1. MCTS Guide to Configuring
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Active Directory
Chapter 5: Account Management

2. Objectives
• Explain how to manage user accounts
• Work with user profiles
• Describe factors in managing group accounts
• Work with computer accounts
• Describe tools for automating account
management
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3. Managing User Accounts
• User accounts have two main functions in AD:
– Provide a method for user authentication to the network
– Provide detailed information about a user
• Windows machines not part of a domain store
accounts in the Security Accounts Manager (SAM)
database on the local machine
• User accounts created in AD are referred to as
domain user accounts. These accounts can usually
log on to any computer that’s in the AD forest.
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4. Managing User Accounts (cont.)
• Following guidelines apply to the built-in
Administrator account:
– Local administrator account has full access to all aspects of a
computer, while domain administrator account has full access
to all aspects of the domain
– Default Administrator account should be renamed and given a
strong password
– Administrator account should only be used while performing
administrative operations
– Administrator account can be renamed or disabled but not
deleted
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5. Managing User Accounts (cont.)
• Following guidelines apply to the built-in Guest
account
– Guest account is disabled by default after install, and must be
enabled before it can be used for log on
– Guest account can have a blank password
– Should be renamed if it is to be used
– Account has limited access to a computer or domain, but does
have access to any resource for which the Everyone group has
permission
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6. Creating and Modifying User Accounts
• When creating a user account in an Active
Directory domain, keep the following
considerations in mind
– User accounts must be unique throughout the domain
– Account names aren’t case sensitive, and can be from 1 to 20
characters, and can use letters, numbers, and special
characters (with some exceptions)
– Develop a standard naming convention. (Example: John Doe,
j.doe)
– By default, complex passwords are required. Passwords are
case sensitive
– Defaults only require a logon name and password to create a
valid user (with DSADD), but additional information should be
provided to facilitate AD searches
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7. Creating and Modifying User Accounts
(cont.)
• When you use AD Users and Computers to add
users, you must enter a value for the following
attributes:
– Full name
– User logon name
– User logon name (pre-Windows 2000)
– Password and Confirm Password
– User must change password at next logon
– User cannot change password
– Password never expires
– Account is disabled
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8. Using User Templates
• A user template is simply a user account that’s
copied to create users with common attributes
• Tips for creating user templates:
– Create one template account for each department or OU
– Disable the template account to eliminate security risks
– Add an underscore or other special character to the beginning
of a template account’s name to make it easy to recognize
– Fill in as many common attributes as you can so that after the
account is created, less customizing is necessary
• Not all attributes can be copied, creating some
limitations
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9. Modifying Multiple Users
• Selecting multiple users using ctrl + click or shift +
click allows them all to be edited simultaneously
• Following actions can be performed:
– Add to a group
– Disable account
– Enable account
– Move
– Send Mail
– Cut
– Delete
– Properties
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10. Understanding Account Properties
• Some account changes can be made only by right
clicking a user account or using the action menu of
AD Users and Computers:
– Reset a password
– Rename an account
– Move an account; Accounts / AD objects can be moved with
one of three methods:
• Right click the user and click move
• Right click the user and click cut
• Drag the user from one container to another
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11. The General Tab
• Contains descriptive information about the account,
but does not affect the user’s account logon, group
memberships, rights, or permissions. Fields worth
mentioning:
– Display name
• Same as the CN when account is first created
– E-mail
• Can be used to send an E-mail to the user using the default mail
application
– Web page
• Can contain a URL and allows you to open the specified URL by
right-clicking the user account
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12. The Account Tab
• Contains the information that most affects a user’s
logon to the domain
– User logon name and User logon name (pre-Windows 2000)
– Logon Hours
– Log On To
– Unlock account
– Account options
• Store password using reversible encryption
• Smart card is required for interactive logon
• Account is sensitive and cannot be delegated
– Account expires
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13. The Profile Tab
• Used to specify the location of files that make up a
user’s profile, a logon script, and the location of a
home folder:
– Profile path
• Vista or Server 2008 has the profile in the C:Usersusername
directory
• Windows XP uses C:Documents and Settingsusername
– Logon Script
• Will run a script when user logs on
• Preferred to use group policy, but Windows NT and 9x can’t use
group policies
– Home folder
• Can be a local path or a drive letter that points to a network share
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14. The Member Of Tab
• Lists groups the user belongs to
• Can be used to change group memberships
• Set Primary Group button is needed only when a
user is logging in to a Macintosh, Unix, or Linux
client computer
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15. Terminal Services Tabs
• Settings in these tabs affect a user’s session and
connection properties when connecting to a
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services server:
– Terminal Services Profile
– Remote Control
– Environment
– Sessions
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16. Using Contacts and Distribution Lists
• A contact is an Active Directory object that usually
represents a person for informational purposes
only
• Most common use of a contact is for integration
into Microsoft Exchange’s address book
• Distribution lists are created in the same way as
groups
• Distribution lists are also used with Microsoft
Exchange to send e-mails, but to several people at
once
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17. Working with User Profiles
• A user profile is a collection of a user’s personal files and
settings that define his or her working environment
• Some key folders in a user’s profile (N/A denotes that folder
doesn’t exist in Windows XP)
– AppData (N/A)
– Desktop
– Documents (My Documents)
– Downloads (N/A)
– Favorites
– Music (My Music)
– Pictures (My Pictures)
– Ntuser.dat
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18. Working with User Profiles (cont.)
