Active Directory Interview Question and Answers

1. What is Active Directory?

Active Directory is a Meta Data. Active Directory is a data base which stores a data base like
your user information, computer information and also other network object info. It has
capabilities to manage and administer the complete Network which connect with AD.

2. What is domain?

A domain is a set of network resources (applications, printers, and so forth) for a group of users.
The user needs only to log in to the domain to gain access to the resources, which may be
located on a number of different servers in the network. The ‘domain’ is simply your computer
address not to confuse with an URL. A domain address might look something like 211.170.469.

3. What is domain controller?

A Domain controller (DC) is a server that responds to security authentication requests (logging
in, checking permissions, etc.) within the Windows Server domain. A domain is a concept
introduced in Windows NT whereby a user may be granted access to a number of computer
resources with the use of a single username and password combination.

4. 4. What is LDAP?

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol LDAP is the industry standard directory access protocol,
making Active Directory widely accessible to management and query applications. Active
Directory supports LDAPv3 and LDAPv2.

5. 5. What is KCC?

KCC (knowledge consistency checker) is used to generate replication topology for inter site
replication and for intra-site replication. Within a site replication traffic is done via remote
procedure calls over ip, while between sites it is done through either RPC or SMTP.

6. Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?

The AD data base is store in c:\windows\ntds\NTDS.DIT.

7. What is the SYSVOL folder?

 All active directory data base security related information store in SYSVOL folder and
it’s only created on NTFS partition.
 The Sysvol folder on a Windows domain controller is used to replicate file-based data
among domain controllers. Because junctions are used within the Sysvol folder
structure, Windows NT file system (NTFS) version 5.0 is required on domain controllers
throughout a Windows distributed file system (DFS) forest.
 This is a quote from Microsoft themselves, basically the domain controller info stored in
files like your group policy stuff is replicated through this folder structure

8. Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its Backup Domain
Controller (BDC) in Server 2003?

The Active Directory replaces them. Now all domain controllers share a multi master peer-to-
peer read and write relationship that hosts copies of the Active Directory.

9. Cannot create a new universal user group. Why?

Universal groups are allowed only in native-mode Windows Server 2003 environments. Native
mode requires that all domain controllers be promoted to Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory.

10. What is LSDOU?

Its group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied to Local machines, Sites,
Domains and Organizational Units.

11. Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT?

If the NTConfig.pol file exists, it has the highest priority among the numerous policies.

12. How many number of permitted unsuccessful logons on Administrator account?

Unlimited. Remember, though, that it’s the Administrator account, not any account that’s part
of the Administrators group.

13. What’s the difference between guest accounts in Server 2003 and other editions?

More restrictive in Windows Server 2003.

14. How many passwords by default are remembered when you check “Enforce Password
History Remembered”?

User’s last 6 passwords.

15. Can GC Server and Infrastructure place in single server?

No, As Infrastructure master does the same job as the GC. It does not work together.

16. Which is service in your windows is responsible for replication of Domain controller to
another domain controller.

KCC generates the replication topology.

Use SMTP / RPC to replicate changes.

17. What Intrasite and Intersite Replication?

Intrasite is the replication within the same site & intersite the replication between sites.

18. What is lost & found folder in ADS?

It’s the folder where you can find the objects missed due to conflict.

Ex: you created a user in OU which is deleted in other DC & when replication happed ADS
didn’t find the OU then it will put that in Lost & Found Folder.

19. What is Garbage collection?

Garbage collection is the process of the online defragmentation of active directory. It

happens every 12 Hours.

20. What System State data contains?

 Contains Startup files,

 Registry
 Com + Registration Database
 Memory Page file
 System files
 AD information
  Cluster Service information
 SYSVOL Folder

22. I want to setup a DNS server and Active Directory domain. What do I do first? If I install the
DNS service first and name the zone ‘name.org’ can I name the AD domain ‘name.org’ too?

Not only can you have a DNS zone and an Active Directory domain with the same name, it’s
actually the preferred way to go if at all possible. You can install and configure DNS before
installing Active Directory, or you can allow the Active Directory Installation Wizard (dcpromo)
itself install DNS on your server in the background.

