How to Install Active Directory on Windows Server 2008

How To Install Active Directory on Windows Server 2008

Before installing Active Directory on Windows Server 2008, you first need to install Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role on the server. AD DS is essential because this role enables your Windows 2008 server to work as a Domain Controller.  

Methods for Installing AD DS

You can install AD DS by using three different methods:

Method 1: Using Server Manager

1. Open 'Server Manager'.
2. Expand 'Roles' and click the 'Add Roles' link.
3. Go through the information given on the 'Before You Begin' page of the 'Add Roles Wizard' and click 'Next.'
4. On the 'Select Server Roles' page, select 'Active Directory Domain Services' and click 'Next'.
5. Go through the information given on the 'In the Active Directory Domain Services' page and click 'Next'.
6. On the 'Confirm Installation Selections' page information related to installing the Active Directory Domain Services role is given. Go through it, and then click 'Next'.
7. After the process completes, click 'Close'.

Method 2: Using the Servermanagercmd.exe Command 

Servermanagercmd.exe runs at command prompt and performs same tasks as the Server Manager. To install AD DS by using this command, you need to type the following at command prompt and press Enter:  

Servermanagercmd.exe -I ADDS-Domain-Controller

Method 3: Using DCPROMO

Just in case, you forget to install AD DS before starting the Active Directory installation, it will be taken care of when you run the DCPROMO command to install directory services on your server. When you run the command, the Windows 2008 server will first check if AD DS is installed. If it is not there, AD DS will be automatically installed on the system.

Now that you know various methods to install AD DS, let us proceed to install Active Directory on the server.

Assumption:

• We are installing first domain controller and therefore, will be creating the first domain in a new forest.
• AD DS is already installed on the system.

1. At 'Start' > 'Run', type 'DCPROMO' (without quotes) and press Enter. Or, in 'Server Manager', expand 'Roles', and then select 'Active Directory Domain Services'. Here, click the 'DCPROMO' link.
2. Click 'Next' on the welcome page of the Active Directory Services Installation Wizard.
3. Go through the information given on the 'Operating System Compatibility' page and then click 'Next'.
4. Select the 'Create a new domain in a new forest' option on the 'Choosing Deployment Configuration' page and then click 'Next'.
5. Type in the name for your domain on the 'Name the Forest Room Domain' and click 'Next'.

Tip: You must avoid using a single label domain name. Instead, opt for a full domain name, such as domain.local or domain.com. Changing the domain name later is quite taxing, so you should be careful with this step. 

The wizard will run checks to ensure that the domain name is in use on the network and then move on to the next page.

1. Next, you need to select the functional level for your domain. The default is Windows 2000 Native. In this domain, you can have Windows 2000, Windows 2003, and Windows 2008 domain controllers. You can choose to change the functional level to Windows 2003 or Windows 2008.
2. The wizard will now check if you have a working DNS on your computer. If you don't have it, the wizard will offer to automatically install and configure a new DNS on this server.
3. Next, ensure that being the first domain controller, this server is a Global Catalog and not a Read Only Domain Controller or RODC.
4. You may get a warning that your server has one or more dynamic addresses even though you configured a single static IP address on it. This happens because Windows server 2008 supports IPv6, which is dynamically configured on your server. However, as your network is IPv4 you can ignore this warning.
5. Next, ignore the warning about DNS delegation and click 'Yes'. You need to select yes because we have still not configured any DNS yet.
6. If required change the default paths to the log files to ensure that your server is configured to give you maximum performance and then click 'Next'.
7. Provide a password for Active Directory Recovery Mode and then click 'Next'.

Tip: Choose a good password and keep it confidential. Also, ensure that this password is different from the administrator password.

1. The wizard will now create the Active Directory and display the summary when the process is complete. Go through the summary and then click 'Finish' to complete the process. You can click the 'Export settings' button to save the settings to an answer file. You can use this file in future for unattended operations.
2. Restart the server when prompted.

The active directory is now installed to your Windows Server 2008, which now acts as a Domain Controller. You can use various AD tools to check the functionality of your Active Directory to ensure that it is correctly installed and configured.