Ctive directory interview question and answers

ctive Directory Interview Question and Answers
>What is Active Directory?
Active Directory is a Meta Data. Active Directory is a data base which stores a data base like
your user information, computer information and also other network object info. It has
capabilities to manage and administer the complete Network which connect with AD.
>What is domain?
Windows NT and Windows 2000, a domain is a set of network resources (applications, printers,
and so forth) for a group of users. The user needs only to log in to the domain to gain access to
the resources, which may be located on a number of different servers in the network. The
‘domain’ is simply your computer address not to confuse with an URL. A domain address might
look something like 211.170.469.
>What is domain controller?
A Domain controller (DC) is a server that responds to security authentication requests (logging
in, checking permissions, etc.) within the Windows Server domain. A domain is a concept
introduced in Windows NT whereby a user may be granted access to a number of computer
resources with the use of a single username and password combination.
>What is LDAP?
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol LDAP is the industry standard directory access protocol,
making Active Directory widely accessible to management and query applications. Active
Directory supports LDAPv3 and LDAPv2.
>What is KCC?
KCC (knowledge consistency checker) is used to generate replication topology for inter site
replication and for intra-site replication. Within a site replication traffic is done via remote
procedure calls over ip, while between sites it is done through either RPC or SMTP.
>Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related toAD?
The AD data base is store in c:windowsntdsNTDS.DIT.
>What is the SYSVOL folder?
The sysVOL folder stores the server’s copy of the domain’s public files. The contents such as
group policy, users etc of the sysvol folder are replicated to all domain controllers in the
domain.
>Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its Backup Domain
Controller (BDC) in Server 2003?
The Active Directory replaces them. Now all domain controllers share a multi master peer-to-
peer read and write relationship that hosts copies of the Active Directory.

>Cannot create a new universal user group. Why?
Universal groups are allowed only in native-mode Windows Server 2003 environments. Native
mode requires that all domain controllers be promoted to Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory.
>What is LSDOU?
Its group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied to Local
machines, Sites, Domains and Organizational Units.
>Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT?
If the NTConfig.pol file exists, it has the highest priority among the numerous policies.
>How many number of permitted unsuccessful logons on Administrator account? Unlimited.
Remember, though, that it’s the Administrator account, not any account that’s part of the
Administrators group.
> What’s the difference between guest accounts in Server 2003 and other editions?
More restrictive in Windows Server 2003.
> How many passwords by default are remembered when you check“Enforce Password
History Remembered”?
User’s last 6 passwords.
> Can GC Server and Infrastructure place in single server?
No, As Infrastructure master does the same job as the GC. It does not work together.
> Which is service in your windows is responsible for replication of Domain controller to
another domain controller.
KCC generates the replication topology.
Use SMTP / RPC to replicate changes.
Active Directory Page 2
> What Intrasite and Intersite Replication?
Intrasite is the replication within the same site & intersite the replication between sites.
> What is lost & found folder in ADS?
It’s the folder where you can find the objects missed due to conflict.
Ex: you created a user in OU which is deleted in other DC & when replication happed ADS didn’t
find the OU then it will put that in Lost & Found Folder.

> What is Garbage collection?
Garbage collection is the process of the online defragmentation of active directory. It happens
every 12 Hours.
> What System State data contains?
Contains Startup files,
Registry
Com + Registration Database
Memory Page file
System files
AD information
Cluster Service information
SYSVOL Folder
>What is the difference between Windows 2000 Active Directory and Windows 2003 Active
Directory? Is there any difference in 2000 Group Polices and 2003 Group Polices? What is
meant by ADS and ADS services in Windows 2003?
Windows 2003 Active Directory introduced a number of new security features, as well as
convenience features such as the ability to rename a domain controller and even an entire
domain
Windows Server 2003 also introduced numerous changes to the default settings that can be
affected by Group Policy – you can see a detailed list of each available setting and which OS is
required to support it by downloading the Group Policy Settings Reference.
ADS stands for Automated Deployment Services, and is used to quickly roll out identically-
configured servers in large-scale enterprise environments. You can get more information from
the ADS homepage.
>I want to setup a DNS server and Active Directory domain. What do I do first? If I install the
DNS service first and name the zone ‘name.org’ can I name the AD domain ‘name.org’ too?
Not only can you have a DNS zone and an Active Directory domain with the same name, it’s
actually the preferred way to go if at all possible. You can install and configure DNS before
installing Active Directory, or you can allow the Active Directory Installation Wizard (dcpromo)
itself install DNS on your server in the background.
>How do I determine if user accounts have local administrative access?
You can use the net local group administrators command on each workstation (probably in a
login script so that it records its information to a central file for later review). This command
will enumerate the members of the Administrators group on each machine you run it on.
Alternately, you can use the Restricted Groups feature of Group Policy to restrict the
membership of Administrators to only those users you want to belong.
>Why am I having trouble printing with XP domain users?
In most cases, the inability to print or access resources in situations like this one will boil down

