Add role - Active Directory Services
The process of installing Active Directory consists of two steps: the
first step is to install Active Directory and the second step is to
configure your Active Directory. Once this is complete, your
Windows Server will now be a Domain Controller.
Step 1 - Install Active Directory
At the Computer Management Screen, press the "Add Roles" link.
At the Select Server Roles dialog, check/tick the option "Active
Directory Domain Services".
When you select Active Directory the Select Server Roles Screen will
inform you that you also need to install the feature ".NET Framework
3.5.1". Press the "Add Required Features" button.
After acknowledging the required feature, press Next.
Active Directory Domain Services will present information about the
changes it will make to your server. Review this information and
press Next.
Now the installation will scan your configuration and inform you if
there are any pre-requisites that you have not fulfilled. If the
Active Directory Installation presents an errors, correct these at this
time and then repeat the installation. Once the Setup program
indicates that you have met all pre-requisites, then press the
Install button to start the installation process.
The setup program will now install Active Directory on your Server.
When the installation is complete, you should see a message indicating
"Installation Succeeded".
Press Close to return to the Server Management
Screen.
Step 2 - Configure Active Directory
At the Server Management screen you should now see that you have 1
role installed. The Active Directory Domain Services may indicate
that it is installed but there are errors. This is because the
software is installed but not configured.
To configure Active Directory, click on the line under Roles labeled
"Active Directory Domain Services". The Server Manager will show
you a page about the status of the Active Directory Role.
Click on the link "Run the Active Directory Services
Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe)". When the
Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard appears, press
Next.
The Installation Wizard will present information about the version of
Active directory, press Next.
Since we are assuming this Exchange Server will be the first Domain
Controller, we choose "create a new domain in a new forest". Press
Next.
Enter the name of your domain. The domain name you enter here
is the domain name that Exchange will associated with all of your email.
If you use a hosting company to host your Internet Domain, then you may
want to enter the name of your Internet domain with ".local". If
you host your own Internet Domain then you would enter your domain name
here.
In our example, we are assuming that IGetMail.com is hosted at an
Internet Hosting Company. Since we do not host IGetMail.com on
this Exchange Server, we will use IGetMail.local to indicate our
internal domain for IGetMail.
NOTE: Once you enter your domain name it is very hard to change
it in the future, so you should take great care when enter this name.
Once you have decided on the name of your internal domain, that will
be your Active Directory Domain and the domain serviced by Exchange,
press Next.
The Installation Wizard will now ask you about compatibility.
If you plan to have domain controllers running various versions of
Active Directory, then you will want to chose a function level to include
the lowest version of Windows that you are using for domain controllers.
Press Next.
You will be asked a similar question which is at the domain
level instead of the forest level on the previous screen. You
should follow the same approach and include the function level to
include the lowest version of Windows you plan to use for domain
controllers. Press Next.
The first Domain Controller needs to have a DNS server running
locally. The optimal location is to start out with having the
installation wizard install the DNS server locally. Also, it will
automatically make this computer a global catalog server. Press
Next.
You can specify where you want Active Directory to store its data.
If you only have one drive in your Server, then use the defaults.
If you have multiple drives, you can select which drive to use.
Press Next.
Should you need to restore Active Directory in the event of a hard
drive failure, you will need to boot your Server into a special mode
called "Directory Restoration Mode". Should you need to boot your
computer into this special mode, you will need to use a special password
just for this restoration. You can define this password at this
time.
NOTE: This password is different than the
administrator account and if you change the administrator password this
password will not change. So you will need to store this password
forever in a safe place. Press Next.
Now the Installation Wizard will summarize the configuration that it
is about to create. To start the process of configuring
your new Domain Controller, press Next.
The Installation Wizard will show its progress as it configures your
Server. This will take a long time.
When the installation is complete, you will be shown a final screen.
Press Finish.
Then restart your computer.
After restarting your computer, Windows should show you the Server
Manager. You should see on the Server Manager screen that you have
Active Directory and DNS Server roles installed. Also the process
of installing Active Directory will add the features "Group Policy
Management" and "Remote Server Administration Tools".
In a typical scenario, the following occurs:
