VMworld 2015: Virtualize Active Directory, the Right Way!

Virtualize Active Directory, the Right Way!
Deji Akomolafe (@dejify), VMware, Inc
Matt Liebowitz (@mattliebowitz), EMC Corporation
VAPP5483
#VAPP5483

• This presentation may contain product features that are currently under development.
• This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware to deliver these
features in any generally available product.
• Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or
sales agreements of any kind.
• Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery.
• Pricing and packaging for any new technologies or features discussed or presented have not
been determined.
Disclaimer
CONFIDENTIAL 2

Agenda
CONFIDENTIAL 3
1 Active Directory Overview
2 Why Virtualize Active Directory?
3 Common Objections to Domain Controller Virtualization
4 Timekeeping in Virtualized Domain Controllers
5 Best Practices for Virtualizing Domain Controllers
6 New Features
7 DC “Safety” Considerations in DC Event
8 Protecting Active Directory with SRM – Conceptual Use Case

Active Directory Overview
• This is not an Active Directory class
• Windows Active Directory Multi-master Replication Conundrum
– Write Originates from any Domain Controller
• RODC is “special” –
– Cannot perform write operations
• Schema Update is “special”
– Schema update operations happen on the Schema Master
– Selective Partnership
• The Case for Optimal Replication Topology
– Changes MUST Converge
• Eventually
• Preferably On-Time
• The Additional Complexity of Multi-Domain Infrastructure
– The Infrastructure Master
– The Global Catalog
• Useful tool: Active Directory Replication Status Tool
– http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30005
CONFIDENTIAL 4

Active Directory Overview
• How Do They Do That? – Overview of AD Replication
– The Directory Service Agent GUID
• Unique to a Domain Controller
• Persistent over the life of a Domain Controller
• Used in USNs to track DC’s originating updates
– The InvocationID
• Used by DSA to identify a DC’s instance of the AD database
• Can change over time (e.g. during a DC restore operation)
– Update Sequence Number (USN), aka “Logical Clock”
• Used by DCs to track updates sent or received
• Increases per write transaction on each DC
• Globally unique in Forest
– USN + InvocationID => Replicable Transactions
• What about Timestamps?
– Conflict Resolution – Check the Stamps
• Stamp = Version + Originating Time + Originating DSA
CONFIDENTIAL 5

Why Virtualize Active Directory?

Why Virtualize AD?
CONFIDENTIAL 7
Active Directory virtualization
is FULLY supported
“Virtualize First” – the new normal
No longer a “black magic” aVirtualization is main-stream
Active Directory characteristics
are virtualization-friendly
Domain Controllers are inter-changeable
All roles are suitable candidates
Can’t spell “Cloud” w/o “Virtual”
Distributed, Multi-master
Low I/O and resource requirements
OK, maybe not the RODC 
Facilitates rapid provisioning
Physical Domain Controllers
Waste Compute Resources $$$$
A single DC cannot utilize
compute resources available
on modern server hardware

Common Objections to DC Virtualization
CONFIDENTIAL 8
The fear of the “stolen vmdk”
How about the “stolen server”?
Or “stolen / copied backup tape”?
Use array-, disk- or file-level
encryption for added security
Privilege Escalation
vCenter privileges do NOT elevate
Windows or AD privileges
Have to keep the xyz Operations Master role
holder physical
No technical reasoning for this
Roles can be transferred or seized
Deviates from our build process or standards Virtualization improves standardization
Use templates for optimization
Timekeeping in virtual machines is hard We agree!