to an issue with name resolution, either DNS or WINS/NetBIOS. Be sure that your Windows XP
clients’ wireless connections are configured with the correct DNS and WINS name servers, as
well as with the appropriate NetBIOS over TCP/IP settings. Compare your wireless settings to
your wired LAN settings and look for any discrepancies that may indicate where the functional
difference may lie.
>What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?
Windows 2000 Domain controllers each create Active Directory Replication connection objects
representing inbound replication from intra-site replication partners. For inter-site replication,
one domain controller per site has the responsibility of evaluating the inter-site replication
topology and creating Active Directory Replication Connection objects for appropriate
bridgehead servers within its site. The domain controller in each site that owns this role is
referred to as the Inter-Site Topology Generator (ISTG).
>What is difference between Server 2003 vs 2008?
1. Virtualization. (Windows Server 2008 introduces Hyper-V (V for Virtualization) but only on
64bit versions. More and more companies are seeing this as a way of reducing hardware costs
by running several ‘virtual’ servers on one physical machine.)
2. Server Core (provides the minimum installation required to carry out a specific server role,
such as for a DHCP, DNS or print server)
3. Better security.
4. Role-based installation.
5. Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC).
6. Enhanced terminal services.
7. Network Access Protection – Microsoft’s system for ensuring that clients connecting to
Server 2008 are patched, running a firewall and in compliance with corporate security policies.
8. Power Shell – Microsoft’s command line shell and scripting language has proved popular with
some server administrators.
9. IIS 7.
10. Bit locker – System drive encryption can be a sensible security measure for servers located
in remote branch offices. The main difference between 2003 and 2008 is Virtualization,
management. 2008 has more in-build components and updated third party drivers.
11. Windows Aero.
>What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?
1 The Domain structure.
2 The Domain Name.
3 storage location of the database and log file.
4 Location of the shared system volume folder.

5 DNS config Method.
6 DNS configuration.
>What is LDP?
LDP: Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) is often used to establish MPLS LSPs when traffic
engineering is not required. It establishes LSPs that follow the existing IP routing, and is
particularly well suited for establishing a full mesh of LSPs between all of the routers on the
network.
>What are the Groups types available in active directory ?
Security groups: Use Security groups for granting permissions to gain access to resources.
Sending an e-mail message to a group sends the message to all members of the group.
Therefore security groups share the capabilities of distribution groups.
Distribution groups: Distribution groups are used for sending e-main messages to groups of
users. You cannot grant permissions to security groups. Even though security groups have all
the capabilities of distribution groups, distribution groups still requires, because some
applications can only read distribution groups.
>Explain about the groups scope in AD?
Domain Local Group: Use this scope to grant permissions to domain resources that are located
in the same domain in which you created the domain local group. Domain local groups can exist
in all mixed, native and interim functional level of domains and forests. Domain local group
memberships are not limited as you can add members as user accounts, universal and global
groups from any domain. Just to remember, nesting cannot be done in domain local group. A
domain local group will not be a member of another Domain Local or any other groups in the
same domain.
Global Group: Users with similar function can be grouped under global scope and can be given
permission to access a resource (like a printer or shared folder and files) available in local or
another domain in same forest. To say in simple words, Global groups can be use to grant
permissions to gain access to resources which are located in any domain but in a single forest as
their memberships are limited. User accounts and global groups can be added only from the
domain in which global group is created. Nesting is possible in Global groups within other
groups as you can add a global group into another global group from any domain. Finally to
provide permission to domain specific resources (like printers and published folder), they can
be members of a Domain Local group. Global groups exist in all mixed, native and interim
functional level of domains and forests.
Universal Group Scope: These groups are precisely used for email distribution and can be
granted access to resources in all trusted domain as these groups can only be used as a security

