Active Directory for Admins Training Course

1. Introduction

• Fundamentals of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
• Course goals and expected learning outcomes
• The role of Active Directory in corporate settings
• An overview of the training lab environment
• Key terms and foundational concepts in Active Directory

2. Active Directory Features and Architecture

• Architectural components of Active Directory
• Distinctions between logical and physical structures
• Understanding Domains, Trees, and Forests
• The function of Organizational Units (OUs)
• Role of Domain Controllers and Global Catalog
• Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles
• Configuration of Sites and Subnets
• Integration of DNS with Active Directory
• Partitioning and database organization within Active Directory

3. Identity Management Solutions and Concepts

• Core principles of Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Distinguishing between Authentication and Authorization
• How Kerberos authentication works
• NTLM authentication protocols
• Implementing Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) strategies
• Managing the identity lifecycle
• Concepts surrounding hybrid identity

4. Active Directory Setup

• Planning the deployment of Active Directory
• Installation procedures for Active Directory Domain Services
• Promoting a server to a Domain Controller
• Establishing a new forest and domain
• Installation and configuration of DNS
• Verification steps after installation
• Best practices for a successful deployment

5. Implementing Active Directory Domain Services

• Creation of Organizational Units
• Administration of users, groups, and computer accounts
• Managing individual user accounts
• Understanding group scopes and types
• Delegating administrative responsibilities
• Handling service accounts
• Connecting computers to the domain

6. Configuring and Managing Replication

• Core concepts of Active Directory replication
• Multi-master replication mechanisms
• Replication topology design
• The Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)
• Scheduling replication across Sites
• Diagnosing replication issues
• Monitoring the health of replication processes

7. Group Policy Implementation and Management

• The architecture behind Group Policy
• Creation of Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
• Linking GPOs to target locations
• Understanding Group Policy inheritance
• Utilizing Loopback processing
• Working with Administrative Templates
• Deploying software through GPOs
• Configuring Folder Redirection
• Enforcing security policies
• Setting password and account lockout rules
• Resolving Group Policy conflicts and issues

8. Certification Authority (CA) Hierarchy

• Introduction to Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
• Architecture of Certificate Services
• Roles of Root and Subordinate Certification Authorities
• Installing Active Directory Certificate Services
• Designing an efficient CA hierarchy
• Configuration of certificate templates
• Setting up Auto-enrollment

9. Certificate Management

• Overseeing the certificate lifecycle
• Processes for issuing new certificates
• Handling certificate renewals
• Recurring certificate revocation
• Managing Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
• Using the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)
• Editing and managing certificate templates
• Troubleshooting common certificate issues

10. Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

• Basics of federation services
• AD FS architectural overview
• Implementing claims-based authentication
• Installation steps for AD FS
• Configuring trust relationships
• Setting up Single Sign-On
• Integrating with external applications
• Monitoring and troubleshooting AD FS operations

11. Enabling Data Access

• Fundamentals of access control
• Configuring NTFS permissions
• Setting shared folder permissions
• Determining effective permissions
• Implementing Access-Based Enumeration
• Using Dynamic Access Control
• Deploying the File Classification Infrastructure
• Auditing file access activities

12. Securing Active Directory Domain Services

• Best practices for Active Directory security
• The administrative security model
• Implementing tiered administration
• Strategies for Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• Hardening Domain Controllers
• Defining password policies
• Applying Fine-Grained Password Policies
• Configuring account lockout policies
• Setting up auditing and monitoring systems
• Considering backup and recovery strategies

13. Rights Management Services (RMS)

• Introduction to Active Directory Rights Management Services
• RMS architectural components
• Installation of AD RMS
• Methods for protecting sensitive documents
• Defining information protection policies
• Integration with Microsoft Office suite
• Controlling user access rights

14. Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)

• Overview of Microsoft Entra ID
• Core cloud identity concepts
• Hybrid identity architecture design
• Using Microsoft Entra Connect
• Implementing Password Hash Synchronization
• Configuring Pass-through Authentication
• Federation strategies with AD FS
• Overview of Conditional Access
• Managing identity synchronization
• Administration of cloud-based identities

15. Integrating Active Directory with OpenLDAP

• Foundations of LDAP
• LDAP support within Active Directory
• Overview of OpenLDAP
• Methods for identity synchronization
• Integrating authentication mechanisms
• Common interoperability use cases
• Security aspects of integration
• Troubleshooting LDAP connectivity issues

16. Active Directory Monitoring

• Essential monitoring tools
• Utilizing Event Viewer
• Using Performance Monitor
• Features of the Active Directory Administrative Center
• Leveraging PowerShell for monitoring tasks
• Tracking replication performance
• Conducting system health checks
• Auditing configuration changes
• Optimizing system performance

17. Troubleshooting

• Resolving user logon difficulties
• Addressing DNS-related issues
• Diagnosing replication failures
• Troubleshooting Group Policy application
• Investigating authentication problems
• Fixing certificate-related errors
• Performing Domain Controller health checks
• Using diagnostic utilities (dcdiag, repadmin, nltest, gpresult)
• Executing backup and recovery procedures
• Managing disaster recovery scenarios

18. Summary and Conclusion

• Recap of core concepts
• Best practices for Active Directory administration
• Key security recommendations
• Operational maintenance checklists
• Access to additional Microsoft resources and documentation
• Opportunity for questions and answers
• Final hands-on review and lab conclusion