Monday, October 3, 2011

Setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

Step by step guide to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller.


I
Enter the Server Manager and click the Roles node in the left pane of the console. Then click the Add Roles link in the right pane.

Figure 12
This brings up the Before You Begin page. If this is the first time you have installed a role using the Server Manager, then go ahead and read the information on this page. If you are an old pro with the Server Manager, go ahead and click Next.

Figure 13
Here you select what Server Roles you want to install. We will install other Server Roles later, but we want the DC role installed first. Select Active Directory Domain Services by putting a checkmark in the checkbox. Notice that the wizard will show you a number of features that will be installed along with the Active Directory Server Role. Click the Add Required Features button to get those features installed with the Active Directory Server Role.

Figure 14
After selecting the Active Directory DC Server Role, you will see information about that Server Role. Some interesting things to note here:
  • You should install at least two DCs on your network for fault tolerance. Installing a single DC on a network is an invitation for disaster. However, since this is a lab network and we can take snapshots of our DCs, we’re not so concerned about this requirement.
  • DNS is required. However, when we run dcpromo, we will install the DNS server role to support Active Directory services.
  • You need to run dcpromo after installing the role. You won’t have to go through extra steps like this when installing other server roles, as the entire role installation can be done through the Server Manager. The Active Directory Domain Services role is the only one that takes two steps to get it installed.
  • Note that installing the Active Directory Domain Services Role also installs DFS Namespaces, DFS Replication and File Replication Services – all of these are used by Active Directory Domain Services so they’re automatically installed.

Figure 15
Click Install to install the files required to run dcpromo.

Figure 16
Yay! Installation was successful. Click Close.



1. On your Windows 2008 R2 server click Start – Run and type dcpromo .


01 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

2. The Active Directory Domain Services binaries are installed and then the installation wizard will start.


02 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

3. Click Use advanced mode installation (as we’ll have more options than basic mode) and click Next.


03 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

4. A brief note on Operating System Compatibility mainly between NT4.0 is shown. Click Next.


04 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

5. We are going to be creating a new domain in a new forest. (This is the first and only domain controller in my lab). Click Next. If we were wanting to add an additional domain controller to a domain we would select Existing Forest and Add a domain controller to an existing domain.


05 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

6. Type in the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of what you would like your Active Directory domain to be. Click Next.


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7. A DNS check is performed to see if the domain name already exists.


07 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

8. The Domain NetBIOS name is a shortened name of your FQDN that you typed in earlier. Click Next.


08 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

9. In this step we need to select our Forest Functional Level. Easiest way to decide what to use is if you still have Windows 2000 domain controllers in your Active Directory select Windows 2000. If you have Windows 2003 domain controllers in your Activie Directory select Windows 2003, same applies for Windows 2008. However if your domain controllers only contain Windows 2008 R2 servers, select Windows 2008 R2. Click Next. You can alway raise the Forest Functional Level, i.e. if you have Windows 2003 Domain Controllers that you will be decommissioning in time, however you can’t lower the Forest Functional Level.


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10. Always select DNS server with a domain controller. The Role will be installed automatically when you select this option. Click Next.


10 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

11. We are creating any delegations for DNS and our DNS windowslab.local does not exist externally therefore we can click Yes.


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12. Here we can change the locations of the Database, Log and SYSVOL folder or accept the defaults. Click Next. You may want to click on and read the link “placing Active Directory Domain Services Files” to determine if you should place these folders on separate drives.


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13. Set a directory services restore password, be sure to remember this password or keep it in a safe place, as this password is used to restore active directory in the event of a disaster where Active Directory needs to be restored.


13 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

14. We are now presented with a summary of the setup wizard. If you are happy with the summary click Next. You can also export the settings to use for unattended installations of Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller.


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15. Active Directory is now being configured along with the DNS role.


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16. The install is now complete. Click Finish.


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17. You will be asked to reboot the server.


17 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

18. Once the server reboots and you’ve logged in, click on Start – Administrative Tools and you can see all the Active Directory tools that have been installed to administer the domain.


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19. In Active Directory Users and Computers you can see that my server “SERVERDC1″ is located in the Domain Controllers Organisation Unit (OU).


19 windows domain controller install setup How to setup a Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller

1 comment:

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