principal (security group type) in a windows 2000 native or windows server 2003 domain
functional level domain. Universal group memberships are not limited like global groups. All
domain user accounts and groups can be a member of universal group. Universal groups can be
nested under a global or Domain Local group in any domain.
ctive Directory Page 4
>What is REPLMON?
The Microsoft definition of the Replmon tool is as follows; This GUI tool enables administrators
to view the low-level status of Active Directory replication, force synchronization between
domain controllers, view the topology in a graphical format, and monitor the status and
performance of domain controller replication.
>What is ADSIEDIT ?
ADSIEDIT :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.
>What is NETDOM ?
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.
>What is REPADMIN?
This command-line tool assists administrators in diagnosing replication problems between
Windows domain controllers.Administrators can use Repadmin to view the replication topology
(sometimes referred to as RepsFrom and RepsTo) as seen from the perspective of each domain
controller. In addition, Repadmin can be used to manually create the replication topology
(although in normal practice this should not be necessary), to force replication events between
domain controllers, and to view both the replication metadata and up-to-dateness vectors.
>How to take backup of AD ?
For taking backup of active directory you have to do this : first go START -> PROGRAM -
>ACCESORIES -> SYSTEM TOOLS -> BACKUP OR Open run window and ntbackup and take
systemstate backup when the backup screen is flash then take the backup of SYSTEM STATE it
will take the backup of all the necessary information about the syatem including AD backup ,
DNS ETC.

>What are the DS* commands ?
The following DS commands: the DS family built in utility .
DSmod – modify Active Directory attributes.
DSrm – to delete Active Directory objects.
DSmove – to relocate objects
DSadd – create new accounts
DSquery – to find objects that match your query attributes.
DSget – list the properties of an object
>What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?
An NTFS partition with enough free space.
An Administrator’s username and password.
The correct operating systemversion.
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) .
>Explain about Trust in AD ?
To allow users in one domain to access resources in another, Active Directory uses trusts. Trusts
inside a forest are automatically created when domains are created.
The forest sets the default boundaries of trust, not the domain, and implicit, transitive trust is
automatic for all domains within a forest. As well as two-way transitive trust, AD trusts can be a
shortcut (joins two domains in different trees, transitive, one- or two-way), forest (transitive,
one- or two-way), realm (transitive or nontransitive, one- or two-way), or external
(nontransitive, one- or two-way) in order to connect to other forests or non-AD domains.
Trusts in Windows 2000 (native mode)
One-way trust – One domain allows access to users on another domain, but the other domain
does not allow access to users on the first domain.
Two-way trust – Two domains allow access to users on both domains.
Trusting domain – The domain that allows access to users from a trusted domain.
Trusted domain – The domain that is trusted; whose users have access to the trusting domain.
Transitive trust – A trust that can extend beyond two domains to other trusted domains in the
forest.
Intransitive trust – A one way trust that does not extend beyond two domains.
Explicit trust – A trust that an admin creates. It is not transitive and is one way only.
Cross-link trust – An explicit trust between domains in different trees or in the same tree when

a descendant/ancestor (child/parent) relationship does not exist between the two domains.
Windows 2000 Server – supports the following types of trusts:
Two-way transitive trusts.
One-way intransitive trusts.
Additional trusts can be created by administrators. These trusts can be:
>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.
>What are application partitions? When do I use them ?
AN application diretcory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific
domain controller.Only domain controller running windows Server 2003 can host a replica of
application directory partition.
Using an application directory partition provides redundany,availability or fault tolerance by
replicating data to specific domain controller pr any set of domain controllers anywhere in the
forest.
>How do you create a new application partition ?
Use the DnsCmd command to create an application directory partition.
To do this, use the following syntax:
DnsCmd ServerName /CreateDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition
>How do you view all the GCs in the forest?
C:>repadmin /showreps domain_controller where domain_controller is the DC you want to
query to determine whether it?s a GC.
The output will include the text DSA Options: IS_GC if the DC is a GC.
>Can you connect Active Directory to other3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few
options.
Yes, you can use dirXML or LDAP to connect to other directories.
In Novel you can use E-directory.
>What is IPSec Policy
IPSec provides secure gateway-to-gateway connections across outsourced private wide area
network (WAN) or Internet-based connections using L2TP/IPSec tunnels or pure IPSec tunnel
mode. IPSec Policy can be deployed via Group policy to the Windows Domain controllers 7
Servers.

