There are several different ways to find AD Domain Controllers (DCs). Here are a few: AD PowerShell Module: Discover the closest Domain Controller running the AD web services (support PowerShell AD cmdlets): import-module activedirectory Get-ADDomainController -discover -forcediscover -nextclosestsite -service ADWS discover – find a DC forcediscover – re-discover a DC and not use a cached …
Tag: ActiveDirectory
Sep 19
Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) Information
The RODC is one of the most interesting new features of Windows Server 2008. RODCs provide the following: Read-only Active Directory Database – Read-only copy of Active Directory provides a more secure option for distant locations such as a branch office. Changes attempted against the RODC are referred to the next upstream DC. Read-only DNS Server …
Sep 02
PowerShell: Using Active Directory .Net methods in PowerShell Part 2
Powershell has the incredible ability to run some .Net methods natively. Some of this data can also be gathered using AD commandlets. Read Part 1 for others. Here are a few of my favorites. Get a Computer’s Site: [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.ActiveDirectorySite]::GetComputerSite() Get a User’s Domain: [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain().Name Get a Computer’s Domain: [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetComputerDomain().Name List Active Directory FSMOs: …
Jul 01
LSASS Crashing, CNF Objects May Be the Cause
What Happens and How Do I Know if I’m Affected? When CNF mangled NTDS settings objects are created, the Lsass.exe process may crash and unexpectedly reboot one or more domain controllers. So there is a pretty good chance you’ll know about it. You may not know the root cause of the crash. More specifically though …
Jun 02
Active Directory 2012 DCPromo
Starting with Windows Server 2012, DCPromo is no longer used to promote a member server to be a Domain Controller. Since DCPromo no longer works (Microsoft calls this featured deprecated), there is a new GUI option and associated Powershell commandlets. There are major changes to the promotion process which integrate the process. This simplified process …
May 27
PowerShell Code: Get & Set Active Directory Tombstone Lifetime and Active Directory Delete & Recycle Operations
Active Directory is a multi-master database replicated among multiple Domain Controllers. In order to ensure that objects are fully replicated before deletions are processed (purged), objects that are marked for deletion before they are completely purged from Active Directory. Active Directory marks the object as deleted by performing the following actions on the object: The …
May 22
Microsoft TechEd 2014 Sessions Posted
One of the toughest parts of being in the IT field is staying up to date with technology trends, directions, and products. I have found that free-to-view online content is a great way to do this. Microsoft has TechEd sessions posted going back to 2008: 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 Here are some …
May 15
Group Policy Preferences Password Vulnerability Now Patched
Looks like Microsoft finally removed the ability to set admin account passwords through GPP due to the Group Policy Preferences password exposure vulnerability. More information on how Group Policy Preferences are attacked is in the post “Finding Passwords in SYSVOL & Exploiting Group Policy Preferences“. Because of the security concerns with storing passwords in Group …
May 08
Active Directory FSMO Placement Guidance
FSMO Placement Guidance Summary: Make sure the PDC is highly available and connected. Place the PDC on your best hardware in a reliable hub site that contains replica domain controllers in the same Active Directory site and domain. Place the Forest FSMOs on the forest root PDC (schema master & domain naming master). Place the …
Feb 13
Microsoft Key Management Server (KMS) Details
KMS Introduction The Microsoft Key Management Server (KMS) is part of the Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0 solution managing Windows OS activation keys and performs activation for supported clients automatically. Starting with Windows Server 2008 & Windows Vista, Microsoft switched to an online activation system where every Windows OS requires activation. KMS shifts the activation requirement …