23. How do I determine if user accounts have local administrative access?

You can use the net local group administrators command on each workstation (probably in a
login script so that it records its information to a central file for later review). This command will
enumerate the members of the Administrators group on each machine you run it on.
Alternately, you can use the Restricted Groups feature of Group Policy to restrict the
membership of Administrators to only those users you want to belong.

25. What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?

Windows 2000 Domain controllers each create Active Directory Replication connection
objects representing inbound replication from intra-site replication partners. For inter-site
replication, one domain controller per site has the responsibility of evaluating the inter-site
replication topology and creating Active Directory Replication Connection objects for
appropriate bridgehead servers within its site. The domain controller in each site that owns this
role is referred to as the Inter-Site Topology Generator (ISTG).

27. What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?

 The Domain structure.

 The Domain Name.
 Storage location of the database and log file.
 Location of the shared system volume folder.
 DNS config Method.
 DNS configuration.

28. What is LDP?

LDP: Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) is often used to establish MPLS LSPs when traffic
engineering is not required. It establishes LSPs that follow the existing IP routing, and is
particularly well suited for establishing a full mesh of LSPs between all of the routers on the
network.

29. What are the Groups types available in active directory?

Security groups: Use Security groups for granting permissions to gain access to resources.
Sending an e-mail message to a group sends the message to all members of the group.
Therefore security groups share the capabilities of distribution groups.

Distribution groups: Distribution groups are used for sending e-mail messages to groups of users.
You cannot grant permissions to security groups. Even though security groups have all the
capabilities of distribution groups, distribution groups still requires, because some applications
can only read distribution groups.

30. Explain about the group’s scope in AD?

Domain Local Group: Use this scope to grant permissions to domain resources that are located
in the same domain in which you created the domain local group. Domain local groups can
exist in all mixed, native and interim functional level of domains and forests. Domain local
group memberships are not limited as you can add members as user accounts, universal and
global groups from any domain. Just to remember, nesting cannot be done in domain local
group. A domain local group will not be a member of another Domain Local or any other
groups in the same domain.

Global Group: Users with similar function can be grouped under global scope and can be
given permission to access a resource (like a printer or shared folder and files) available in local
or another domain in same forest. To say in simple words, Global groups can be use to grant
permissions to gain access to resources which are located in any domain but in a single forest
as their memberships are limited. User accounts and global groups can be added only from
the domain in which global group is created. Nesting is possible in Global groups within other
groups as you can add a global group into another global group from any domain. Finally to
provide permission to domain specific resources (like printers and published folder), they can
be members of a Domain Local group. Global groups exist in all mixed, native and interim
functional level of domains and forests.

Universal Group Scope: These groups are precisely used for email distribution and can be
granted access to resources in all trusted domain as these groups can only be used as a
security principal (security group type) in a windows 2000 native or windows server 2003
domain functional level domain. Universal group memberships are not limited like global
groups. All domain user accounts and groups can be a member of universal group. Universal
groups can be nested under a global or Domain Local group in any domain.

31. What is REPLMON?

The Microsoft definition of the Replmon tool is as follows; This GUI tool enables administrators to
view the low-level status of Active Directory replication, force synchronization between
domain controllers, view the topology in a graphical format, and monitor the status and
performance of domain controller replication.

32. What is ADSIEDIT ?

ADSIEDIT :ADSIEdit is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that acts as a low-level
editor for Active Directory. It is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool. Network administrators
can use it for common administrative tasks such as adding, deleting, and moving objects with
a directory service. The attributes for each object can be edited or deleted by using this tool.
ADSIEdit uses the ADSI application programming interfaces (APIs) to access Active Directory.
The following are the required files for using this tool: ADSIEDIT.DLL ADSIEDIT.

33. What is NETDOM ?

NETDOM is a command-line tool that allows management of Windows domains and trust
relationships. It is used for batch management of trusts, joining computers to domains, verifying
trusts, and secure channels.

34. What is REPADMIN?

This command-line tool assists administrators in diagnosing replication problems between

Windows domain controllers. Administrators can use Repadmin to view the replication
topology (sometimes referred to as RepsFrom and RepsTo) as seen from the perspective of
each domain controller. In addition, Repadmin can be used to manually create the
replication topology (although in normal practice this should not be necessary), to force
replication events between domain controllers, and to view both the replication metadata
and up-to-dateness vectors.

