Active Directory Lab

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Hardware Requirements
• Software Requirements
• Part 1: Creating the Domain Controller Virtual Machine
• Part 2: Configuring the Domain Controller Virtual Machine
• Part 3: Installing Windows Server 2019 onto the Domain Controller Virtual Machine
• Part 4: Logging into and Renaming the Domain Controller Virtual Machine
• Part 5: Creating the Help Desk Virtual Machine
• Part 6: Configuring the Help Desk Virtual Machine
• Part 7: Installing Windows 10 Enterprise onto the Help Desk Machine
• Part 8: Logging into and Configuring the Help Desk Machine
• Part 9: Adding Active Directory to the Domain Controller Machine
• Part 10: Creating a Help Desk Account in Active Directory
• Part 11: Adding the Help Desk Machine to the Domain
• Part 12: Logging into the Help Desk Virtual Machine
• Part 13: Creating a New Staff Virtual Machine and Active Directory Account

Objective

The purpose of this lab is to create a virtual environment on a local Windows machine to simulate a domain network.
This network will utilize Windows Active Directory and will consist of a Domain Controller and client machines.

Hardware Requirements

• Windows machine with virtualization enabled (Recommended: 16 GB+ RAM and 60 GB+ disk space)

Software Requirements

• VirtualBox
• Windows Server 2019 ISO
• Windows 10 Enterprise ISO

Program Walk-through

Part 1: Creating the Domain Controller Virtual Machine

1. Open VirtualBox.
2. Click New.
3. Name the new virtual machine whatever you like. For this lab, the name DC is used.
4. Select the Windows Server 2019 ISO file for the virtual machine's ISO image and check Unattended Installation.

5. Click Next.
6. Allocate at least 4 GB (4000 MB) for Base Memory and at least 2 CPUs for Processors.
   Note: Do not choose a value in the red zone.

7. Click Next.
8. Select Create a Virtual Hard Disk Now and choose a disk size of at least 50 GB.

9. Click Next.
10. Confirm all details of the new virtual machine are correct, then click Finish.

Part 2: Configuring the Domain Controller Virtual Machine

1. In VirtualBox Manager, right-click your Domain Controller virtual machine and select Settings.

2. From the left-hand menu, select System.
3. Under Boot Order, uncheck Floppy and ensure Optical and Hard Disk are checked. This makes the VM boot faster and avoids unnecessary errors.

4. From the left-hand menu, select Network.
5. Configure Adapter 1 to be attached to Bridged Adapter. This allows the Domain Controller to communicate with client machines on the same network.

6. Click OK to save the settings and close the window.

Part 3: Installing Windows Server 2019 onto the Domain Controller Virtual Machine

1. Start your Domain Controller virtual machine and wait until you see a window labeled Windows Setup.

2. Click Next.
3. Click Install Now.
4. From the list of available operating systems, click Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Evaluation (Desktop Experience).
5. Click Next.
6. Carefully read the license terms, then click Next to accept.
7. Click Next.
8. Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
9. Select the drive you allocated for this virtual machine.

10. Click Next.
11. Wait for Windows to install and the machine to automatically restart.
12. When prompted, enter a password for the Administrator account and re-enter it to confirm.

13. Click Finish.
14. Wait until the lock screen appears.

Part 4: Logging into and Renaming the Domain Controller Virtual Machine

1. To reach the login page from the lock screen, click Input on the top bar of the virtual machine's window.
2. Hover over the Keyboard option in the menu.
3. Click Insert Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

4. Enter the correct password for the Administrator account.
5. Right-click on the Windows icon located on the bottom left.
6. Click System.
7. Scroll down in the "About" section and click the button labeled Rename This PC.
8. Enter a name for your Domain Controller machine. In this lab, the name DC is used.
9. Click Next.
10. Restart the virtual machine.

Part 5: Creating the Help Desk Virtual Machine

1. Open VirtualBox.
2. Click on New.
3. Name the new virtual machine whatever you like. For this lab, the name HelpDesk is used.
4. Select the Windows 10 Enterprise ISO file for the virtual machine's ISO image and check the Unattended Installation option.

5. Click Next.
6. Allocate at least 4 GB (4000 MB) for Base Memory and at least 2 CPUs for Processors.
   Note: Do not choose a value in the red zone.

7. Click Next.
8. Select Create a Virtual Hard Disk Now and choose a disk size. A size of around 50 GB is recommended, but smaller (e.g., 35 GB) may also work if system resources are limited.

9. Click Next.
10. Confirm all details of the new virtual machine are correct, then click Finish.

Part 6: Configuring the Help Desk Virtual Machine

1. In VirtualBox Manager, right-click your help desk virtual machine and select Settings.

2. From the left-hand menu, select System.
3. Under Boot Order, uncheck Floppy and ensure Optical and Hard Disk are checked. This makes the VM boot faster and avoids unnecessary errors.

4. From the left-hand menu, select Network.
5. Configure Adapter 1 to be attached to Bridged Adapter. This allows the Domain Controller to communicate with client machines on the same network.

6. Click OK.

Part 7: Installing Windows 10 Enterprise onto the Help Desk Machine

1. Start your help desk virtual machine and wait until you see a window labeled Windows Setup.

2. Click Next.
3. Click Install Now.
4. Accept the license terms after reading them.
5. Click Next.
6. Select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
7. Select the drive you allocated for this virtual machine.