Time Keeping is IMPORTANT…and HARD
CONFIDENTIAL 9

CONFIDENTIAL 10
Back in the Day,
We Used To Do This
That was Problematic,
So We Now Do This

CONFIDENTIAL 11
But, That, Too, is Insufficient
Reference: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1189
Because Even When You Do THAT, We Still Do THIS

Live Demo –
Incorrect Timekeeping in
Virtualized Domain Controllers

CONFIDENTIAL 13
Which Could Be OK-ish…IF
• Host Times are ALWAYS Right
• CMOS Don’t Go Bad
• Rogue Operators Don’t Exist
• Security is a Thing Other People Should Worry About
In Real-Life…
• Stuff Happens
• vSphere’s Default Behavior “Corrects” Time on PDC Emulators,
Which can Cause Time Sync Issues in AD Forests
• If Time Source is Unreliable, Problems can be Amplified
How Do We Determine the “CORRECT Time”?
We Ask The Physical Server (The ESXi Host)

CONFIDENTIAL 14
Preventing Bad Time Sync
 Ensure Hardware Clock on ESXi Hosts is CORRECT
 Configure Reliable NTP on ALL ESXi Hosts
 Disable DRS for PDCe
 Use Host-Guest Affinity Rule for PDCe
Completely Disabling Time Sync
Add the Following to Your Domain-Joined Windows VM’s
Advanced Configuration Options
tools.syncTime = "0“
time.synchronize.continue = "0"
time.synchronize.restore = "0"
time.synchronize.resume.disk = "0"
time.synchronize.shrink = "0"
time.synchronize.tools.startup = "0"
time.synchronize.tools.enable = "0"
time.synchronize.resume.host = "0“

Proper Time Keeping – For Visual Learners
CONFIDENTIAL 15
Stratum-1 Time
Source
Forest-root
PDC Emulator
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1318
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Timekeeping-In-VirtualMachines.pdf
ESXi Host
Domain
Controller
Domain
Members

Best Practices for Virtualizing Domain Controllers
CONFIDENTIAL 17
The “Low-Hanging Fruit”
• Deploy across multiple datacenters
• Distribute the FSMO (Operations Masters) roles
– First DC ALWAYS own all the roles
– Follow Microsoft Operations Master Role Placement Best Practices
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754889.aspx
• Use EFFECTIVE Role-Based Access Control
– Grant Domain Admin rights only to trusted operators
• Virtual infrastructure Admins do NOT require Domain Admin privileges
• Domain Admins do NOT require Virtual infrastructure Admin privileges
• To P2V or Not to P2V?
• Follow our recommended practices http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006996
• Use Anti-affinity rules to keep DCs separated/Host-Guest rules
– Avoids “eggs-in-one-basket” failure scenario
– Answers the “where’s my Domain Controller?” question

CONFIDENTIAL 18
Domain Controller Sizing
• Sizing domain controllers properly is key to good performance
– Don’t assume DCs sit idle and don’t need a lot of resources
– Use capacity planning tools such as VMware Capacity Planner/Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (or
vROPs if already virtual) to determine current state usage
– Resource requirements are highly dependent on total number of objects and rate of change in the environment
• CPU
– Domain controllers are not typically heavy consumers of CPU resources
– Actual CPU usage varies by environment and by use case
• CPU usage in branch office serving primarily authentication function likely to be lower than in larger offices
– General sizing guidance:
• 1 – 10,000 users = 1 vCPU. Greater than 10,000 users = 2 vCPU
• If unsure, start with 2 vCPUs and scale up as needed

CONFIDENTIAL 19
Domain Controller Sizing
• Memory
– Domain controllers are similar to database servers – can cache AD database in RAM for faster read
performance.
– Monitor “Database/Database Cache % Hit” counter for “lsass” process to determine current cache usage. Low hit
rate may indicate DC would benefit from more RAM.
– Large forests with millions of objects can consume large amounts of memory. Not unusual to see DCs with
32GB of RAM for very large forests.
• Networking
– Domain controllers rely on replication to stay in sync.
– Use VMXNET3 virtual NIC for best performance and lowest CPU utilization on domain controllers.
• Storage
– Need enough space to store AD database (plus room to grow), plus OS files & any other software.
– DCs not particularly I/O intensive. Can offload read I/O to RAM.