• A local profile is a user profile stored on the same
system where the user logs on
• Local profiles are created from a default profile
when the user first logs on to a specific machine
• Changes on one local profile will not migrate to
another local profile on another machine
• For consistent profiles that reflect changes made
on multiple machines, use roaming profiles
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19. Roaming Profiles
• A roaming profile follows the user no matter which
computer he or she logs on to.
• Profile is copied from a network share when the
user logs on to a computer in the network
• Creates a local copy of the roaming profile, called a
profile’s cached copy
• Changes made to the profile are then replicated
from locally cached copy back to the profile on the
network share when the user logs off
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20. Roaming Profiles (cont.)
• The roaming profile is created from one of two
locations
– The NETLOGON share
– The Default profile on the local system
• To customize the default roaming profile:
– Create a user with a local profile
– Log on to a system as the user you created
– Customize your environment
– Log off and log on as Administrator
– Use Control Panel’s User Profiles applet to copy the user’s
profile to the NETLOGON share on your domain controller in a
folder named Default User.V2
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21. Configuring Roaming Profiles
• Two parts to configuring roaming profiles
– Configuring a shared folder to hold roaming profiles
– Configuring each user account’s properties to specify the
roaming profile’s location
• The default or existing local profile will be copied to
the roaming profile
• Folder with user’s logon name and .V2 are created
automatically with appropriate permissions
• .V2 distinguishes a roaming profile from a pre-Vista
roaming profile
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22. Mandatory Profiles
• Used when you don’t want users to be able to
change their profile, or only have the ability to
make temporary changes
• Commonly used in situations where a common
logon is assigned for multiple users
• Works like a roaming profile, but changes made to
the profile will not be copied to the server
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23. Super Mandatory Profiles
• Normal mandatory profiles will allow using a
temporary profile based on the default profile,
should the roaming or mandatory profile be
unavailable due to network issues
• Super mandatory profiles prevent a user from
logging on to the domain when the mandatory
profile is unavailable
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24. Managing Profiles
• Profiles can be managed in the User Profiles dialog
box with these three buttons:
– Change Type
– Delete
– Copy To
• Many aspects of a user’s profile can be managed
by using group policies
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25. The Cost of Roaming Profiles
• Profiles can become bloated
• If a profile is detected to be newer on a server than
the version of the profile on the machine a user is
logging into, the whole profile must be copied. The
reverse is also true, if the profile on the local
machine should prove to be more up to date
• Some problems caused by roaming profiles can be
reduced by folder redirection
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26. Group Types
• A distribution group is used to group users together
mainly for sending e-mails to several people at
once with an Active Directory integrated e-mail
application, such as Microsoft Exchange
• Can have the following objects as members:
– User accounts
– Contacts
– Other distribution groups
– Security groups
– Computers
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27. Group Types (cont.)
• Security groups are the main AD object
administrators use to manage network resource
access and grant rights to users
• Can contain the same types of objects as
distribution groups
• If a contact is part of a security group that is
assigned permissions to a resource, the contact
does not make use of the permissions because a
contact is not a security principal
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28. Converting Group Type
• Group type can be changed from security to
distribution and vice versa
• Only security groups can be added to a DACL; if a
security group is converted to a distribution group,
the entry will remain in a DACL, but it has no effect
on access to the resource
• Converting group types is not commonly done
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29. Group Scope
• Group scope determines the reach of a group’s
application in a domain or a forest
• Three group scope options are possible in a
Windows Server 2008 forest:
– Domain local
– Global
– Universal
• Fourth scope called local applies only to groups
created in the SAM database of a member
computer or stand-alone computer
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30. Group Scope
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31. Domain Local Groups
• A domain local group is the main security principal
recommended for assigning rights and permissions
to domain resources
• Global and Universal groups can be used for same
purpose, but Microsoft best practices recommend
using these groups to aggregate users with similar
access or rights requirements
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32. Domain Local Groups (cont.)
• In a single domain environment, or when users
from only one domain are assigned access to a
resource, use AGDLP:
– Accounts are made members of
– Global groups, which are made members of
– Domain Local groups, which are assigned
– Permissions to resources
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33. Domain Local Groups (cont.)
• In multidomain environments where users from
different domains are assigned access to a
resource, use AGGUDLP:
– Accounts are made members of
– Global groups, which when necessary are nested in other
– Global groups, which are made members of
– Universal groups, which are then made members of
– Domain Local groups, which are assigned
– Permissions to resources
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34. Global Groups
• A global group is used mainly to group users from the same
domain with similar access or rights requirements
• Considered global because it can be made a member of a
domain local group in any domain in the forest or trusted
domains in other forests
• Global groups are easier to manage than creating domain
local groups, especially if dealing with an organization that
has multiple departments needing access to a single
resource
• Global groups scale better than domain local groups
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35. Global Groups
Use global groups to
aggregate users and add
those groups to domain
local groups – easier to
manage.
