Most people are (quite rightly) terrified of seeing a whole bunch of errors in the DS event log following a schema update. This happened to me in a lab environment at a customer recently and I thought I would share the information here. I ran Windows Server 2008 adprep /forestprep on a Windows Server 2003… Read More »
It’s been a while, but Joe Richards has released a new version of his most excellent (and free!) command line tool, ADFIND. This latest version is V01.39.00 and incorporates a number of new features, switches and shortcuts. Check it out here.
If you’ve played around with Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services, you will probably be familiar with the snapshot feature within NTDSUTIL. The feature allows you to take snapshot of the volumes that host the AD components and to then mount the snapshot. Once mounted, you can use DSAMAIN.EXE to expose a read-only copy… Read More »
Last week I initiated a discussion on the ActiveDir.org mailing list about running Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers on Server Core. I was curious to see whether there were any good reasons why all DCs (RODCs and RWDCs) should not be run on Server Core as a best practice. The conclusion reached was that,… Read More »
Next to ADFIND.EXE, LDP is the tool I probably use most often when working with Active Directory. It’s an LDAP client that was originally developed for use purely within Microsoft. It can be used for browsing, searching and making changes via the LDAP protocol. Because of its usefulness, Microsoft included LDP in the Support… Read More »
I encounter a fair number of AD implementations as part of my work. Some are good, some bad and some just plain ugly. Here’s a more or less random collection of bad habits that I see quite regularly and some tips on how to avoid and/or kick them. 1. Poor or missing Active Directory… Read More »
It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged, so here’s a more or less random collection of snippets for you to enjoy/delete at leisure. Quest acquires Netpro Wow, this one took me by surprise, especially as I have been contracting to Quest on and off for the past 10 months. Two of the biggest… Read More »
A number of companies that I work with use the Acctinfo.dll to provide additional user information when working with Active Directory Users and Computers (DSA.MSC). You can download Acctinfo.dll from the Microsoft web site as part of the Account Lockout and Management Tools package. What isn’t quite so well known is that an updated version… Read More »
Here’s a cautionary tale. In a rash moment I volunteered to present a session at TechEd in Auckland in early September. Be careful what you wish for….I’ve been confirmed as a speaker for a break-out session on Windows Server 2008 Active Directory. The title is Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Deep Dive and you… Read More »
Earlier this week, John Christie posted a question to the mailing list at ActiveDir.org on the topic of the history of Active Directory. If you’re not already subscribed to the list, the full thread can be found here: http://www.activedir.org/ListArchives/tabid/55/forumid/1/postid/29103/view/topic/Default.aspx The most interesting and authoritative response was from Don Hacherl, as shown in full below.… Read More »