Installing Active Directory on Windows Server 2008

4:15 AM | Posted by Srinivas

Microsoft Active Directory provides the structure to centralize the network management and store information about network resources across the entire domain. Active Directory uses Domain Controllers to keep this centralized storage available to network users. In order to configure a Windows Server 2008 machine to act as Domain Controller, several considerations and prerequisites should be taken into account, and several steps should be performed. In this article I will guide you through these prerequisites and steps of creating a new Windows Server 2008 Domain Controller for a new Active Directory domain in a new forest.

Considerations when Installing a new Windows Server 2008 forest

When you install AD to create the first domain controller in a new Windows Server 2008 forest, you must keep the following considerations in mind:
  • You must make forest and domain functional level decisions that determine whether your forest and domain can contain domain controllers that run Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, or both. To read more about forest and domain functional levels please refer to the links below.
  • Domain controllers running the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 operating system are NOT supported with Windows Server 2008.
  • Servers running Windows NT Server 4.0 are NOT supported by domain controllers that are running Windows Server 2008, meaning you MUST have additional DCs running Windows 2000/2003 to support older NT 4.0 servers.
  • The first Windows Server 2008 domain controller in a forest must be a global catalog server and it cannot be an RODC.

Considerations when Installing a new Windows Server 2008 domain in an existing Windows 2000/2003 forest

When you install AD to create the first domain controller in a new Windows Server 2008 domain, you must keep the following considerations in mind:
  • Before you create a new Windows Server 2008 domain in a Windows 2000/2003 forest, you must prepare the forest for Windows Server 2008 by extending the schema (that is, by running ADPREP /forestprep). To read more about ADPREP please refer to the links below or my "Windows Server 2008 ADPREP" article.
  • You must make domain functional level decisions that determine whether your domain can contain domain controllers that run Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, or both. To read more about forest and domain functional levels please refer to the links below.
  • I recommend that you host the PDC emulator operations master role in the forest root domain on a domain controller that runs Windows Server 2008. For more information about FSMO Roles, please read my "Understanding FSMO Roles in Active Directory" and "Transferring FSMO Roles" articles.

General considerations

Make sure you read and follow the requirements described in my "Active Directory on Windows Server 2008 Requirements" article.

Installing Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS)

In Windows Server 2008, unlike previous server operating Systems, there is an additional step that needs to be taken before running DCPROMO to promote the server to Domain Controller and installing Active Directory on it. This step is the installation of Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS) role on the server. In fact, the AD-DS role is what enables the server to act as a Domain Controller, but you will still need to run DCPROMO the regular way.
AD-DS can be installed in one of 3 methods:

Method 1 – Server Manager/Initial Configuration Tasks

Roles can and should be added from Server Manager (but they can also be initiated from the Initial Configuration Tasks wizard that auto-opens the first time you log on to the server).
    1. Open Server Manager by clicking the icon in the Quick Launch toolbar, or from the Administrative Tools folder.
    2. Wait till it finishes loading, then click on Roles > Add Roles link.
    1. In the Before you begin window, click Next.
    1. In the Select Server Roles window, click to select Active Directory Domain Services, and then click Next.
    1. In the Active Directory Domain Services window read the provided information if you want to, and then click Next.
    1. In the Confirm Installation Selections, read the provided information if you want to, and then click Next.
    1. Wait till the process completes.
    1. When it ends, click Close.
    1. Going back to Server Manager, click on the Active Directory Domain Services link, and note that there's no information linked to it, because the DCPROMO command has not been run yet.
    1. Now you can click on the DCPROMO link, or read on.
      1. To run DCPROMO, enter the command in the Run command, or click on the DCPROMO link from Server Manager > Roles > Active Directory Domain Services.
      1. Depending upon the question if AD-DS was previously installed or not, the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard will appear immediately or after a short while. Click Next.
      Note: The Advanced features of DCPROMO will be discussed in a future article.

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