a domain controller. Active Directory is present only on domain

controllers.

The SYSVOL shared folder: This shared folder contains Group policy templates and logon scripts. The

SYSVOL shared folder is present only on domain controllers.

The Registry: This database repository contains information about the computer’s configuration.

System startup files: Windows Server 2003 requires these files during its initial startup phase. They include

the boot and system files that are under windows file protection and used by windows to load, configure,

and run the operating system.

The COM+ Class Registration database: The Class registration is a database of information about

Component Services applications.

The Certificate Services database: This database contains certificates that a server running Windows server

2003 uses to authenticate users. The Certificate Services database is present only if the server is operating

as a certificate server.

System state data contains most elements of a system’s configuration, but it may not include all of the

information that you require recovering data from a system failure. Therefore, be sure to backup all boot

and system volumes, including the System State, when you back up your server.

Restoring Active Directory

In Windows Server 2003 family, you can restore the Active Directory database if it becomes corrupted or is

destroyed because of hardware or software failures. You must restore the Active Directory database when

objects in Active Directory are changed or deleted.

Active Directory restore can be performed in several ways. Replication synchronizes the latest changes

from every other replication partner. Once the replication is finished each partner has an updated version

of Active Directory. There is another way to get these latest updates by Backup utility to restore replicated

data from a backup copy. For this restore you don’t need to configure again your domain controller or no

need to install the operating system from scratch.

Active Directory Restore Methods

You can use one of the three methods to restore Active Directory from backup media: primary restore,

normal (non authoritative) restore, and authoritative restore.

Primary restore: This method rebuilds the first domain controller in a domain when there is no other way to

rebuild the domain. Perform a primary restore only when all the domain controllers in the domain are lost,

and you want to rebuild the domain from the backup.

Members of Administrators group can perform the primary restore on local computer, or user should have

been delegated with this responsibility to perform restore. On a domain controller only Domain Admins can

perform this restore.

Normal restore: This method reinstates the Active Directory data to the state before the backup, and then

updates the data through the normal replication process. Perform a normal restore for a single domain

controller to a previously known good state.

Authoritative restore: You perform this method in tandem with a normal restore. An authoritative restore

marks specific data as current and prevents the replication from overwriting that data. The authoritative

data is then replicated through the domain.

Perform an authoritative restore individual object in a domain that has multiple domain controllers. When

you perform an authoritative restore, you lose all changes to the restore object that occurred after the

backup. Ntdsutil is a command line utility to perform an authoritative restore along with windows server

2003 system utilities. The Ntdsutil command-line tool is an executable file that you use to mark Active

Directory objects as authoritative so that they receive a higher version recently changed data on other

domain controllers does not overwrite system state data during replication.

· How do you restore AD?

Restoring Active Directory :

In Windows Server 2003 family, you can restore the Active Directory database if it becomes corrupted or is

destroyed because of hardware or software failures. You must restore the Active Directory database when

objects in Active Directory are changed or deleted.

Active Directory restore can be performed in several ways. Replication synchronizes the latest changes

from every other replication partner. Once the replication is finished each partner has an updated version

of Active Directory. There is another way to get these latest updates by Backup utility to restore replicated

data from a backup copy. For this restore you don’t need to configure again your domain controller or no

need to install the operating system from scratch.

Active Directory Restore Methods

You can use one of the three methods to restore Active Directory from backup media: primary restore,

normal (non authoritative) restore, and authoritative restore.

Primary restore: This method rebuilds the first domain controller in a domain when there is no other way to

rebuild the domain. Perform a primary restore only when all the domain controllers in the domain are lost,

and you want to rebuild the domain from the backup.

Members of Administrators group can perform the primary restore on local computer, or user should have

been delegated with this responsibility to perform restore. On a domain controller only Domain Admins can

perform this restore.

Normal restore: This method reinstates the Active Directory data to the state before the backup, and then

updates the data through the normal replication process. Perform a normal restore for a single domain

controller to a previously known good state.