36. What are the DS* commands?

The following DS commands: the DS family built in utility .

DSmod – modify Active Directory attributes.

DSrm – to delete Active Directory objects.

DSmove – to relocate objects

DSadd – create new accounts

DSquery – to find objects that match your query attributes.

DSget – list the properties of an object

37. What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?

 An NTFS partition with enough free space.

 An Administrator’s username and password.
 The correct operating system version.
 A NIC Properly configured TCP/IP (IP address, subnet mask and – optional – default
gateway).
 A network connection (to a hub or to another computer via a crossover cable).
 An operational DNS server (which can be installed on the DC itself).
 A Domain name that you want to use.
 The Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 CD media (or at least the i386 folder).

38. Explain about Trust in AD?

To allow users in one domain to access resources in another, Active Directory uses trusts. Trusts
inside a forest are automatically created when domains are created.

The forest sets the default boundaries of trust, not the domain, and implicit, transitive trust is
automatic for all domains within a forest. As well as two-way transitive trust, AD trusts can be a
shortcut (joins two domains in different trees, transitive, one- or two-way), forest (transitive, one-
or two-way), realm (transitive or nontransitive, one- or two-way), or external (nontransitive, one-
or two-way) in order to connect to other forests or non-AD domains.

Trusts in Windows 2000 (native mode)

 One-way trust: One domain allows access to users on another domain, but the other
domain does not allow access to users on the first domain.
 Two-way trust: Two domains allow access to users on both domains.
 Trusting domain: The domain that allows access to users from a trusted domain.
 Trusted domain: The domain that is trusted; whose users have access to the trusting
domain.
 Transitive trust: A trust that can extend beyond two domains to other trusted domains
in the forest.
 Intransitive trust: A one way trust that does not extend beyond two domains.
 Explicit trust: A trust that an admin creates. It is not transitive and is one way only.
 Cross-link trust: An explicit trust between domains in different trees or in the same tree
when a descendant/ancestor (child/parent) relationship does not exist between the
two domains.
  Windows 2000 Server : supports the following types of trusts:
 Two-way transitive trusts.
 One-way intransitive trusts.

39. Difference between LDIFDE and CSVDE?

CSVDE is a command that can be used to import and export objects to and from the AD into
a CSV-formatted file. A CSV (Comma Separated Value) file is a file easily readable in Excel. I
will not go to length into this powerful command, but I will show you some basic samples of
how to import a large number of users into your AD. Of course, as with the DSADD command,
CSVDE can do more than just import users. Consult your help file for more info.

LDIFDE is a command that can be used to import and export objects to and from the AD into
a LDIF-formatted file. A LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) file is a file easily readable in any
text editor, however it is not readable in programs like Excel. The major difference between
CSVDE and LDIFDE (besides the file format) is the fact that LDIFDE can be used to edit and
delete existing AD objects (not just users), while CSVDE can only import and export objects.

39. What is tombstone lifetime attribute?

The number of days before a deleted object is removed from the directory services. This assists
in removing objects from replicated servers and preventing restores from reintroducing a
deleted object. This value is in the Directory Service object in the configuration NIC.

40. What are application partitions? When do I use them?

AN application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific

domain controller. Only domain controller running windows Server 2003 can host a replica of
application directory partition.

Using an application directory partition provides redundancy, availability or fault tolerance by

replicating data to specific domain controller pr any set of domain controllers anywhere in the
forest.

41. How do you create a new application partition?

Use the DnsCmd command to create an application directory partition.

To do this, use the following syntax:

DnsCmd ServerName /CreateDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition

42. How do you view all the GCs in the forest?

C:\>repadmin /showreps domain_controller where domain_controller is the DC you want to

query to determine whether it’s a GC.

The output will include the text DSA Options: IS_GC if the DC is a GC.

42. Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few
options.

Yes, you can use dirXML or LDAP to connect to other directories.

In Novel you can use E-directory.