CONFIDENTIAL 20
What’s in a Name?
• ~ 75% of AD-related support calls attributable to DNS “issues”
• AD DEPENDS on effective name resolution
– Clients and DCs reference objects by name/GUID
– Internal AD processes depend on DNS
• The “Initial Replication” conundrum – get your DNS right
– DCs MUST perform successful “initial synchronization” on boot-up
– DNS service will not start if not successful
– DCs cannot synchronize if name resolution not working
– The “Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations” Curse Word
• Against Microsoft’s recommended practice
– http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2001093
– HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesNTDSParameters
Value name: Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 0

Domain Controllers and DNS – Get it Right!
CONFIDENTIAL 21
DNS Service: 10.10.10.10
DC-1
What’s my IP?
IP Address: 10.10.10.10
Hey, DNS! Who is DC-2.mydomain.local?
Boots up
What’s my DNS IP?
DNS Address: 10.10.10.10
Must sync with
DC-2.mydomain.local
Must start DNS service
I don’t know. I’m not Started.Hey, DNS Service! Please startI’m unable to start. You must sync first!

CONFIDENTIAL 22
• Native AD DNS or IP Address Management Appliance?
– Native AD DNS is “Free”
– Physical IPAM can complicate DR testing
– Solution must be AD-aware
– Should support dynamic SRV records registration – not a MUST
• Other Considerations
– Avoid pointing DC to ONLY itself for DNS – see previous movie 
– Distribute DNS servers across multiple sites
– Include loopback (127.0.0.1) address in DNS list
• Makes configuration and maintenance easier
– Include ALL Suffixes in domain or forest – or use GlobalNames
• Makes name resolution easier and more optimal
• Depends on corporate administrative practices
What’s in a Name?

Historical Problems with Virtualizing Domain Controllers
• Virtual Disk – To cache or not to cache?
– Not our problem a vSphere issue 
– Force Unit Access – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888794/en-us
– Virtual Disk Corruption in Hyper-V – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2853952
• AD is a distributed directory service that relies on a clock-based replication scheme
– Each domain controller keeps track of its own transactions and the transactions of every other domain
controller via Update Sequence Numbers and InvocationIDs
– A domain controller which has been reverted to a previously taken snapshot, or restored from a VM
level backup will attempt to reuse USNs for new transactions – USN Rollback
– The local DC will believe its transactions are legit, while other domain controllers know they are not and
refuse to allow incoming replication
• Why is USN Rollback so bad?
CONFIDENTIAL 23

Active Directory Replication – Steady State
CONFIDENTIAL 24
4
Replicable Transaction:
DC-1(A);USN101-110
DC-1 UTD Vector = 110
3
DC-2
15
2
State: 10 more users created
Change USNs = 101 - 110
DB Invocation ID = DC-1(A)
Highest Committed USN = 110
1
DC-1
State: Current

Users Created After VM Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 25
4 Replicable Transaction:
DC-1(A);USN111-120
3
5
DC-2
1
DC-1 UTD Vector = 110DC-1 UTD Vector = 120
6
1
State: Current
Highest Committed USN = 110DC-1
State: Snapshot Created
2
DC-1

DC Reverted to Previous Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 26
State: Snapshot Reverted
Highest Committed USN =
2
DC-1 110
1
DC-1
State: Current (Snapshot Taken)

USN Rollback Effect after Reverting Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 27
3
DC-1(A);USN111-120
2
4
1
DC-2
DC-1
1
Bad DC!
Off with You!!!