Authoritative restore: You perform this method in tandem with a normal restore. An authoritative restore

marks specific data as current and prevents the replication from overwriting that data. The authoritative

data is then replicated through the domain.

Perform an authoritative restore individual object in a domain that has multiple domain controllers. When

you perform an authoritative restore, you lose all changes to the restore object that occurred after the

backup. Ntdsutil is a command line utility to perform an authoritative restore along with windows server

2003 system utilities. The Ntdsutil command-line tool is an executable file that you use to mark Active

Directory objects as authoritative so that they receive a higher version recently changed data on other

domain controllers does not overwrite system state data during replication.

METHOD

A.

You can’t restore Active Directory (AD) to a domain controller (DC) while the Directory Service (DS) is

running. To restore AD, perform the following steps.

Reboot the computer.

At the boot menu, select Windows 2000 Server. Don’t press Enter. Instead, press F8 for advanced options.

You’ll see the following text. OS Loader V5.0

Windows NT Advanced Options Menu

Please select an option:

Safe Mode

Safe Mode with Networking

Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging

Enable VGA Mode

Last Known Good Configuration

Directory Services Restore Mode (Windows NT domain controllers only)

Debugging Mode

Use | and | to move the highlight to your choice.

Press Enter to choose.

Scroll down, and select Directory Services Restore Mode (Windows NT domain controllers only).

Press Enter.

When you return to the Windows 2000 Server boot menu, press Enter. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll

see in red text Directory Services Restore Mode (Windows NT domain controllers only).

The computer will boot into a special safe mode and won’t start the DS. Be aware that during this time the

machine won’t act as a DC and won’t perform functions such as authentication.

Start NT Backup.

Select the Restore tab.

Select the backup media, and select System State.

Click Start Restore.

Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

After you restore the backup, reboot the computer and start in normal mode to use the restored

information. The computer might hang after the restore completes; Sometimes it takes a 30-minute wait

on some machines.

· How do you change the DS Restore admin password?

When you promote a Windows 2000 Server-based computer to a domain controller, you are prompted to

type a Directory Service Restore Mode Administrator password. This password is also used by Recovery

Console, and is separate from the Administrator password that is stored in Active Directory after a

completed promotion.

The Administrator password that you use when you start Recovery Console or when you press F8 to start

Directory Service Restore Mode is stored in the registry-based Security Accounts Manager (SAM) on the

local computer. The SAM is located in the\System32\Config folder. The SAM-based account and password

are computer specific and they are not replicated to other domain controllers in the domain.

For ease of administration of domain controllers or for additional security measures, you can change the

Administrator password for the local SAM. To change the local Administrator password that you use when

you start Recovery Console or when you start Directory Service Restore Mode, use the following method.

1. Log on to the computer as the administrator or a user who is a member of the Administrators group. 2.

Shut down the domain controller on which you want to change the password. 3. Restart the computer.

When the selection menu screen is displayed during restar, press F8 to view advanced startup options. 4.

Click the Directory Service Restore Mode option. 5. After you log on, use one of the following methods to

change the local Administrator password: • At a command prompt, type the following command:

net user administrator

• Use the Local User and Groups snap-in (Lusrmgr.msc) to change the Administrator password. 6. Shut

down and restart the computer. You can now use the Administrator account to log on to Recovery Console

or Directory Services Restore Mode using the new password.

· Why can’t you restore a DC that was backed up 4 months ago?

Because of the tombstone life which is set to only 60 days

· What are GPOs?

Group Policy gives you administrative control over users and computers in your network. By using Group

Policy, you can define the state of a user’s work environment once, and then rely on Windows Server 2003

to continually force the Group Policy settings that you apply across an entire organization or to specific

groups of users and computers.

Group Policy Advantages

You can assign group policy in domains, sites and organizational units.

All users and computers get reflected by group policy settings in domain, site and organizational unit.