43. What is IPSec Policy?

IPSec provides secure gateway-to-gateway connections across outsourced private wide area
network (WAN) or Internet-based connections using L2TP/IPSec tunnels or pure IPSec tunnel
mode. IPSec Policy can be deployed via Group policy to the Windows Domain controllers 7
Servers.

44. What is RsOP

RsOP is the resultant set of policy applied on the object (Group Policy).

44. What are the different types of Terminal Services?

User Mode & Application Mode.

45. What is the System Startup process?

Windows 2K boot process on a Intel architecture.

 Power-On Self Tests (POST) are run.

 The boot device is found, the Master Boot Record (MBR) is loaded into memory, and its
program is run.
 The active partition is located, and the boot sector is loaded.
 The Windows 2000 loader (NTLDR) is then loaded.

The boot sequence executes the following steps:

 The Windows 2000 loader switches the processor to the 32-bit flat memory model.
 The Windows 2000 loader starts a mini-file system.
 The Windows 2000 loader reads the BOOT.INI file and displays the operating system
selections (boot loader menu).
 The Windows 2000 loader loads the operating system selected by the user. If Windows
2000 is selected, NTLDR runs NTDETECT.COM. For other operating systems, NTLDR loads
BOOTSECT.DOS and gives it control.
 NTDETECT.COM scans the hardware installed in the computer, and reports the list to
NTLDR for inclusion in the Registry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_HARDWARE hive.
 NTLDR then loads the NTOSKRNL.EXE, and gives it the hardware information collected
by NTDETECT.COM. Windows NT enters the Windows load phases.

47. How do I use Registry keys to remove a user from a group?

In Windows Server 2003, you can use the dsmod command-line utility with the -delmbr switch
to remove a group member from the command line. You should also look into the freeware
utilities available from www.joeware.net . ADFind and ADMod are indispensable tools in my
arsenal when it comes to searching and modifying Active Directory.

48. Why are my NT4 clients failing to connect to the Windows 2000 domain?

Since NT4 relies on NetBIOS for name resolution, verify that your WINS server (you do have a
WINS server running, yes?) contains the records that you expect for the 2000 domain controller,
and that your clients have the correct address configured for the WINS server.

49. How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?

By using replication monitor

 go to start > run > type repadmin

 go to start > run > type replmon

50. Why can’t you restore a DC that was backed up 4 months ago?

Because of the tombstone life which is set to only 60 days.

51. Different modes of AD restore?

A nonauthoritative restore is the default method for restoring Active Directory. To perform a
nonauthoritative restore, you must be able to start the domain controller in Directory Services
Restore Mode. After you restore the domain controller from backup, replication partners use
the standard replication protocols to update Active Directory and associated information on
the restored domain controller.

52. What’s the difference between transferring a FSMO role and seizing ?

Seizing an FSMO can be a destructive process and should only be attempted if the existing
server with the FSMO is no longer available.

If you perform a seizure of the FSMO roles from a DC, you need to ensure two things:

 The current holder is actually dead and offline, and that the old DC will NEVER return
to the network. If you do an FSMO role Seize and then bring the previous holder back
online, you'll have a problem.
 An FSMO role TRANSFER is the graceful movement of the roles from a live, working DC
to another live DC During the process, the current DC holding the role(s) is updated, so
it becomes aware it is no longer the role holder

53.I want to look at the RID allocation table for a DC. What do I do?

dcdiag /test:ridmanager /s:servername /v (servername is the name of our DC)

54. What is BridgeHead Server in AD?

A bridgehead server is a domain controller in each site, which is used as a contact point to
receive and replicate data between sites. For intersite replication, KCC designates one of the
domain controllers as a bridgehead server. In case the server is down, KCC designates another
one from the domain controller. When a bridgehead server receives replication updates from
another site, it replicates the data to the other domain controllers within its site.

54. What is the default size of ntds.dit ?

10 MB in Server 2000 and 12 MB in Server 2003

55. Where is the AD database held and What are other folders related to AD ?

AD Database is saved in %systemroot%/ntds. You can see other files also in this folder. These
are the main files controlling the AD structure.

 ntds.dit
 edb.log
 res1.log
 res2.log
 edb.chk

When a change is made to the Win2K database, triggering a write operation, Win2K records
the transaction in the log file (edb.log). Once written to the log file, the change is then written
to the AD database. System performance determines how fast the system writes the data to
the AD database from the log file. Any time the system is shut down, all transactions are saved
to the database.