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36. Universal Groups
• A universal group can contain users from any
domain in the forest and be assigned permission to
resources in any domain in the forest
• Universal groups’ membership information is stored
only on global catalog servers
• Universal group membership changes require
replication to all global catalog servers
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37. Local Groups
• A local group is created in the local SAM database on a
member server or workstation or a stand-alone computer
• When a computer joins a domain, Windows changes the
membership of two local groups automatically:
– Administrators; Domain Admin global group added
– Users; Domain users global group added
• Local groups can have the following account types as
members:
– Local user accounts
– Domain user accounts
– Domain local groups
– Global or universal groups
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38. Nesting Groups
• Involves making a group a member of another
group
• Group scope’s membership rules must be followed
• Usually used to group users who have similar roles
but work in different departments
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39. Converting Group Scope
• Group scope can be converted, with some
restrictions:
– Universal to domain local, provided it’s not a member of
another universal group
– Universal to global, provided no universal group is a member
– Global to universal, provided it’s not a member of another
global group
– Domain local to universal, provided no domain local group is a
member
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40. Default Groups in a Windows Domain
• Builtin folder
– Domain local groups used for assigning rights and permissions
in the local domain
• Users folder
– Combination of domain local, global, and, in the forest root
domain, universal scope
– User accounts are generally added to global and universal
groups in this folder for assigning permissions and rights in the
domain and forest
• Special Identity Groups
– Can be assigned permissions by adding them to resources’
DACLs
– Can not be changed manually
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41. Default Groups in a Windows Domain
(cont.)
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42. Default Groups in a Windows Domain
(cont.)
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43. Default Groups in a Windows Domain
(cont.)
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44. Working with Computer Accounts
• Advantages of having users log on to computers that are
domain members:
– Single sign-on
– Active Directory search
– Group policies
– Remote management
• Computer accounts usually created when a computer is
joined to a domain
• Computer accounts have an associated password and must
log on to the domain. This password changes every 30 days
by default. Can cause synchronization issues if a computer
is left off for too long
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45. Command-Line Tools for Managing Active
Directory Objects
• Most commonly used command line tools for
managing accounts:
– DSADD
– DSGET
– DSMOD
– DSMOVE
– DSQUERY
– DSRM
• Typing /? after a command will show help
information and command syntax
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46. Command-Line Tools for Managing Active
Directory Objects (cont.)
• DSADD syntax:
• DSADD ObjectType ObjectDN [options]
– ObjectType is the type of object you want to create, such as
user or group
– ObjectDN is the object’s distinguished name (DN)
• Components of DN:
– CN (Common Name)
– CN (Common Name) (Can be repeated if object is in a folder)
– OU (Organizational Unit)
– DC (Domain component)
• Command line programs allow piping of output
from one command to another, via |
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47. Bulk Import and Export with CSVDE and
LDIFDE
• CSVDE and LDIFDE can bulk import or export AD
data
• CSVDE uses comma-separated values (CSV)
• LDIFDE uses LDAP Directory Interchange Format
(LDIF)
• CSVDE can only create objects in AD, whereas
LDIFDE can create or modify objects
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48. Creating Users with CSVDE
• CSV file must have a header record listing
attributes of the object to be imported
– Example:
• dn,SamAccountName,userPrincipalName,objectClass
– Data record example:
• “cn=New
User,ou=TestOU,dc=w2k8adXX,dc=com”,NewUser,NewUser@w2
k8adXX.com,user
• Does not set passwords, so all user accounts are
disabled until you create a password for each
account
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49. Creating Users with LDIFDE
• Same idea as CSVDE but with a different format
• Example
– Dn: cn=LDF User1,ou=TestOU,dc=w2k8adXX,dc=com
changetype: add
ObjectClass: user
SamAccountName: LDFUser1
UserPrincipalName: LDFUser1@w2k8adXX.com
• Common use of LDIFDE is exporting users from
one domain and importing them into another
domain
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50. Chapter Summary
• Three categories of users in Windows: Local,
domain, and built-in.
• User account names must be unique in a domain,
aren’t case sensitive, and must be 20 or fewer
characters. Complex password is required by
default. Naming standards should be used
• User templates facilitate creating users who have
some attributes in common, such as group
memberships
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51. Chapter Summary (cont.)
• The most important user account properties are in
the General, Account, Profile, Member Of, and
Terminal Services tabs
• A user profile contains personal files and settings
that define the user’s environment. A profile stored
on a network share is called a roaming profile.
Profiles can be made mandatory
• Groups are the primary security principal used to
grant rights and permissions
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52. Chapter Summary (cont.)
• Three group scopes in Active Directory: domain
local, global, and universal. The recommended use
of groups can be summarized with the acronyms
AGDLP and AGGUDLP
• Computers that are domain members have
computer accounts in Active Directory
• Computer accounts are created automatically when
a computer joins a domain or manually by an
administrator
• Account management can be automated by
command line tools such as DSADD
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