Install Role – Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

The process of implementing a Domain Controller in your environment consists of 2 basic tasks. The first step is to Install the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Role on the server and the second part is Post Deployment Configuration, i.e. to Promote the Server to a Domain Controller.

Listed below are the detailed steps for today’s topic, Install Role – Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

Installing Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Role

Open Server Manager

Click on Start Button

Select Server Manager

Click here to explore different ways of starting Server Manager

Server_Manager
Server Manager – Dashboard

Open Add Roles and Features

Click on Manage

Select Add Roles and Features

Server_Manager_Manage
Server Manager – Manage – Add Roles and Features

Before you begin

  • On the before you begin screen, Click Next
Add Roles and Features - Before you begin
Before you begin

Select Installation Type

  • Select Role-based or Feature-based installation
Add Roles and Features - Select Installation Type
Installation Type

Select Destination Server

  • Select the server that you want to install the role on from the list of servers provided
Add Roles and Features - Select Destination Server
Destination Server

Select Server Roles

  • Select the Role that you want to Install. In our case, we will select Active Directory Domain Services
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - Select Server Role
Select Server Roles

Add Roles and Features Wizard (pop-up)

  • Click Add Features on the Add Roles and Features Wizard
    • These are the features that are required along with the AD DS role – Remote Server Administration Tool (RSAT)
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - Add Roles and Features Wizard
AD DS – Remote Server Administration Tool
  • Click Next once the Role and the Features are added
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - Select Server Role
AD DS Role Selected
  • Select any features that you want to install along with the AD DS role.
    • We will not select anything in our case
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - Select Features
Select Features

Things to Note

  1. AD DS requires a DNS server to be installed on the Network. If there is no DNS server on the network, we will be prompted to install the DNS server role on this machine.
  2. Installing AD DS will also install the following features/services as they are required by AD DS:
    • Distributed File System (DFS) Namespaces
    • Distributed File System (DFS) Replication
    • File Replication services
  3. Microsoft suggest to have 2 Domain Controllers for a domain to ensure that the users will be able to login in the case of a server outage.
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Things to Note
Things to Note (Add Roles and Features – Active Directory Domain Services)
  • On the Confirm Installation selections screen, check the “Restart the destination server automatically if required” checkbox
  • On the reboot confirmation pop-up, click “Yes” to confirm the restart of the server, if needed, without any further notifications.
Confirm Installation Selection (Add Roles and Features)
  • Click on Install and wait for the installation to finish
Reboot Server Checkbox Selected
AD DS – Installation Progress

Powershell Command to Install AD DS Role

Add-WindowsFeature AD-Domain-Services

Post Deployment Configuration – Promote the Server to a Domain Controller

  • Once the Installation is completed, Open Server Manager
  • Click on the Notification Icon on the Left side of Manage menu option
  • Click on “Promote this server to a Domain Controller“
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration

Deployment Configuration – Root Domain Name

Select the Deployment Operation out of the 3 options available:

  • Add a Domain Controller to an Existing Domain
  • Add a New Domain to an Existing Forest
  • Add a new Forest
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Deployment Configuration

Domain Controller Options

Forest / Domain Function Level

Select the Functional Level for the New Forest and Root Domain

  • Select the Forest Functional Level
  • Select the Domain Functional Level

Specify the Domain Controller Capabilities

  • Domain Name System (DNS) server
  • Global Catalog (GC)
  • Read Only Domain Controller (RODC)

Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) password

Configure the Directory Services Restore Mode password here

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - Domain Controller Options
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Domain Controller Options

DNS Options – Message

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - DNS Options
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – DNS Options

DNS Options – Pop-up (Show more)

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - DNS Options Pop-up
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – DNS Options – Pop-Up

Additional Options – NetBIOS domain name

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - Additional Options
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Additional Options

Active Directory – Database, Log files and SYSVOL – Paths

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - AD DS Database, Log Files and SYSVOL - Paths
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – AD DS Database, Log Files and SYSVOL – Paths

Review Selection / Options

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - Review Option
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Review Options

Promote DC – Script – Screenshot

  • Here is the screenshot of the automatically generated script for Promoting the Server to a Domain Controller.
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - Promote DC Script
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Promote DC Script

Promote DC – Script

  • Here is the automatically generated script for Promoting the Server to a Domain Controller.
#
# Windows PowerShell script for AD DS Deployment
#

Import-Module ADDSDeployment
Install-ADDSForest `
-CreateDnsDelegation:$false `
-DatabasePath "C:\Windows\NTDS" `
-DomainMode "Win2012R2" `
-DomainName "learnsysadmin.com" `
-DomainNetbiosName "LEARNSYSADMIN" `
-ForestMode "Win2012R2" `
-InstallDns:$true `
-LogPath "C:\Windows\NTDS" `
-NoRebootOnCompletion:$false `
-SysvolPath "C:\Windows\SYSVOL" `
-Force:$true

Prerequisites Check

  • On this page, you will be able to see if all the Prerequisites needed to be a Domain Controller have been passed or not.
  • Once the message says “All prerequisite checks passed successfully“, click Install to start the Promote DC process.
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration - Prerequisites Check
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Prerequisite Check

Installation Process

  • Please wait for the Installation process to finish and the server to reboot.
Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Post-deployment Configuration
AD DS – Post-deployment Configuration – Domain Controller Installation Progress

Post Installation: Verification

Once the Installation is completed, the server will reboot automatically.

Login into the server, Open Server Manager

Select Local Server from the Left Menu bar

You will be able to see the Domain Name, LearnSysAdmin.com in our case under the Properties section of Server Manager

Install Role - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) - AD DS - Local Server - Domain

Summary

This concludes the 2 major steps in the installation process of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role on a server.