No one in network has rights to change the settings of Group policy; by default only administrator has full

privilege to change, so it is very secure.

Policy settings can be removed and can further rewrite the changes.

Where GPO’s store Group Policy Information

Group Policy objects store their Group Policy information in two locations:

Group Policy Container: The GPC is an Active Directory object that contains GPO status, version

information, WMI filter information, and a list of components that have settings in the GPO. Computers can

access the GPC to locate Group Policy templates, and domain controller does not have the most recent

version of the GPO, replication occurs to obtain the latest version of the GPO.

Group Policy Template: The GPT is a folder hierarchy in the shared SYSVOL folder on a domain controller.

When you create GPO, Windows Server 2003 creates the corresponding GPT which contains all Group Policy

settings and information, including administrative templates, security, software installation, scripts, and

folder redirection settings. Computers connect to the SYSVOL folder to obtain the settings.

The name of the GPT folder is the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) of the GPO that you created. It is

identical to the GUID that Active Directory uses to identify the GPO in the GPC. The path to the GPT on a

domain controller is systemroot\SYSVOL\sysvol.

Managing GPOs

To avoid conflicts in replication, consider the selection of domain controller, especially because the GPO

data resides in SYSVOL folder and the Active Directory. Active Directory uses two independent replication

techniques to replicate GPO data among all domain controllers in the domain. If two administrator’s

changes can overwrite those made by other administrator, depends on the replication latency. By default

the Group Policy Management console uses the PDC Emulator so that all administrators can work on the

same domain controller.

WMI Filter

WMI filters is use to get the current scope of GPOs based on attributes of the user or computer. In this way,

you can increase the GPOs filtering capabilities beyond the security group filtering mechanisms that were

previously available.

Linking can be done with WMI filter to a GPO. When you apply a GPO to the destination computer, Active

Directory evaluates the filter on the destination computer. A WMI filter has few queries that active Directory

evaluates in place of WMI repository of the destination computer. If the set of queries is false, Active

Directory does not apply the GPO. If set of queries are true, Active Directory applies the GPO. You write the

query by using the WMI Query Language (WQL); this language is similar to querying SQL for WMI repository.

Planning a Group Policy Strategy for the Enterprise

When you plan an Active Directory structure, create a plan for GPO inheritance, administration, and

deployment that provides the most efficient Group Policy management for your organization.

Also consider how you will implement Group Policy for the organization. Be sure to consider the delegation

of authority, separation of administrative duties, central versus decentralized administration, and design

flexibility so that your plan will provide for ease of use as well as administration.

Planning GPOs

Create GPOs in way that provides for the simplest and most manageable design — one in which you can

use inheritance and multiple links.

Guidelines for Planning GPOs

Apply GPO settings at the highest level: This way, you take advantage of Group Policy inheritance.

Determine what common GPO settings for the largest container are starting with the domain and then link

the GPO to this container.

Reduce the number of GPOs: You reduce the number by using multiple links instead of creating multiple

identical GPOs. Try to link a GPO to the broadest container possible level to avoid creating multiple links of

the same GPO at a deeper level.

Create specialized GPOs: Use these GPOs to apply unique settings when necessary. GPOs at a higher level

will not apply the settings in these specialized GPOs.

Disable computer or use configuration settings: When you create a GPO to contain settings for only one of

the two levels-user and computer-disable the logon and prevents accidental GPO settings from being

applied to the other area.

· What is the order in which GPOs are applied?

Local, Site, Domain, OU

Group Policy settings are processed in the following order:

1:- Local Group Policy object-each computer has exactly one Group Policy object that is stored locally. This

processes for both computer and user Group Policy processing.

2:- Site-Any GPOs that have been linked to the site that the computer belongs to are processed next.

Processing is in the order that is specified by the administrator, on the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for

the site in Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). The GPO with the lowest link order is processed last,

and therefore has the highest precedence.

