Tag: active directory

Create & Deploy Active Directory Snapshot in Windows Server 2016

Post author By Mehdi Karimi
Post date October 1, 2016
No Comments on Create & Deploy Active Directory Snapshot in Windows Server 2016

Create-Deploy-AD-Snapshot-in-Windows-Server-2016

A Snapshot is the exact copy of the original contents and configurations that is the easiest and cheapest way to create and deploy it on the additional domain controller. Like you can take a snapshot of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and you use the snapshot for occasional usages like deploying on an additional domain controller, not like often tasks like backup. In this article, I will take a snapshot of my root domain controller (DC), which is the first domain controller of my active directory. Then, I will deploy the snapshot on the additional (DC). Snapshot is used for adding additional DC in remote sites, not in Local Area Networks (LAN). When you create a snapshot from active directory and save the files to a DVD or flash memory, then deploy it on the remote site on the new domain controller then you’ll have the exact contents and configurations on the new DC. So here first we will create then deploy Active Directory snapshots in Windows Server 2016.

Remember: This is the second part of adding an additional domain controller to existing domain, if you haven’t read that article, you ought to read that first. Click on the link below for reading the previous part, then continue reading this article.

Watch out: How to Add Additional Domain Controller to Existing Domain

Create Active Directory Snapshot on Current DC

Before getting started, make sure both, the current DC and additional DC needs to be the member of the same domain and both of them should be active or approached by you. So that you can take a snapshot from current DC and deploy it on the new DC.

Take Snapshot through PowerShell

1. Right-click on PowerShell icon and choose Run as administrator option due to run the PowerShell with administrative privileges.

2. Launch PowerShell as administrator and create the IFM (Install From Media) media. This media is a snapshot of AD DS. Now Run the ntdsutil.exe cmdlet to run the program, therefore, type ntdsutil.exe and press Enter key.

3. Type activate instance ntds, because it focuses the program on the installed AD DS instance.

Activate instance ntds cmdlet — Activate instance NTDS cmdlet

4. Type ifm to create the IFM (Install From Image) media.

5. Now you should decide you want full snapshot or not, to create a full snapshot type: create sysvol full c:\snapshot. The C:\snapshot is the path where I save the files, the program creates a folder by the name snapshot in the C:\ drive. When snapshot process completed, close the PowerShell window.

Finally the snapshot is ready to be deployed on the next domain controller. So, we will move to the new server and continue our deploying there. I’ve copied the files in a flash memory due to making the deployment easy then paste the files on the new DC’s desktop to use later.

Deploy Active Directory Snapshot on Additional DC

Snapshot Deployment

It is the time to turn on the new machine and get it ready to be promoted to new domain controller.

1. Install Active Directory Domain Services from Server Manager. If you don’t know how to do that, please refer to this link:

See this: Install Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server

2. When the installation finished, click on Promote this server to a domain controller hyperlink.

Promote this server to a domiain controller hyperlink — Promote this server to a domain controller hyperlink

Or maybe you’ve closed the window and you don’t see the window containing hyperlink, don’t worry. Click on the flag on the top of the window, you can see the hyperlink.

Promote this server to domain controller hyperlink

3. Select Add domain controller to existing domain option. This option means that we have a domain and we just want to add an additional domain controller in the domain. Be sure that you’ve logged on by a user name who have the right to do these tasks then hit Next.

5. All options are disabled yet. Click on Allow domain controller reinstall to permit the domain controller, to be reinstalled on the new machine. Then enter a DSRM password then hit Next.

6. Select Install from media option to be enabled to use your AD DS snapshot. Then click on three dotted button, find the media path that you’ve the snapshot inside. Verify the IFM media by clicking on Verify button then hit Next.

7. In the Paths and Review options pages we have nothing to do, so just click on Next button. In the Prerequisites Check page click on Install button to install the domain controller. When domain controller installed, the machine will be restarted or restart manually if the server didn’t restarted automatically.

Conclusion

Consequently the new machine is domain controller in your domain. So log in to new domain controller, you’ll see the same contents as the previous domain controller. Active Directory snapshot is an easy and quick way than WAN link. If you used WAN link like internet, replication between two servers took long time. For any sort of question feel free and leave a comment. We will respond you as soon as possible.

Tags active directory, Active Directory Snapshot, ADDS

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How to Backup Active Directory Fully in Windows Server 2016?

Post author By Mehdi Karimi
Post date July 1, 2016
1 Comment on How to Backup Active Directory Fully in Windows Server 2016?