Introducing Domain Controller
“Safety” Features

VM Generation ID
• Windows Server 2012 provides a way for hypervisor vendors to expose a 128-bit generation ID counter
to the VM guest
– Generation ID is communicated from the hypervisor to the guest through the VM GenerationID Counter Driver
(not VMware Tools)
• VM GenerationID supported in vSphere 5.0 Update 2 and later
– Exposed in VMX file as vm.genid or vm.genidx
– Added to all VMs configured as Windows Server 2012
• VM GenerationID tracked via new Active Directory attribute on domain controller objects –
msDS-GenerationId
– Attribute is not replicated to other domain controllers
• Changes in VM Generation ID is first line of defense against USN Rollback
– Reverting snapshots triggers VM GenID changes
– VM GenID changes triggers Domain Controller “Safety” mechanism
• Provides 2 DISTINCT Benefits:
– Safety
– Cloning
CONFIDENTIAL 29

Demo – Domain Controller Cloning

Considerations When Using DC Cloning Features
• When performing DC Cloning operation:
– Always shutdown reference domain controller prior to cloning
• No Hot-clone! Besides, it’s not supported.
– Ensure that the reference DC holds no Operations Master Role
• Specifically, you can’t clone a RID-Master Role holder
– You can clone the PDCe, but…
• You must power on the reference DC before powering on the new clone
– DNS MUST be reachable during the cloning process
• When performing Mass DC cloning operation:
– No “-CloneComputerName” or “-Static -IPv4Address” in dccloneconfig.xml
– Ensure that DHCP is functional in the infrastructure
– DON’T turn on the reference DC until you have finished all mass cloning
• The dccloneconfig.xml file is automatically renamed as soon as Windows starts
• Alternatively, convert the clone to a template and deploy new DCs from template
– Re-usable template is only as good as the Tombstone Lifetime value of the domain
• Do NOT perform “Guest Customization” when cloning a DC
– It breaks the “safety” feature!!!
CONFIDENTIAL 31

Domain Controller Safeguard
• DC Safeguard allows a DC that has been reverted from a snapshot, or restored from VM
backup to continue to function as a member
of the directory service
– VM GenerationID is evaluated during boot sequence and before updates
are committed to Active Directory
• After revert / restore:
– Boot-up or new AD update triggers VM GenerationID to be compared to value of msDS-GenerationId
in local AD database
– If the values differ:
• The local RID pool is invalidated
• New invocationID is set for the local AD database
– New changes can be committed to the database and synchronized outbound
– Changes lost due to revert / restore are synchronized back inbound
• After VM Clone or Copy (without proper prep)
– DC is rebooted into directory service restore mode (DSRM)
CONFIDENTIAL 32

Demo – Domain Controller Safety

Domain Controller Safeguard
• Just because you can take / revert a snapshot of a domain controller, does that mean
you should?
• What are some valid reasons for using virtual machine snapshots with domain controllers?
– Backup software that takes “image level” backups typically rely on snapshots to ensure consistent
backups.
– Need to install software on a virtualized domain controller and want the ability to revert in case there
are issues
• Even with this ability, remember that snapshots are not backups.
– It is often easier to deploy a new server & promote to domain controller rather than trying to restore a
domain controller from a backup.
• In general – it is unlikely you’ll frequently use this feature but good to know it’s there
if you need it
CONFIDENTIAL 34

General Considerations for Cloning / Safeguard Features
• Minimum vSphere/vCenter/ESXi version: 5.0 Update 2
• Guest Operating System version MUST be set to Windows Server 2012
– VM Generation ID will not be generated for any lower version
• Leave “Cloneable Domain Controllers” AD security group empty in-between clone operations
– Helps prevent unintended DC cloning
– Helps enforce RBAC
• Domain Admin populate group, vSphere Admin performs cloning, etc.
• Validate all software (think management / backup agents) for cloning
– VMware Tools is safe for cloning
• If using Windows Backup, delete backup history on the clone, and take a fresh backup ASAP
• Clone DC Templates will become stale – think “Tombstone”
• Incorrect preparation will put clone in DSRM “Jail”
– See - DC cloning fails and server restarts in DSRM (MS KB 2742844)
CONFIDENTIAL 35