>What are the different types of Terminal Services ?
User Mode & Application Mode.
>What is the System Startup process ?
Windows 2K boot process on a Intel architecture.
1. Power-On Self Tests (POST) are run.
2. The boot device is found, the Master Boot Record (MBR) is loaded into memory, and its
program is run.
3. The active partition is located, and the boot sector is loaded.
4. The Windows 2000 loader (NTLDR) is then loaded.
The boot sequence executes the following steps:
1. The Windows 2000 loader switches the processor to the 32-bit flat memory model.
2. The Windows 2000 loader starts a mini-file system.
3. The Windows 2000 loader reads the BOOT.INI file and displays the operating system
selections (boot loader menu).
4. The Windows 2000 loader loads the operating systemselected by the user. If Windows 2000
is selected, NTLDR runs NTDETECT.COM. For other operating systems, NTLDR loads
BOOTSECT.DOS and gives it control.
5. NTDETECT.COMscans the hardware installed in the computer, and reports the list to NTLDR
for inclusion in the Registry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_HARDWARE hive.
6. NTLDR then loads the NTOSKRNL.EXE, and gives it the hardware information collected by
NTDETECT.COM. Windows NT enters the Windows load phases.
>How do you change the DS Restore admin password ?
In Windows 2000 Server, you used to have to boot the computer whose password you wanted
to change in Directory Restore mode, then use either the Microsoft Management Console
(MMC) Local User and Groups snap-in or the command net user administrator * to change the
Administrator password.
Win2K Server Service Pack 2 (SP2) introduced the Setpwd utility, which lets you reset the
Directory Service Restore Mode password without having to reboot the computer. (Microsoft
refreshed Setpwd in SP4 to improve the utility?s scripting options.)

In Windows Server 2003, you use the Ntdsutil utility to modify the Directory Service Restore
Mode Administrator password.
To do so, follow these steps:
1. Start Ntdsutil (click Start, Run; enter cmd.exe; then enter ntdsutil.exe).
2. Start the Directory Service Restore Mode Administrator password-reset utility by entering
the argument ?set dsrm password? at the ntdsutil prompt: ntdsutil: set dsrm password.
3. Run the Reset Password command, passing the name of the server on which to change the
password, or use the null argument to specify the local machine.
For example, to reset the password on server testing, enter the following argument at the Reset
DSRM Administrator Password prompt: Reset DSRM Administrator Password: reset password
on server testing
To reset the password on the local machine, specify null as the server name:
Reset DSRM Administrator Password: reset password on server null
4. You?ll be prompted twice to enter the new password. You?ll see the following messages:
5. Please type password for DS Restore Mode Administrator Account:
6. Please confirm new password:
Password has been set successfully.
7. Exit the password-reset utility by typing ?quit? at the following prompts:
8. Reset DSRM Administrator Password: quit
ntdsutil: quit
>How do I use Registry keys to remove a user from a group?
In Windows Server 2003, you can use the dsmod command-line utility with the -delmbr switch
to remove a group member from the command line. You should also look into the freeware
utilities available from www.joeware.net . ADFind and ADMod are indispensable tools in my
arsenal when it comes to searching and modifying Active Directory.
>Why are my NT4 clients failing to connect to the Windows 2000 domain?
Since NT4 relies on NetBIOS for name resolution, verify that your WINS server (you do have a
WINS server running, yes?) contains the records that you expect for the 2000 domain
controller, and that your clients have the correct address configured for the WINS server.
>How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?
By using replication monitor
go to start > run > type repadmin
go to start > run > type replmon

>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.
>Different modes of AD restore ?
A nonauthoritative restore is the default method for restoring Active Directory. To perform a
nonauthoritative restore, you must be able to start the domain controller in Directory Services
Restore Mode. After you restore the domain controller from backup, replication partners use
the standard replication protocols to update Active Directory and associated information on the
restored domain controller.
An authoritative restore brings a domain or a container back to the state it was in at the time of
backup and overwrites all changes made since the backup. If you do not want to replicate the
changes that have been made subsequent to the last backup operation, you must perform an
authoritative restore. In this one needs to stop the inbound replication first before performing
the An authoritative restore.
>How do you configure a stand-by operation master for any of the roles?
# Open Active Directory Sites and Services.
# Expand the site name in which the standby operations master is located to display the Servers
folder.
# Expand the Servers folder to see a list of the servers in that site.
# Expand the name of the server that you want to be the standby operations master to display
its NTDS Settings.
# Right-click NTDS Settings, click New, and then click Connection.
# In the Find Domain Controllers dialog box, select the name of the current role holder, and
then click OK.
# In the New Object-Connection dialog box, enter an appropriate name for the Connection
object or accept the default name, and click OK.
Home » Microsoft Windows » Interview Question and Answers » Active Directory Interview
Question and Answers » Active Directory Page 8
>What’s the difference between transferring a FSMO role and seizing ?
Seizing an FSMO can be a destructive process and should only be attempted if the existing
server with the FSMO is no longer available.
If you perform a seizure of the FSMO roles from a DC, you need to ensure two things:
the current holder is actually dead and offline, and that the old DC will NEVER return to the
network. If you do an FSMO role Seize and then bring the previous holder back online, you’ll
have a problem.