8. Click Next.
9. Wait for the installation to complete and for the machine to automatically restart.
10. When prompted for your region, select the correct region.
11. Click Yes.
12. Select the correct keyboard layout.
13. Click Yes.
14. Skip the option for a second keyboard layout unless needed.
15. When asked to sign in with Microsoft, click Domain join instead.
16. Enter a name for the user using this PC. In this lab, the name admin is used.
17. Click Next.
18. Enter a valid password.
19. Click Next.
20. Re-enter the password.
21. Click Next.
22. For the 3 security questions, select a question, provide a text-based answer, and click Next until all three questions are completed.
23. Configure your preferred privacy settings.
24. Click Accept.
25. When prompted to set up Cortana, select Not Now unless needed.
26. Wait until you are logged in.

Part 8: Logging into and Configuring the Help Desk Machine

1. Right-click the Windows icon located at the bottom left.
2. Click System.
3. Scroll down in the About section and click the button labeled Rename This PC.
4. Enter a name for your client machine. In this lab, the name HelpDesk was used.
5. Click Next.
6. Restart the machine to apply changes.

Part 9: Adding Active Directory to the Domain Controller Machine

1. Launch your Domain Controller virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager.
2. Log in to your Domain Controller virtual machine.
3. Left-click the Windows icon located at the bottom left of the screen.
4. Select Server Manager from the menu.

5. In Server Manager, click Manage at the top of the window.

6. From the menu that appears, click Add Roles and Features.
7. Click Next until you reach Server Roles.
8. Under Roles, select Active Directory Domain Services.
9. Click Add Features.
10. Click Next until you reach Confirmation.
11. Click Install and wait for the installation to complete.
12. Click Promote this server to a domain controller.

13. For Deployment Configuration, select Add a new forest.
14. Enter a root domain name. Common endings include ".local", ".com", ".org", and ".net". In this lab, "james.org" is used.

15. Click Next.

16. Enter a password for Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM).

17. Click Next until reaching the Additional Options section.

18. For the NetBIOS name, the wizard will suggest a default based on the root domain name.

    • Example: default NetBIOS name is JAMES.

    If providing a custom NetBIOS name, follow these rules:

    • Maximum of 15 characters
    • No spaces or special characters
    • Use uppercase letters

19. Click Next until reaching the Prerequisites Check section.

20. Click Install and wait for the Domain Controller VM to finish restarting.

Part 10: Creating a Help Desk Account in Active Directory

1. Launch your Domain Controller virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager.
2. Open Server Manager.
3. Click Tools.
4. From the dropdown menu, click Active Directory Users and Computers.

5. In the left-hand column, double-click your root domain name. This will expand to show more folders, including Users.

6. Click the Users folder.
7. On the top bar, click the icon to add a new user.

8. In the new window, enter the details for the helpdesk user: first name, last name, and a User logon name. In this lab, Help and Desk were used for the name, and the logon name was set to helpdesk.
9. Click Next.
10. Uncheck User must change password at next logon.
11. Enter and confirm a valid password.
12. Click Next.
13. Click Finish. The new user should now appear in the list of users.

14. Double-click the newly created helpdesk user to open its properties.
15. Click the Member Of tab at the top of the properties window.

16. Click Add to open the Select Groups window.
17. In the Select Groups window, type domain admins in the text box at the bottom.

18. Click OK. "Domain Admins" should now appear under the Member Of list.

19. Click OK to close the properties window.
20. Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
21. Type cmd and click OK.
22. In the Command Prompt, type ipconfig /all and press Enter.
23. Note the IP Address listed as IPv4 Address. This will be needed in the next section.

Part 11: Adding the Help Desk Machine to the Domain

1. Launch your Help Desk virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager.
2. Log into the machine.
3. Right-click the network icon located on the right side of the bottom taskbar.

4. Click Open Network & Internet settings.
5. Scroll down under the Status section and click Change adapter options.

6. Right-click Ethernet.
7. Click Properties.
8. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to open its properties window.

9. In the properties window, select Use the following DNS server addresses.

10. For Preferred DNS Server, enter the IPv4 address obtained in the previous section.
11. Click OK.
12. Right-click the Windows icon on the bottom bar and select System.

13. Scroll down in the About section and click Advanced System Settings.

14. In the System Properties window, click the Computer Name tab.
15. Click Change.

16. Under Member of, select Domain.
17. Enter your root domain name.

18. Click OK.
19. When prompted, enter the credentials for the help desk account created in Active Directory.
20. Click OK.
21. Restart the machine to apply the changes.

Part 12: Logging into the Help Desk Virtual Machine

1. Launch your Help Desk virtual machine from the VirtualBox Manager.

2. When prompted to log in, click Other User.

3. You should see the NetBIOS name of your domain appear in the sign-in prompt.
   Enter the credentials for the help desk account you created in Active Directory.

   Note: Do not use your local machine credentials for this step.

Part 13: Creating a New Staff Virtual Machine and Active Directory Account

The process is almost identical to the steps in Part 5–12 (Help Desk machine setup):

• Follow the same steps to create and configure a Windows 10 virtual machine.
• In Active Directory, create a new user account (see Part 10) but do not add the account to the Domain Admins group. By default, new accounts are placed in the Domain Users group, which is sufficient for standard users.
• Finally, join the new VM to the domain the same way you did with the Help Desk machine.