Active Directory Console Overview

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In this lesson, I am going to be giving you an introduction to the Active Directory console.

Now, I am logged into my Domain Controller here, and I just want to start by clarifying that you can tell if you are on a Domain Controller by the inside of Server Manager, looking for the AD DS or Active Directory Domain Services role.

ad ds in server manager
AD DS in Server Manager

Now, there are other ways to start Active Directory, but what we are going to do is start it from within Server Manager.

Again, if you don't have Server Manager up you can click the Start button here, and just select Server Manager.

start button server manager
Start button Server Manager

You can also search for Active Directory here, and if you are not able to log directly into the Domain Controller you can install tools like RSAT or the Remote Server Administration Toolset, and you can download and install the Active Directory console and connect remotely to your Active Directory Domain Controller.

download rsat tools
Download RSAT Tools

Now, once you have Server Manager open what we are going to do is select Tools in the top right-hand corner of the screen and we are going to select Active Directory Users and Computers. Nine times out of ten when somebody says, hey I need you to open Active Directory this is what they are talking about.

image 1
Start Active Directory Users and Computers

Now, you'll notice that there are more Active Directory consoles here like Active Directory Administrative Center, Domains and Trusts, Sites and Services, and the Module for PowerShell. Nine times out of ten they are going to be talking about Active Directory Users and Computers. So, we are going to select this, and the Active Directory console will open. I am going to go ahead and just maximize this and expand the screen here.

active directory users and computers console
Active Directory Users and Computers console

Now, what you'll notice here is on the left-hand side here we have a navigation pane and then we have the contents of our current directory. So, we have the Saved Queries here at the top, and our actual domain, which in this course and in our lab that you'll be using later on in the course is ad.serveracademy.com. We can click these drop-down arrows and expand any contents. I don't have any saved queries, so there's nothing to be listed here, but we can click on the domain and we can browse to these different folders, just like you would expect, like Windows Explorer, something similar like that.

Now, up here on the left we have our File menu which we can change some Options, really just for deleting files if we want to do disk cleanup. I've never had to do that but is there if you want to do that. We can also Exit the console.

Under Action, we can create New Users, Computers, Groups, Printers, Shared Folders, and things like that.

aduc new objects
ADUC New objects

We can also complete Tasks that we may deem necessary by selecting an object and clicking the Action menu. Now, these setup tasks might be different depending on what kind of object we select, for example, if I select a user account here, and I click actions, I am going to get a different set of options than if I clicked the domain and clicked All Tasks.

aduc all tasks users
ADUC All Tasks Users
aduc all tasks domain
ADUC All Tasks Domain

Now, you'll notice you can get to the same views by right-clicking the Active Directory object over here on the left and selecting All Tasks, and the same thing for users, if I right-click a user and All Tasks I get the same options.

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nangamsog(@nangamsog)
Points: 53
7 months ago

Thank you for the intro, looking forward to the labs

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Nelisa Poni(@nelisa-poni)
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Points: 19
6 months ago

Hi, besides videos, where can I check out the material or which book can you recommend?

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Ricardo P(@ricardop)
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Reply to  Nelisa Poni
6 months ago

Hi profile avatar Nelisa Poni

The book for general Windows Server knowledge for beginners we can recommend is:
Exam Ref 70-740 Installation, Storage and Compute with Windows Server 2016

https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/exam-ref-70-740-installation-storage-and-compute-with-9780735698826

It was geared toward the Windows Server 2016 certification, which has been retired, but many concepts still apply to administering a Windows Server.

Ricardo

Last edited 6 months ago by Ricardo P
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Nelisa Poni(@nelisa-poni)
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Points: 19
6 months ago

Oh! Wow, must have been my poor network connection. The video was only playing and no content loaded but quickly realised there’s content provided. So looking forward for this new challenge. 😀  😀  😀  😀 

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Ricardo P(@ricardop)
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Reply to  Nelisa Poni
6 months ago

Great!!!  😎 

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mildrenem(@mildrenem)
Points: 13
6 months ago

Need slow pace

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Ricardo P(@ricardop)
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Reply to  mildrenem
6 months ago

Hi profile avatar mildrene moutry

If you need to slow down the video a little bit, you can mouse over the video and click the cog wheel at the bottom right to adjust the speed.

Ricardo

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ozns(@ozns)
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Points: 327
5 months ago

Hi, where is the Lab we’re supposed to be using to follow along? Thank you

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Ricardo P(@ricardop)
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Reply to  ozns
5 months ago

Hi profile avatar ozn sotc

It is under the Practice what you’ve learned section of the course.

Here’s the link:
https://www.serveracademy.com/courses/active-directory-fundamentals/active-directory-it-lab/

Ricardo

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Liz M(@lizm)
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Points: 326
4 months ago

Great Intro.

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andrewp2(@andrewp2)
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Points: 213
1 month ago

Any way this topics on the left can be separated from the Lesson video on the right.

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Ricardo P(@ricardop)
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Reply to  andrewp2
1 month ago

Hi profile avatar Andrew Philip

There’s no option from the GUI to hide it, unfortunately.

Ricardo