An FSMO role TRANSFER is the graceful movement of the roles from a live, working DC to
another live DC During the process, the current DC holding the role(s) is updated, so it becomes
aware it is no longer the role holder
>I want to look at the RID allocation table for a DC. What do I do?
dcdiag /test:ridmanager /s:servername /v (servername is the name of our DC)
>What is BridgeHead Server in AD ?
A bridgehead server is a domain controller in each site, which is used as a contact point to
receive and replicate data between sites. For intersite replication, KCC designates one of the
domain controllers as a bridgehead server. In case the server is down, KCC designates another
one from the domain controller. When a bridgehead server receives replication updates from
another site, it replicates the data to the other domain controllers within its site.
>What is the default size of ntds.dit ?
10 MB in Server 2000 and 12 MB in Server 2003 .
>Where is the AD database held and What are other folders 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 systemwrites the data to the
AD database from the log file. Any time the systemis 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 inNTDS, along with the other files we’ve discussed

>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 do you do to install a new Windows 2003 R2 DC in a Windows 2003 AD?
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 Componentsr2adprep
folder on the second CD-ROM.
Before running this command, ensure all DCs are running Windows 2003 or Windows 2000 with
SP2 (or later).
Here’s a sample execution of the Adprep /forestprep
command:
D:CMPNENTSR2ADPREP>adprep /forestprep
ADPREP WARNING:
Before running adprep, all Windows 2000 domain controllers in the forest should be upgraded
to Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) with QFE 265089, or to Windows 2000 SP2 (or later).
QFE 265089 (included in Windows 2000 SP2 and later) is required to prevent potential domain
controller corruption.
[User Action] If ALL your existing Windows 2000 domain controllers meet this requirement,

type C and then press ENTER to continue. Otherwise, type any other key and press ENT ER to
quit.
C Opened Connection to SAV
DALDC01 SSPI Bind succeeded Current Schema Version is 30 Upgrading schema to version 31
Connecting to “SAVDALDC01″ Logging in as current user using SSPI Importing directory from file
“C:WINDOWSsystem32sch31.ldf” Loading entries… 139 entries modified successfully.
The command has completed successfully Adprep successfully updated the forest-wide
information.
After running Adprep, install R2 by performing these steps:
1. Click the “Continue Windows Server 2003 R2 Setup” link, as the figureshows.
2. At the “Welcome to the Windows Server 2003 R2 Setup Wizard” screen, click Next.
3. You’ll be prompted to enter an R2 CD key (this is different from your existing Windows 2003
keys) if the underlying OS wasn’t installed from R2 media (e.g., a regular Windows 2003 SP1
installation).
Enter the R2 key and click Next. Note: The license key entered for R2 must match the
underlying OS type, which means if you installed Windows 2003 using a volume-license version
key, then you can’t use a retail or Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) R2 key.
4. You’ll see the setup summary screen which confirms the actions to be performed (e.g., Copy
files). Click Next.
5. After the installation is complete, you’ll see a confirmation dialog box. Click Finish
>What is OU ?
Organization Unit is a container object in which you can keep objects such as user accounts,
groups, computer, printer . applications and other (OU).
In organization unit you can assign specificpermission to the user’s. organization unit can also
be used to create departmental limitation.
>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 sites ? What are they used for ?
One or more well-connected (highly reliable and fast) TCP/IP subnets.
A site allows administrators to configure Active Directory access and replication topology to
take advantage of the physical network.