During the installation of AD, Windows creates two files: res1.log and res2.log. The initial size of
each is 10MB. These files are used to ensure that changes can be written to disk should the
system run out of free disk space. The checkpoint file (edb.chk) records transactions
committed to the AD database (ntds.dit). During shutdown, a "shutdown" statement is written
to the edb.chk file.

Then, during a reboot, AD determines that all transactions in the edb.log file have been
committed to the AD database. If, for some reason, the edb.chk file doesn't exist on reboot or
the shutdown statement isn't present, AD will use the edb.log file to update the AD database.
The last file in our list of files to know is the AD database itself, ntds.dit. By default, the file is
located in\NTDS, along with the other files we've discussed

56. What FSMO placement considerations do you know of?

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called
FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation), as described in Understanding FSMO Roles in Active
Directory.

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders (all 5 of them) in the same spot
(or actually, on the same DC) as has been configured by the Active Directory installation
process.

However, there are scenarios where an administrator would want to move one or more of the
FSMO roles from the default holder DC to a different DC.

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory is a bit different than the Windows 2000 version when
dealing with FSMO placement.

In this article I will only deal with Windows Server 2003 Active Directory, but you should bear in
mind that most considerations are also true when planning Windows 2000 AD FSMO roles

57. What is sites? What are they used for?

Active directory sites, which consist of well-connected networks defined by IP subnets that help
define the physical structure of your AD, give you much better control over replication traffic
and authentication traffic than the control you get with Windows NT 4.0 domains.

A site allows administrators to configure Active Directory access and replication topology to
take advantage of the physical network.

A Site object in Active Directory represents a physical geographic location that hosts networks.
Sites contain objects called Subnets.

Sites can be used to Assign Group Policy Objects, facilitate the discovery of resources, manage
active directory replication, and manage network link traffic.

58. Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?

Register schmmgmt.dll using this command

 c:\windows\system32>regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll
 Open mmc --> add snapin --> add Active directory schema
 name it as schema.msc
 Open administrative tool --> schema.msc

59. What is the port no of Kerbrose?

88

60. What is the port no of Global catalog?

3268

61. What is the port no of LDAP?

389

62. How can you forcibly remove AD from a server, and what do you do later? ? Can I get user
passwords from the AD database?

Dcpromo /forceremoval , an administrator can forcibly remove Active Directory and roll back
the system without having to contact or replicate any locally held changes to another DC in
the forest. Reboot the server then after you use the dcpromo /forceremoval command, all the
remaining metadata for the demoted DC is not deleted on the surviving domain controllers,
and therefore you must manually remove it by using the NTDSUTIL command.

In the event that the NTDS Settings object is not removed correctly you can use the Ntdsutil.exe
utility to manually remove the NTDS Settings object. You will need the following tool:
Ntdsutil.exe, Active Directory Sites and Services, Active Directory Users and Computers

63. What are the FSMO roles? Who has them by default? What happens when each one fails?

Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) role. Currently there are five FSMO roles:

 Schema master
 Domain naming master
 RID master
 PDC emulator
 Infrastructure master

Schema master: The Schema master role is forest-wide and there is one for each forest. This
role is required to extend the schema of an Active Directory forest or to run the adprep
/domainprep command.

Domain naming master: The Domain naming master role is forest-wide and there is one for
each forest. This role is required to add or remove domains or application partitions to or from
a forest.

RID master: The RID master role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This role is
required to allocate the RID pool so that new or existing domain controllers can create user
accounts, computer accounts or security groups.

PDC emulator: The PDC emulator role is domain-wide and there is one for each domain. This
role is required for the domain controller that sends database updates to Windows NT backup
domain controllers. The domain controller that owns this role is also targeted by certain
administration tools and updates to user account and computer account passwords.

Infrastructure master: The Infrastructure master role is domain-wide and there is one for each
domain. This role is required for domain controllers to run the adprep /forestprep command
successfully and to update SID attributes and distinguished name attributes for objects that
are referenced across domains.