Key Take Aways…
• Dangers which were once present when virtualizing DCs have mostly been resolved in
Windows Server 2012
• Domain Controller virtualization is 100% supported
• Multi-master, distributed, and low resource utilization characteristics of Active Directory make
domain controllers virtualization-friendly
• Physical and virtual Domain Controller best practices are identical
• Same considerations around Time, Security, DNS, Availability, etc
– Physical Servers can experience clock drift, too
• Active Directory is natively highly available
– vSphere High Availability complements it and help mitigate hardware failures
• Upgrade to Windows Server 2012 to bring domain controller safeguard and cloning to the party
CONFIDENTIAL 36

Effects of DC “Safety” on Disaster Recovery
• Special considerations required for site-wide Disaster Recovery plan
• Disaster connotes complete site (or AD) outage
• Must recover multiple DCs or entire AD infrastructure
• Recovery could be from backup or orchestrated (e.g. VMware SRM)
• Remember “DC Safety” workflow logic during a DC “recovery”
– Hypervisor changes VM Generation ID of recovered DC
• What if one of the recovered DCs is the RID-Master?
– RID Pool cannot be obtained while RID Master is down
– RID Master cannot issue RID pools until it has replicated with other DCs
• Avoiding the conundrum
• Always have DCs in multiple sites
• Replicate RID-Master and PDCe (at least) to DR site as part of DR Plan
• Restart Directory Service on RID-Master
– Use the Powershell command (restart-service NTDS -force)
– Then force replication to another DC not impacted by outage (if available)
• Reboot RID-Master AFTER all other DCs have started
• Or, just wait…For a sufficiently long time…Yeah Right!
CONFIDENTIAL 37

Protecting Active Directory
with SRM

Protecting Operations Master Roles
CONFIDENTIAL 39
VMware vSphere
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
Servers
PDCe RID App App App
VMware vSphere
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
Servers
PDCe RID App App
Site A (Primary) Site B (Recovery)
Recovery Plan
DC DC
Recovery Site
Domain Controllers
DC

Using Primary Site DC During DR Testing
CONFIDENTIAL 40
VMware vSphere
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
Servers
App App App App App
DC-1
VMware vSphere
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
Servers
App App App App App
DC-1
Recovery Plan
Test Only
DC-2

Cloning Recovery Site DC During RP Testing
CONFIDENTIAL 41
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
VMware vSphere
VMware
vCenter Server
Site Recovery
Manager
Servers
App App App App App
DC-1
VMware vSphere
Servers
App App App App App
DC-2
Recovery Plan
Test Only
DC-2

Shameless Plug
• Virtualizing Microsoft Business Critical
Applications on VMware vSphere
– Authors: Matt Liebowitz, Alex Fontana
• Covers Windows Server 2012 Active Directory,
Exchange Server 2013, SQL Server 2012, and
SharePoint Server 2013
• Not just technical – covers building a business
case, objection handling, & more!
CONFIDENTIAL 42

The Percentage of Applications in Virtualized Infrastructure
Has Increased Dramatically over the Last Few Years
(VMware Core Metrics Survey July 2015)
Microsoft SQL is the most common application running in on-premise virtual infrastructure
NA EU dAP BRIC SMB COMM ENT
57% 73% 70% 74% 68% 71% 64%
47% 51% 39% 56% 43% 51% 54%
41% 43% 46% 61% 36% 46% 57%
45% 54% 37% 41% 43% 49% 46%
34% 38% 59% 51% 37% 39% 48%
26% 27% 32% 37% 24% 34% 33%
25% 30% 23% 35% 16% 30% 39%
29% 16% 31% 27% 22% 22% 30%
15% 23% 30% 28% 19% 24% 25%
15% 22% 22% 30% 17% 21% 25%
71% 62% 62% 64% 65% 64% 68%
48% 54% 49% 55% 50% 51% 53%
51% 45% 49% 49% 44% 49% 53%
36% 35% 39% 46% 37% 40% 37%
20% 15% 20% 26% 15% 17% 25%
600 450 230 323 653 346 604
Region Company Size
67%
49%
46%
45%
42%
29%
28%
25%
22%
21%
66%
51%
49%
38%
19%
Microsoft SQL
Microsoft SharePoint
SAP
Microsoft Exchange
Oracle Databases
Oracle Applications
High Performance Computing
Custom BCA/ industry-specific
Oracle Middleware
IBM Middleware
Business critical
Important
Development
Test
Staging
 Applications in Virtualized Infrastructure
> Total
< Total
N = 1603
 Level of Criticality of Applications in Virtualized Infrastructure
(Select all that apply)
(Select all that apply)
CONFIDENTIAL 43

