Active Directory for Admins Training Course

1. Introduction

• Overview of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
• Course goals and expected learning outcomes
• The role of Active Directory in enterprise settings
• Introduction to the training lab environment
• Key terminology and core concepts of Active Directory

2. Overview of Active Directory Features and Architecture

• Understanding Active Directory architecture
• Distinguishing between logical and physical structures
• Domains, Trees, and Forests
• Organizational Units (OUs)
• Domain Controllers and the Global Catalog
• Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles
• Sites and Subnets
• DNS integration with Active Directory
• Active Directory partitions and database structure

3. Overview of Identity Management Solutions and Concepts

• Fundamentals of Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Distinction between Authentication and Authorization
• Kerberos authentication
• NTLM authentication
• Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Identity lifecycle management
• Hybrid identity concepts

4. Setting up Active Directory

• Planning an Active Directory deployment
• Installing Active Directory Domain Services
• Promoting a server to a Domain Controller
• Creating a new forest and domain
• Installing and configuring DNS
• Verifying the installation
• Deployment best practices

5. Implementing Active Directory Domain Services

• Creating Organizational Units
• Managing users, groups, and computers
• User account management techniques
• Group scopes and group types
• Delegation of administrative control
• Managing service accounts
• Joining computers to the domain

6. Configuring and Managing Replication

• Core concepts of Active Directory replication
• Multi-master replication model
• Replication topology
• Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)
• Sites and replication schedules
• Troubleshooting replication issues
• Monitoring replication health

7. Implementing and Managing Group Policy

• Group Policy architecture
• Creating Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
• Linking GPOs to targets
• Understanding Group Policy inheritance
• Loopback processing
• Administrative Templates
• Software deployment using GPO
• Folder Redirection
• Security policies
• Password and account lockout policies
• Troubleshooting Group Policy issues

8. Implementing a Certification Authority (CA) Hierarchy

• Introduction to Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
• Certificate Services architecture
• Root and Subordinate Certification Authorities
• Installing Active Directory Certificate Services
• Designing a CA hierarchy
• Certificate templates
• Auto-enrollment processes

9. Managing Certificates

• Certificate lifecycle management
• Issuing certificates
• Certificate renewal procedures
• Certificate revocation
• Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
• Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)
• Managing certificate templates
• Troubleshooting certificate-related issues

10. Implementing and Administering Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

• Introduction to federation services
• AD FS architecture
• Claims-based authentication
• Installing AD FS
• Configuring trust relationships
• Implementing Single Sign-On
• Integrating external applications
• Monitoring and troubleshooting AD FS

11. Enabling Data Access

• Access control concepts
• NTFS permissions
• Shared folder permissions
• Evaluating effective permissions
• Access-Based Enumeration
• Dynamic Access Control
• File Classification Infrastructure
• Auditing file access

12. Securing Active Directory Domain Services

• Active Directory security best practices
• Administrative security model
• Tiered administration approach
• Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• Securing Domain Controllers
• Password policies
• Fine-Grained Password Policies
• Account lockout policies
• Auditing and monitoring
• Backup and recovery considerations

13. Implementing and Managing Rights Management Services (RMS)

• Introduction to Active Directory Rights Management Services
• RMS architecture
• Installing AD RMS
• Protecting sensitive documents
• Information protection policies
• Integration with Microsoft Office
• Managing user access rights

14. Implementing Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)

• Introduction to Microsoft Entra ID
• Cloud identity concepts
• Hybrid identity architecture
• Microsoft Entra Connect
• Password Hash Synchronization
• Pass-through Authentication
• Federation with AD FS
• Conditional Access overview
• Identity synchronization methods
• Managing cloud identities

15. Integrating Active Directory with OpenLDAP

• LDAP fundamentals
• Active Directory LDAP support
• OpenLDAP overview
• Identity synchronization methods
• Authentication integration
• Common interoperability scenarios
• Security considerations
• Troubleshooting LDAP connectivity

16. Monitoring Active Directory

• Monitoring tools overview
• Event Viewer usage
• Performance Monitor
• Active Directory Administrative Center
• PowerShell for monitoring tasks
• Replication monitoring
• Health checks
• Auditing changes
• Performance optimization

17. Troubleshooting

• Resolving user logon issues
• DNS-related problems
• Replication failures
• Group Policy troubleshooting
• Authentication issues
• Certificate-related problems
• Domain Controller health checks
• Diagnostic tools (dcdiag, repadmin, nltest, gpresult)
• Backup and recovery procedures
• Disaster recovery scenarios

18. Summary and Conclusion

• Review of key concepts
• Best practices for Active Directory administration
• Security recommendations
• Operational maintenance checklist
• Additional Microsoft resources and documentation
• Questions and answers
• Final hands-on review and lab wrap-up