Active Directory for Admins Training Course

1. Introduction

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

2. Active Directory Features and Architecture Overview

• Architecture of Active Directory
• Differences between logical and physical structures
• Domains, Trees, and Forests
• Organizational Units (OUs)
• Domain Controllers and Global Catalog functionality
• Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles
• Sites and Subnets
• DNS integration with Active Directory
• Active Directory partitions and database structure

3. Identity Management Solutions and Concepts Overview

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

4. Deploying Active Directory

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

5. Implementing Active Directory Domain Services

• Creating Organizational Units (OUs)
• Managing users, groups, and computer objects
• User account administration
• Group scopes and types
• Delegation of administrative privileges
• Management of service accounts
• Joining computers to the domain

6. Configuring and Managing Replication

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

7. Implementing and Managing Group Policy

• Group Policy architecture overview
• Creation of Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
• Linking GPOs to objects
• Understanding Group Policy inheritance
• Loopback processing mode
• Administrative Templates configuration
• Software deployment via GPO
• Folder Redirection setup
• Application of 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 configuration
• Auto-enrollment mechanisms

9. Managing Certificates

• Certificate lifecycle management
• Issuing certificates to entities
• Certificate renewal processes
• Certificate revocation procedures
• Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
• Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)
• Managing certificate templates
• Troubleshooting common certificate issues

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

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

11. Enabling Data Access

• Core access control concepts
• NTFS permissions configuration
• Shared folder permissions setup
• Evaluating effective permissions
• Access-Based Enumeration techniques
• Dynamic Access Control implementation
• File Classification Infrastructure usage
• Auditing file access events

12. Securing Active Directory Domain Services

• Security best practices for Active Directory
• Administrative security model design
• Tiered administration strategies
• Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• Securing Domain Controllers
• Password policies implementation
• Fine-Grained Password Policies configuration
• Account lockout policies setup
• 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 components
• Protecting sensitive documents
• Information protection policies setup
• Integration with Microsoft Office applications
• Managing user access rights

14. Implementing Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)

• Introduction to Microsoft Entra ID
• Cloud identity concepts and principles
• Hybrid identity architecture design
• Microsoft Entra Connect configuration
• Password Hash Synchronization setup
• Pass-through Authentication configuration
• Federation with AD FS implementation
• Overview of Conditional Access policies
• Identity synchronization processes
• Management of cloud identities

15. Integrating Active Directory with OpenLDAP

• Fundamentals of LDAP protocols
• Active Directory support for LDAP
• Overview of OpenLDAP
• Methods for identity synchronization
• Authentication integration techniques
• Common interoperability scenarios
• Security considerations for integration
• Troubleshooting LDAP connectivity issues

16. Monitoring Active Directory

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

17. Troubleshooting

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

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 laboratory wrap-up