3:- Domain-processing of multiple domain-linked GPOs is in the order specified by the administrator, on

the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the domain in GPMC. The GPO with the lowest link order is

processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence.

4:- Organizational units-GPOs that are linked to the organizational unit that is highest in the Active

Directory hierarchy are processed first, then GPOs that are linked to its child organizational unit, and so on.

Finally, the GPOs that are linked to the organizational unit that contains the user or computer are

processed.

At the level of each organizational unit in the Active Directory hierarchy, one, many, or no GPOs can be

linked. If several GPOs are linked to an organizational unit, their processing is in the order that is specified

by the administrator, on the Linked Group Policy Objects tab for the organizational unit in GPMC. The GPO

with the lowest link order is processed last, and therefore has the highest precedence.

This order means that the local GPO is processed first, and GPOs that are linked to the organizational unit

of which the computer or user is a direct member are processed last, which overwrites settings in the

earlier GPOs if there are conflicts. (If there are no conflicts, then the earlier and later settings are merely

aggregated.)

· Name a few benefits of using GPMC.

Microsoft released the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) years ago, which is an amazing

innovation in Group Policy management. The tool provides control over Group Policy in the following

manner:

· Easy administration of all GPOs across the entire Active Directory Forest

· View of all GPOs in one single list

· Reporting of GPO settings, security, filters, delegation, etc.

· Control of GPO inheritance with Block Inheritance, Enforce, and Security Filtering

· Delegation model

· Backup and restore of GPOs

· Migration of GPOs across different domains and forests

With all of these benefits, there are still negatives in using the GPMC alone. Granted, the GPMC is needed

and should be used by everyone for what it is ideal for. However, it does fall a bit short when you want to

protect the GPOs from the following:

· Role based delegation of GPO management

· Being edited in production, potentially causing damage to desktops and servers

· Forgetting to back up a GPO after it has been modified

· Change management of each modification to every GPO

· How can you determine what GPO was and was not applied for a user? Name a few ways to do that.

Simply use the Group Policy Management Console created by MS for that very purpose, allows you to run

simulated policies on computers or users to determine what policies are enforced. Link in sources

· What are administrative templates?

Administrative Templates are a feature of Group Policy, a Microsoft technology for centralised management

of machines and users in an Active Directory environment.

Administrative Templates facilitate the management of registry-based policy. An ADM file is used to

describe both the user interface presented to the Group Policy administrator and the registry keys that

should be updated on the target machines. An ADM file is a text file with a specific syntax which describes

both the interface and the registry values which will be changed if the policy is enabled or disabled.

ADM files are consumed by the Group Policy Object Editor (GPEdit). Windows XP Service Pack 2 shipped with

five ADM files (system.adm, inetres.adm, wmplayer.adm, conf.adm and wuau.adm). These are merged into

a unified “namespace” in GPEdit and presented to the administrator under the Administrative Templates

node (for both machine and user policy).

· What’s the difference between software publishing and assigning?

ANS An administrator can either assign or publish software applications.

Assign Users

The software application is advertised when the user logs on. It is installed when the user clicks on the

software application icon via the start menu, or accesses a file that has been associated with the software

application.

Assign Computers

The software application is advertised and installed when it is safe to do so, such as when the computer is

next restarted.

Publish to users

The software application does not appear on the start menu or desktop. This means the user may not know

that the software is available. The software application is made available via the Add/Remove Programs

option in control panel, or by clicking on a file that has been associated with the application. Published

applications do not reinstall themselves in the event of accidental deletion, and it is not possible to publish

to computers.

· Can I deploy non-MSI software with GPO?

How to create a third-party Microsoft Installer package

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257718/

· You want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu, printers etc.)

on the computers in one department. How would you do that?

Login on client as Domain Admin user change whatever you need add printers etc go to system-User

profiles copy this user profile to any location by select Everyone in permitted to use after copy change

ntuser.dat to ntuser.man and assgin this path under user profile