Virtualizing Applications
Sessions and Offerings
• 30 Breakout Sessions with 5 Panels & 4 Quick Talks
• 10 Group Discussions
• One-on-One Meet the Experts Sessions
• Checkout the Hands on Labs
Sign up for the Independent Oracle User Group
(IOUG) VMware Special Interest Group (SIG)
www.ioug.org/vmware

RDBMS Books from VMware Press
Book signing @ 1PM
Tuesday Sept 1
vmwarepress.com
http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/store/virtualizing-oracle-databases-on-vsphere-9780133570182
http://www.pearsonitcertification.com/store/virtualizing-sql-server-with-vmware-doing-it-right-9780321927750
CONFIDENTIAL 45

VMworld 2015: Virtualize Active Directory, the Right Way!

Virtualize Active Directory, the Right Way!
Deji Akomolafe, VMware, Inc
Matt Liebowitz, EMC Corporation
VAPP5483
#VAPP5483

CONFIDENTIAL 50
• ACCURATE timekeeping is essential to AD
– Conflict resolution “tie breaker”
– Kerberos authentication
– W32Time is “good enough”
• Operating Systems use timer interrupts (ticks) to track elapsed time
– Relies on CPU availability for accuracy
• Tickless timekeeping avoids problem of CPU saturation
– Uses units of elapsed time since boot-up
– Depends on fast, reliable “hardware counter”
• Host resource over-allocation will lead to contention
– Idle guests may not schedule timer interrupts
– Guest unable to schedule CPU time for interrupts, leading to backlog and drift
– Guest may over-compensate for “drift” by discarding backlogs – Ping-Pong!
It is about Time

CONFIDENTIAL 51
It is about Time
• vSphere includes time-keeping mechanism
• VMware Tools is the delivery vehicle
– Resets Guest’s clock to match Host’s on boot-up
• Even if Guest-Host clock synchronization is disabled
– Reset Guest’s clock when resuming from suspension or snapshot restore
• This behavior can be disabled
• Synch with Host or Use Windows domain time hierarchy?
– We have had a change of heart
• Default guest time synchronization option changed in vSphere
• Domain-joined Windows guests should use native time sync option
• Domain Controllers should NOT be synced with vSphere hosts *
– Unless when running VMKernel-hosted NTP daemon in vSphere (ESXi)
• vSphere hosts should NOT be synced with virtualized DCs
• Follow Microsoft’s time sync configuration best practices
• VMtools STILL performs guest time correction during certain operations*

Domain Time Hierarchy
CONFIDENTIAL 52
PDC Emulator
Domain Controller
Workstation
External Time
Source
PDC Emulator
Domain Controller
Workstation
Or any domain
controller in
parent domain
Or any domain
controller in
own domain
Or any domain
controller in
own domain
domain.local
child.domain.local

Active Directory Replication – Steady State
CONFIDENTIAL 53
4
DC-1(A);USN101-110
3
DC-2
15
2
1
DC-1
State: Current

Users Created After VM Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 54
4 Replicable Transaction:
DC-1(A);USN111-120
3
5
DC-2
1
DC-1 UTD Vector = 110DC-1 UTD Vector = 120
6
1
State: Current
Highest Committed USN = 110DC-1
State: Snapshot Created
2
DC-1

DC Reverted to Previous Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 55
Highest Committed USN =
2
DC-1 110
1
DC-1
State: Current (Snapshot Taken)

USN Rollback Effect after Reverting Snapshot
CONFIDENTIAL 56
3
DC-1(A);USN111-120
2
4
1
DC-2
DC-1
1
Bad DC!
Off with You!!!