A Site object in Active Directory represents a physical geographic location that hosts networks.
Sites contain objects called Subnets.
Sites can be used to Assign Group Policy Objects, facilitate the discovery of resources, manage
active directory replication, and manage network link traffic.
Sites can be linked to other Sites. Site-linked objects may be assigned a cost value that
represents the speed, reliability, availability, or other real property of a physical resource. Site
Links may also be assigned a schedule.
>Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that ?
register schmmgmt.dll using this command
c:windowssystem32>regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll
Open mmc –> add snapin –> add Active directory schema
name it as schema.msc
Open administrative tool –> schema.msc
>What is the port no of Kerbrose ?
88
>What is the port no of Global catalog ?
3268
>What is the port no of LDAP ?
389
>Explain Active Directory Schema ?
Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 Active Directory uses a database set of rules called
“Schema”. The Schema is defines as the formal definition of all object classes, and the
attributes that make up those object classes, that can be stored in the directory. As mentioned
earlier, the Active Directory database includes a default Schema, which defines many object
classes, such as users, groups, computers, domains, organizational units, and so on.
These objects are also known as “Classes”. The Active Directory Schema can be dynamically
extensible, meaning that you can modify the schema by defining new object types and their
attributes and by defining new attributes for existing objects. You can do this either with the
Schema Manager snap-in tool included with Windows 2000/2003 Server, or programmatically.
>How can you forcibly remove AD from a server, and what do you do later? ? Can I get user
passwords from the AD database?
Dcpromo /forceremoval , an administrator can forcibly remove Active Directory and roll back

the system without having to contact or replicate any locally held changes to another DC in the
forest. Reboot the server then After you use the dcpromo /forceremoval command, all the
remaining metadata for the demoted DC is not deleted on the surviving domain controllers, and
therefore you must manually remove it by using the NTDSUTIL command.
In the event that the NTDS Settings object is not removed correctly you can use the Ntdsutil.exe
utility to manually remove the NTDS Settings object. You will need the following tool:
Ntdsutil.exe, Active Directory Sites and Services, Active Directory Users and Computers
>What are the FSMO roles? Who has them by default? What happens when each one fails?
Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) role. Currently there are five FSMO roles:
Schema master
Domain naming master
RID master
PDC emulator
Infrastructure master
>What is domain tree ?
Domain Trees: A domain tree comprises several domains that share a common schema and
configuration, forming a contiguous namespace. Domains in a tree are also linked together by
trust relationships. Active Directory is a set of one or more trees.
Trees can be viewed two ways. One view is the trust relationships between domains. The other
view is the namespace of the domain tree.
>What is forests ?
A collection of one or more domain trees with a common schema and implicit trust
relationships between them. This arrangement would be used if you have multiple root DNS
addresses.
>How to Select the Appropriate Restore Method ?
You select the appropriate restore method by considering:
Circumstances and characteristics of the failure. The two major categories of failure, From an
Active Directory perspective, are Active Directory data corruption and hardware failure.
Active Directory data corruption occurs when the directory contains corrupt data that has been
replicated to all domain controllers or when a large portion of the Active Directory hierarchy
has been changed accidentally (such as deletion of an OU) and this change has replicated to
other domain controllers.
>Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its Backup Domain
Controller (BDC) in Server 2003?

