Install Active Directory and create a user

  • 1 minute

Install Active Directory and create a test user

In this exercise, you'll install Active Directory and create a user. This user can be used for testing purposes.

Diagram that shows a basic Microsoft Entra environment.

Change the ISO file in Hyper-V

Now that we have the virtual machine up and the operating system installed, we want to change the ISO file that VM is using. We're taking this action so we can run the remaining scripts from within the VM. To change the ISO file, do the following tasks:

  1. In Hyper-V, right click on DC1 and select Settings.
  2. On the left, select DVD Drive.
  3. On the right, browse for the LEARN_Scripts_Basic_AD_Azure_AD.ISO file that was downloaded in the prepare section. Screenshot of Change ISO.
  4. Click Apply and OK.

Install Active Directory prerequisites

Now that you've a virtual machine up, you need to do a few things prior to installing Active Directory. That is, you need to rename the virtual machine, set a static IP address and DNS information, and install the Remote Server Administration tools.

The PowerShell script below can be used to accomplish this task. The script contains the following variables. The variables can be changed to suit your environment or preferences.

Variable Description
$ipaddress The IP address of our network card
$ipprefix Defines the local subnet size, and is also known as a subnet mask
$ipgw Specifies the IPv4 address of the default gateway for the host. Default gateways provide a default route for TCP/IP hosts to use when communicating with other hosts on remote networks
$ipdns The first DNS server to set for the interface
$ipdns2 The second DNS server to set for the interface
$ipif Specifies the index number of the interface
$featureLogPath Sets the log file path
$newname The new name of the server
$addsTools The remote administration tools to install

  1. Open up the PowerShell ISE as Administrator.

  2. Run the following script.

     #Declare variables
 $ipaddress = "10.0.1.117" 
 $ipprefix = "24" 
 $ipgw = "10.0.1.1" 
 $ipdns = "10.0.1.117"
 $ipdns2 = "8.8.8.8" 
 $ipif = (Get-NetAdapter).ifIndex 
 $featureLogPath = "c:\poshlog\featurelog.txt" 
 $newname = "DC1"
 $addsTools = "RSAT-AD-Tools" 

 #Set static IP address
 New-NetIPAddress -IPAddress $ipaddress -PrefixLength $ipprefix -InterfaceIndex $ipif -DefaultGateway $ipgw 

 # Set the DNS servers
 Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex $ipif -ServerAddresses ($ipdns, $ipdns2)

 #Rename the computer 
 Rename-Computer -NewName $newname -force 

 #Install features 
 New-Item $featureLogPath -ItemType file -Force 
 Add-WindowsFeature $addsTools 
 Get-WindowsFeature | Where installed >>$featureLogPath 

 #Restart the computer 
 Restart-Computer

Create a Windows Server AD environment

Now that you've the VM created and it has been renamed and has a static IP address, you can go ahead and install and configure Active Directory Domain Services.

The PowerShell script below can be used to accomplish this task. The script contains the following variables and these can be changed to suit your environment or preferences.

Variable Description
$DatabasePath Specifies the fully qualified, non-Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to a directory on a fixed disk of the local computer that contains the domain database, for instance, C:\Databases\NTDS. The default is %SYSTEMROOT%\NTDS
$DomainMode Specifies the domain functional level of the first domain in the creation of a new forest
$DomainName Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the root domain in the forest
$DomaninNetBIOSName Specifies the NetBIOS name for the root domain in the new forest
$ForestMode Specifies the forest functional level for the new forest
$LogPath Specifies the fully qualified, non-UNC path to a directory on a fixed disk of the local computer where the log file for this operation is written
$SysVolPath Specifies the fully qualified, non-UNC path to a directory on a fixed disk of the local computer where the sysvol file is written
$featureLogPath Sets the feature log file path
$Password Supplies the password for the administrator account when the computer is started in Safe Mode or a variant of Safe Mode, such as Directory Services Restore Mode
$SecureString Converts $Password to a secure string

Do the following tasks:

  1. Open up the PowerShell ISE as Administrator.

  2. Run the following script.

    #Declare variables
$DatabasePath = "c:\windows\NTDS"
$DomainMode = "WinThreshold"
$DomainName = "contoso.com"
$DomaninNetBIOSName = "CONTOSO"
$ForestMode = "WinThreshold"
$LogPath = "c:\windows\NTDS"
$SysVolPath = "c:\windows\SYSVOL"
$featureLogPath = "c:\poshlog\featurelog.txt" 
$Password = "Pass1w0rd"
$SecureString = ConvertTo-SecureString $Password -AsPlainText -Force

#Install AD DS, DNS and GPMC 
start-job -Name addFeature -ScriptBlock { 
Add-WindowsFeature -Name "ad-domain-services" -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools 
Add-WindowsFeature -Name "dns" -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools 
Add-WindowsFeature -Name "gpmc" -IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools } 
Wait-Job -Name addFeature 
Get-WindowsFeature | Where installed >>$featureLogPath

#Create New AD Forest
Install-ADDSForest -CreateDnsDelegation:$false -DatabasePath $DatabasePath -DomainMode $DomainMode -DomainName $DomainName -SafeModeAdministratorPassword $SecureString -DomainNetbiosName $DomainNetBIOSName -ForestMode $ForestMode -InstallDns:$true -LogPath $LogPath -NoRebootOnCompletion:$false -SysvolPath $SysVolPath -Force:$true

Create a Windows Server AD user

Now that you've our Active Directory environment, you need to a test account. This account will be created in our on-premises AD environment and then synchronized to Microsoft Entra ID.

The PowerShell script below can be used to accomplish this task. The script contains the following variables and these can be changed to suit your environment or preferences.

Variable Description
$Givenname Specifies the user's given name
$Surname Specifies the user's last name or surname
$Displayname Specifies the display name of the user
$Name Specifies the name of the user
$Password Sets the password for the user
$Identity Specifies an Active Directory user object by providing the DN of the user
$SecureString Converts $Password to a secure string

Do the following tasks:

  1. Open up the PowerShell ISE as Administrator.

  2. Run the following script.

     #Declare variables
$Givenname = "Anna"
$Surname = "Ringdal"
$Displayname = "Anna Ringdal"
$Name = "aringdal"
$Password = "Pass1w0rd"
$Identity = "CN=aringdal,CN=Users,DC=contoso,DC=com"
$SecureString = ConvertTo-SecureString $Password -AsPlainText -Force


#Create the user
New-ADUser -Name $Name -GivenName $Givenname -Surname $Surname -DisplayName $Displayname -AccountPassword $SecureString

#Set the password to never expire
Set-ADUser -Identity $Identity -PasswordNeverExpires $true -ChangePasswordAtLogon $false -Enabled $true

Create a checkpoint

Once you have created the user, we want to create a snapshot of the work we have done so we can roll back to this point if we need to. To do this task, do the following tasks:

  1. In Hyper-V, right-click DC1.
  2. Select Checkpoint
  3. You should now see a checkpoint created. Screenshot of Create a checkpoint.

Check your work

At this point, you should have your server renamed and Active Directory installed. You should also have a new user named Allie McCray created.

To verify this exercise, we'll connect to the virtual machine.

  1. From the start button, click Server Manager.
  2. On the left, select Local Server.
  3. On the right, under properties, the computer name should say DC1.
  4. Next, at the top of Server Manager, click Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC).
  5. In ADUC, on the left, click contoso.
  6. On the right, click Users and verify that Anna Ringdal is there.