Active Directory for Admins Training Course

1. Introduction

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

2. Overview of Active Directory Features and Architecture

• Active Directory architecture fundamentals
• Differences between logical and physical structures
• Domains, Trees, and Forests
• Organizational Units (OUs)
• Domain Controllers and 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)
• Distinguishing between Authentication and Authorization
• Kerberos authentication mechanisms
• NTLM authentication processes
• Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Identity lifecycle management
• Concepts of Hybrid identity

4. Setting up Active Directory

• Planning an Active Directory deployment strategy
• Installing Active Directory Domain Services
• Promoting a server to become a Domain Controller
• Creating new forests and domains
• Installing and configuring DNS services
• Verifying the installation integrity
• Deployment best practices

5. Implementing Active Directory Domain Services

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

6. Configuring and Managing Replication

• Understanding Active Directory replication concepts
• Multi-master replication dynamics
• Replication topology design
• Role of the Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)
• Sites and replication scheduling
• Troubleshooting replication issues
• Monitoring replication health

7. Implementing and Managing Group Policy

• Group Policy architecture overview
• Creating Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
• Linking GPOs to containers
• Understanding Group Policy inheritance
• Loopback processing mechanisms
• Administrative Templates configuration
• Software deployment via GPO
• Folder Redirection setup
• Applying 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 structure
• Certificate templates management
• Auto-enrollment configuration

9. Managing Certificates

• Certificate lifecycle management strategies
• Issuing certificates to users and devices
• Certificate renewal processes
• Certificate revocation procedures
• Managing Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
• Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) usage
• Managing certificate templates
• Troubleshooting certificate-related issues

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

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

11. Enabling Data Access

• Core access control concepts
• NTFS permissions management
• Shared folder permissions
• Calculating effective permissions
• Access-Based Enumeration features
• Dynamic Access Control implementation
• File Classification Infrastructure
• Auditing file access events

12. Securing Active Directory Domain Services

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

13. Implementing and Managing Rights Management Services (RMS)

• Introduction to Active Directory Rights Management Services
• RMS architecture overview
• 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 setup
• Password Hash Synchronization
• Pass-through Authentication configuration
• Federation with AD FS
• Conditional Access overview
• Identity synchronization processes
• Managing cloud identities

15. Integrating Active Directory with OpenLDAP

• Fundamentals of LDAP
• Active Directory LDAP support capabilities
• OpenLDAP overview
• Identity synchronization methods
• Authentication integration strategies
• Common interoperability scenarios
• Security considerations
• Troubleshooting LDAP connectivity issues

16. Monitoring Active Directory

• Overview of monitoring tools
• Using Event Viewer
• Performance Monitor usage
• Active Directory Administrative Center
• PowerShell for monitoring tasks
• Replication monitoring techniques
• Performing health checks
• Auditing system changes
• Performance optimization strategies

17. Troubleshooting

• Addressing user logon issues
• Resolving DNS-related problems
• Troubleshooting replication failures
• Group Policy troubleshooting methods
• Handling authentication issues
• Resolving certificate-related problems
• Domain Controller health checks
• Utilizing diagnostic tools (dcdiag, repadmin, nltest, gpresult)
• Backup and recovery procedures
• Disaster recovery scenarios

18. Summary and Conclusion

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