The Active Directory replaces them. Now all domain controllers share a multimaster peer-to-
peer read and write relationship that hosts copies of the Active Directory.
>What is Global Catalog?
The Global Catalog authenticates network user logons and fields inquiries about objects across
a forest or tree. Every domain has at least one GC that is hosted on a domain controller. In
Windows 2000, there was typically one GC on every site in order to prevent user logon failures
across the network.
>How long does it take for security changes to be replicated among the domain controllers?
Security-related modifications are replicated within a site immediately. These changes include
account and individual user lockout policies, changes to password policies, changes to
computer account passwords, and modifications to the Local Security Authority (LSA).
>When should you create a forest?
Organizations that operate on radically different bases may require separate trees with distinct
namespaces. Unique trade or brand names often give rise to separate DNS identities.
Organizations merge or are acquired and naming continuity is desired. Organizations form
partnerships and joint ventures. While access to common resources is desired, a separately
defined tree can enforce more direct administrative and security restrictions.
>Describe the process of working with an external domain name ?
If it is not possible for you to configure your internal domain as a subdomain of your external
domain, use a stand-alone internal domain. This way, your internal and external domain names
are unrelated. For example, an organization that uses the domain name contoso.com for their
external namespace uses the name corp.internal for their internal namespace.
The advantage to this approach is that it provides you with a unique internal domain name. The
disadvantage is that this configuration requires you to manage two separate namespaces. Also,
using a stand-alone internal domain that is unrelated to your external domain might create
confusion for users because the namespaces do not reflect a relationship between resources
within and outside of your network.
In addition, you might have to register two DNS names with an Internet name authority if you
want to make the internal domain publicly accessible.
>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.
To find the in GC from the command line you can try using DSQUERY command.
dsquery server -isgc to find all the GC’s in the forest
you can try dsquery server -forest -isgc.
> What are the physical components of Active Directory?
Domain controllers and Sites. Domain controllers are physical computers which are running
Windows Server operating system and Active Directory data base. Sites are a network segment
based on geographical location and which contains multiple domain controllers in each site.
> What are the logical components of Active Directory?
Domains, Organizational Units, trees and forests are logical components of Active Directory.
> What are the Active Directory Partitions?
Active Directory database is divided into different partitions such as Schema partition, Domain
partition, and Configuration partition. Apart from these partitions, we can create Application
partition based on the requirement.
> What is group nesting?
Adding one group as a member of another group is called ‘group nesting’. This will help for easy
administration and reduced replication traffic.
> What is the feature of Domain Local Group?
Domain local groups are mainly used for granting access to network resources.A Domain local
group can contain accounts from any domain, global groups from any domain and universal
groups from any domain. For example, if you want to grant permission to a printer located at
Domain A, to 10 users from Domain B, then create a Global group in Domain B and add all 10
users into that Global group. Then, create a Domain local group at Domain A, and add Global
group of Domain B to Domain local group of Domain A, then, add Domain local group of
Domain A to the printer(of Domain A) security ACL.
>How will you take Active Directory backup ?

Active Directory is backed up along with System State data. System state data includes Local
registry, COM+, Boot files, NTDS.DIT and SYSVOL folder. System state can be backed up either
using Microsoft’s default NTBACKUP tool or third party tools such as Symantech NetBackup,
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager etc.
> Do we use clustering in Active Directory ? Why ?
No one installs Active Directory in a cluster. There is no need of clustering a domain controller.
Because Active Directory provides total redundancy with two or more servers.
> What is Active Directory Recycle Bin ?
Active Directory Recycle bin is a feature of Windows Server 2008 AD. It helps to restore
accidentally deleted Active Directory objects without using a backed up AD database, rebooting
domain controller or restarting any services.
> How do you check currently forest and domain functional levels? Say both GUI and
Command line.
To find out forest and domain functional levels in GUI mode, open ADUC, right click on the
domain name and take properties. Both domain and forest functional levels will be listed there.
TO find out forest and domain functional levels, you can use DSQUERY command.
> Which version of Kerberos is used for Windows 2000/2003 and 2008 Active Directory ?
All versions of Windows Server Active Directory use Kerberos 5.
> Name few port numbers related to Active Directory ?
Kerberos 88, LDAP 389, DNS 53, SMB 445
> What is an FQDN ?
FQDN can be expanded as Fully Qualified Domain Name.It is a hierarchy of a domain name
system which points to a device in the domain at its left most end. For example in system.
> Have you heard of ADAC ?
ADAC- Active Directory Administrative Center is a new GUI tool came with Windows Server
2008 R2, which provides enhanced data management experience to the admin. ADAC helps
administrators to perform common Active Directory object management task across multiple
domains with the same ADAC instance.
> How many objects can be created in Active Directory? (both 2003 and 2008)

As per Microsoft, a single AD domain controller can create around 2.15 billion objects during its
lifetime.
> Explain the process between a user providing his Domain credentialto his workstation and
the desktop being loaded? Or how the AD authentication works ?
When a user enters a user name and password, the computer sends the user name to the KDC.
The KDC contains a master database of unique long term keys for every principal in its realm.
The KDC looks up the user’s master key (KA), which is based on the user’s password. The KDC
then creates two items: a session key (SA) to share with the user and a Ticket-Granting Ticket
(TGT). The TGT includes a second copy of the SA, the user name, and an expiration time. The
KDC encrypts this ticket by using its own master key (KKDC), which only the KDC knows. The
client computer receives the information from the KDC and runs the user’s password through a
one-way hashing function, which converts the password into the user’s KA. The client computer
now has a session key and a TGT so that it can securely communicate with the KDC. The client is
now authenticated to the domain and is ready to access other resources in the domain by using
the Kerberos protocol.

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