Where is VM GenerationID Stored?
CONFIDENTIAL 57

vSphere Operations that Trigger VMGenID Changes
CONFIDENTIAL 58
Scenario VM-Generation ID Change
VMware vSphere vMotion®/VMware vSphere Storage vMotion No
Virtual machine pause/resume No
Virtual machine reboot No
vSphere host reboot No
Import virtual machine Yes
Cold clone Yes
Hot clone
NOTE: Hot cloning of virtual domain controllers is not supported by either
Microsoft or VMware. Do not attempt hot cloning under any circumstances.
Yes
New virtual machine from VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VMDK) copy Yes
Cold snapshot revert (while powered off or while running and not taking a
memory snapshot)
Yes
Hot snapshot revert (while powered on with a memory snapshot) Yes
Restore from virtual machine level backup Yes
Virtual machine replication (using both host-based and array-level
replication)
Yes

Domain Controller Cloning
• DC Cloning enables fast, safer DC provisioning through clone operation
– Includes regular VM cloning and manual VMDK copy operations
• DC Cloning Sequence
– Prepare Source DC for cloning
• Add the DC to the cloneable domain controllers AD group
• Check for non-cloneable software
• Create the DCCloneConfig.xml configuration file
– Shut down Source DC*
– Clone Source DC VM, using hypervisor based cloning operations
– Power on New DC
• VM GenerationID is evaluated
• New VM GenerationID triggers DC Safeguard
– RID Pool is discarded
– invocationID is reset
• New VM checks for existence of file DCCloneConfig.xml
– If exists, the cloning process proceeds
• New DC is promoted using the existing AD database and SYSVOL contents
CONFIDENTIAL 59

Domain Controller Cloning Example
CONFIDENTIAL 60
Source DC:
msDS-GenerationId = 001
W2K12-DC02
192.168.11.41
vSphere Host
W2K12-DC02: vm.genid = 001
Clone DC:
W2K12-DC02
192.168.11.41
Clone DC:
W2K12-DC02
192.168.11.41
Clone DC:
W2K12-DC03
192.168.11.42
vSphere Host
VM GenerationID
Counter Driver

DC Reverted to Previous Snapshot with Safeguard
CONFIDENTIAL 61
1
DC-1
State: Current (Snapshot Taken
at USN=110)
2
DC-1
ESXi Host
State: New GenID Triggered
VM: DC-1
vm.genid: <new value>
3
State: DC Safeguard Complete
DB Invocation ID = DC-1(B)
4
DC-1

3
2
1
Relication After Safeguard
CONFIDENTIAL 62
DC-1
DC-1(B);USN111-120
DC-2
Non-authoritative
restore:
DC-1(A);USN111-120

DC Safeguard Example
CONFIDENTIAL 63
DC01
VM GenID: 001
InvocationID: A
Starting USN: 101
DC02
User 1
USN 101
InvID: A
User 1
USN 101
InvID: DC01(A)
Base DiskSnapshotBase Disk
vSphere Host
DC01 vm.genid = 001002
User 2
USN 101
InvID: B
DC01
VM GenID: 002
InvocationID: B
Starting USN: 101
User 2
USN 101
InvID: DC01(B)
User 1
USN 101
InvID: A
VM GenerationID
Counter Driver
Non-authoritative
restore of differences

VMworld 2015: Virtualize Active Directory, the Right Way!

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