Managing network is a critical task in the networking world but not much tough with active directory. The Active Directory was first time introduced in Windows Server 2000 for centralized domain management. Before the active directory, Microsoft had added tools to manage users, computers but they were not as efficient as active directory. The Active Directory Services (AD DS) or directly Active Directory (AD) is the repository of management and information. You can manage and have information of every type of information about users, computers, services. Also, it offers excellent services like load balancing, failover cluster. As much as it’s affected that much, you need just to make it relevant and take care of it means you need to take backup of the active directory if someone accidentally delete something or being hacked. Therefore, if the domain controller stops working, you should be able to restore the data back. Don’t worry, because we have the every solution of your problem, let’s move on and do it now.

Backup Active Directory in Windows Server 2016

The Active directory backup is not much involved. Indeed, you can learn and do it easily.

First of all, you need to install the Windows Backup Server, using Server Manager.

1. Open Server Manager, click on Add roles and features, skip the Welcome page clicking on Next button, then select the server you want to install the backup server on, click on Next button. It is not the role; it is a feature, skip the select Server Roles page. In the feature page, scroll down and check the Windows Server Backup, hit Next!

2. In the Confirm installation selections page, click on Install button. Take a rest, because it takes a while, no reboot is needed.

3. Now on the Server Manager, click on Tools, then click on Windows Server Backup at the end of the list to open the server.

4. Now the server backup is opened, click on backup once. If you like to make a schedule for active directory backup, so click on Backup schedule.

5. Select Different options, click on Next button because Different options are used while we don’t have any schedule for backup.

6. On the Select backup configuration page, two options are available, Full Server and Custom. We just want to take backup of the active directory, so we choose the second option.

7. In the Select items for the backup page, click on Add items button, select system state option and click on Ok button. so you are done here, hit next!

8. It is the time to decide where to restore the backup files, Local drives or shared folder; I choose the local drive.

9. In the Select backup destination page, the place for backup files restoration is specified.

10. We are done, so click on the Backup button, take a rest. Let the server do its work.

Backup Active Directory Fully on Windows Server 2016

Conclusion

Ok, hope it was informative and helpful, to restore the Active Directory backup, follow our next article covering restoring active directory’s backup.

Tags active direcotory, active directory, backup, Backup Active Directory, restore, server, server 2016, windows server

MCSA MCSE Servers

Install Active Directory on Windows Server 2016 step by step

Post author By Mehdi Karimi
Post date April 11, 2016
3 Comments on Install Active Directory on Windows Server 2016 step by step

Install Active Directory on Windows Server

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is the center for management tasks (Users, Groups, Computers, Organizational Units, Schema) in Windows networks. You can manage the network by AD DS easily. Imagine if you were a network administrator. You could create user accounts and gave them access to special files manually. It was practical if you were engaged with less than 50 users and computers. If you were engaged with 12000 users and computers, what did you do? You can do the complete the task with AD DS easily. You create a group and add user accounts as members and define to which files the group access by installing Active Directory to manage the network easily. It is a simple task that you can do in Windows network using AD DS.

You can find every kind of information about the users, computers, hardware, software and etc in the Active Directory Domain Services. Windows Server 2016 is the latest version of Windows Server and in this article I show you how to install active directory.

Install AD DS Graphically

Follow the steps below to install Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2016.

1. Press the Start Menu button and click on the Server Manager icon which is the management tool in Windows Server 2016.

2. Active Directory Domain Services is a Windows Server role. Click on Add Roles and features option to install the role.

3. In the Before you begin you have nothing to do. Click on Next button. In the Select Installation Type page, Select the Role-based or Feature-based Installation option. Click Next on button.

4. Let the Select a server from the server pool option selected. Specify the server that you want to install the role on, from the Server Pool. Click on Next button.

5. Select the Active Directory Domain Services role. A new windows opens and ask you to install management tools. Installing AD DS role, you just install the core services. Click on Add Features button to install management tools. then click on Next button.

6. In the Feature page, you got nothing to do. Just click on Next button. In the Active Directory Domain Services page you can read some information about AD DS. Click on Next button to move in the next page.

7. At the last step of the Active Directory installation is the confirmation of the selections. So confirm the selection by clicking on the install button. After the installation of the role, the server needs to be rebooted. You can restart it manually or let the system decide by putting the mark on Restart the destination server automatically if required option. Click on Install button to start the installation.

Install AD DS though PowerShell

You can install AD DS through PowerShell. You need to run Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet. This cmdlet helps you to install roles and featues on Windows Server. After that, you need to type name of the feature you want to install. Type AD-Domain-Services for installing AD DS role.

Complete cmdlet: Install-WindowsFeature AD-Domain-Services

After typing the cmdlet press the Enter button.

Conclusion

While server rebooted, log in to server with your domain account. Default user name is Administrator. After that you can do post-installation configurations to promote this server to domain controller.

For any kind of question feel free and leave a comment below.

Watch out: Promote Windows Server 2016 to Domain Controller step by step

Tags active directory, Active Directory Domain Services, AD DS, Servers, windows server, Windows Server 2016