Active Directory for Admins Training Course

1. Introduction

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

2. Features and Architecture of Active Directory

• Active Directory architecture
• Differences between logical and physical structures
• Understanding 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 layout

3. Identity Management Solutions and Concepts Overview

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

4. Active Directory Setup

• Planning an Active Directory deployment
• Installing Active Directory Domain Services
• Promoting a server to a Domain Controller role
• Creating new forests and domains
• Installation and configuration of DNS
• Verification of installation
• Deployment best practices

5. Implementation of Active Directory Domain Services

• Creation of Organizational Units
• Administration of users, groups, and computers
• User account administration
• Group scopes and types
• Delegation of administrative control
• Management of service accounts
• Joining computers to the domain

6. Configuration and Management of Replication

• Concepts of Active Directory replication
• Multi-master replication mechanisms
• Replication topology design
• Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)
• Sites and replication scheduling
• Troubleshooting replication issues
• Monitoring replication health

7. Group Policy Implementation and Management

• Group Policy architecture
• Creation of Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
• GPO linking procedures
• Group Policy inheritance rules
• Loopback processing techniques
• Administrative Templates
• Software deployment via GPO
• Folder Redirection configuration
• Security policy settings
• Password and account lockout policies
• Troubleshooting Group Policy issues

8. Certification Authority (CA) Hierarchy Implementation

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

9. Certificate Management

• Certificate lifecycle administration
• Certificate issuance procedures
• Certificate renewal processes
• Certificate revocation steps
• Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
• Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)
• Management of certificate templates
• Troubleshooting certificate problems

10. Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) Implementation and Administration

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

11. Enabling Data Access

• Access control principles
• NTFS permissions
• Shared folder permissions
• Calculating effective permissions
• Access-Based Enumeration
• Dynamic Access Control
• File Classification Infrastructure
• Auditing file access activities

12. Securing Active Directory Domain Services

• Best practices for AD security
• Administrative security models
• Tiered administration concepts
• Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• Securing Domain Controllers
• Password policies
• Fine-Grained Password Policies
• Account lockout policies
• Auditing and monitoring strategies
• Backup and recovery considerations

13. Rights Management Services (RMS) Implementation and Management

• 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. Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) Implementation

• 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 procedures
• Managing cloud identities

15. Active Directory Integration with OpenLDAP

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

16. Active Directory Monitoring

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

17. Troubleshooting

• 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 session
• Final hands-on review and lab wrap-up