64. What are the physical components of Active Directory?

Domain controllers and Sites. Domain controllers are physical computers which is running
Windows Server operating system and Active Directory data base. Sites are a network segment
based on geographical location and which contains multiple domain controllers in each site.

65. What are the logical components of Active Directory?

Domains, Organizational Units, trees and forests are logical components of Active Directory.

66. What are the Active Directory Partitions?

Active Directory database is divided into different partitions such as Schema partition, Domain
partition, and Configuration partition. Apart from these partitions, we can create Application
partition based on the requirement.

67. What is group nesting?

Adding one group as a member of another group is called 'group nesting'. This will help for
easy administration and reduced replication traffic.

68. What is Active Directory Recycle Bin ?

Active Directory Recycle bin is a feature of Windows Server 2008 AD. It helps to restore
accidentally deleted Active Directory objects without using a backed up AD database,
rebooting domain controller or restarting any services.

69. What is RODC? Why do we configure RODC?

Read only domain controller (RODC) is a feature of Windows Server 2008 Operating System.
RODC is a read only copy of Active Directory database and it can be deployed in a remote
branch office where physical security cannot be guaranteed. RODC provides more improved
security and faster log on time for the branch office.

70. How do you check currently forest and domain functional levels? Say both GUI and
Command line.

To find out forest and domain functional levels in GUI mode, open ADUC, right click on the
domain name and take properties. Both domain and forest functional levels will be listed there.
TO find out forest and domain functional levels, you can use DSQUERY command.

71. Which version of Kerberos is used for Windows 2000/2003 and 2008 Active Directory?

All versions of Windows Server Active Directory use Kerberos 5.

72. Name few port numbers related to Active Directory?

Kerberos 88, LDAP 389, DNS 53, SMB 445

73. Explain the process between a user providing his Domain credential to his workstation and
the desktop being loaded? Or how the AD authentication works?

When a user enters a user name and password, the computer sends the user name to the KDC.
The KDC contains a master database of unique long term keys for every principal in its realm.
The KDC looks up the user's master key (KA), which is based on the user's password. The KDC
then creates two items: a session key (SA) to share with the user and a Ticket-Granting Ticket
(TGT). The TGT includes a second copy of the SA, the user name, and an expiration time. The
KDC encrypts this ticket by using its own master key (KKDC), which only the KDC knows. The
client computer receives the information from the KDC and runs the user's password through
a one-way hashing function, which converts the password into the user's KA. The client
computer now has a session key and a TGT so that it can securely communicate with the KDC.
The client is now authenticated to the domain and is ready to access other resources in the
domain by using the Kerberos protocol.

74. Which FSMO role directly impacting the consistency of Group Policy?

PDC Emulator.

75. I want to promote a new additional Domain Controller in an existing domain. Which are the
groups I should be a member of?
You should be a member of Enterprise Admins group or the Domain Admins group. Also you
should be member of local Administrators group of the member server which you are going to
promote as additional Domain Controller.

76. Tell me one easiest way to check all the 5 FSMO roles?

Use netdom query /domain:YourDomain FSMO command. It will list all the FSMO role handling
domain controllers.

77. Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few
options.

 Yes you can connect other vendors Directory Services with Microsoft’s version.
 Yes, you can use dirXML or LDAP to connect to other directories (i.e. E-directory from
Novell or NDS (Novel directory System).
 Yes you can Connect Active Directory to other 3rd -party Directory Services such as
dictionaries used by SAP, Domino etc. with the help of MIIS ( Microsoft Identity
Integration Server )

78. Name the AD NCs and replication issues for each NC

*Schema NC, *Configuration NC, Domain NC

 Schema NC This NC is replicated to every other domain controller in the forest. It

contains information about the Active Directory schema, which in turn defines the
different object classes and attributes within Active Directory.
 Configuration NC Also replicated to every other DC in the forest, this NC contains forest-
wide configuration information pertaining to the physical layout of Active Directory, as
well as information about display specifies and forest-wide Active Directory quotas.
 Domain NC This NC is replicated to every other DC within a single Active Directory
domain. This is the NC that contains the most commonly-accessed Active Directory
data: the actual users, groups, computers, and other objects that reside within a
particular Active Directory domain.

79. How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?

By using replication monitor

go to start > run > type replmon

80. How do you view all the GCs in the forest?

C:\>repadmin/showreps

domain_controller

OR

You can use Replmon.exe for the same purpose.

OR

AD Sites and Services and nslookup gc._msdcs.%USERDNSDOMAIN%

81. Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?

adsiedit.exe

option to view the schema

register schmmgmt.dll using this command

c:\windows\system32>regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

Open mmc –> add snapin –> add Active directory schema

name it as schema.msc

Open administrative tool –> schema.msc

82. What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?

Support Tools are the tools that are used for performing the complicated tasks easily. These
can also be the third party tools. Some of the Support tools include DebugViewer,
DependencyViewer, RegistryMonitor, etc.

83. What is the ISTG? Who has that role by default?

Intersite Topology Generator (ISTG), which is responsible for the connections among the sites.
By default Windows 2003 Forest level functionality has this role. By Default the first Server has
this role. If that server can no longer preform this role then the next server with the highest GUID
then takes over the role of ISTG.

84. What are the requirements for installing AD on a new server?

 An NTFS partition with enough free space (250MB minimum)

 An Administrator’s username and password
 The correct operating system version
 A NIC
 Properly configured TCP/IP (IP address, subnet mask and – optional – default gateway)
 A network connection (to a hub or to another computer via a crossover cable)
 An operational DNS server (which can be installed on the DC itself)
 A Domain name that you want to use

85. Name some OU design considerations?

OU design requires balancing requirements for delegating administrative rights – independent

of Group Policy needs – and the need to scope the application of Group Policy. The following
OU design recommendations address delegation and scope issues:

Applying Group Policy an OU is the lowest-level Active Directory container to which you can
assign Group Policy settings.

Delegating administrative authority

Usually don’t go more than 3 OU levels

Active Directory Restore Methods

You can use one of the three methods to restore Active Directory from backup media: primary
restore, normal (non authoritative) restore, and authoritative restore.

Primary restore: This method rebuilds the first domain controller in a domain when there is no
other way to rebuild the domain. Perform a primary restore only when all the domain
controllers in the domain are lost, and you want to rebuild the domain from the backup.
Members of Administrators group can perform the primary restore on local computer, or user
should have been delegated with this responsibility to perform restore. On a domain controller
only Domain Admins can perform this restore.
Normal restore: This method reinstates the Active Directory data to the state before the
backup, and then updates the data through the normal replication process. Perform a normal
restore for a single domain controller to a previously known good state.

Authoritative restore: You perform this method in tandem with a normal restore. An
authoritative restore marks specific data as current and prevents the replication from
overwriting that data. The authoritative data is then replicated through the domain.

Perform an authoritative restore individual object in a domain that has multiple domain
controllers. When you perform an authoritative restore, you lose all changes to the restore
object that occurred after the backup. Ntdsutil is a command line utility to perform an
authoritative restore along with windows server 2003 system utilities. The Ntdsutil command-line
tool is an executable file that you use to mark Active Directory objects as authoritative so that
they receive a higher version recently changed data on other domain controllers does not
overwrite system state data during replication.

86. Why can’t you restore a DC that was backed up 4 months ago?

Because of the tombstone life which is set to only 60 days

87. How can you determine what GPO was and was not applied for a user? Name a few ways
to do that.

Simply use the Group Policy Management Console created by MS for that very purpose, allows
you to run simulated policies on computers or users to determine what policies are enforced.
Link in sources

88. What are administrative templates?

Administrative Templates facilitate the management of registry-based policy. An ADM file is

used to describe both the user interface presented to the Group Policy administrator and the
registry keys that should be updated on the target machines.

You want to standardize the desktop environments (wallpaper, My Documents, Start menu,
printers etc.) on the computers in one department. How would you do that?

Login on client as Domain Admin user change whatever you need add printers etc go to
system-User profiles copy this user profile to any location by select Everyone in permitted to use
after copy change ntuser.dat to ntuser.man and assgin this path under user profile