Active Directory Forest, Domain Controllers, and Child Domain Deployment

Overview

This project involved deploying an Active Directory environment on Windows Server. I created a new forest with a forest root domain, added an additional domain controller for redundancy, and created a child domain within the existing forest.

Objectives

• Deploy a new Active Directory forest and forest root domain.

• Configure a primary domain controller and DNS.

• Add an additional domain controller to provide redundancy.

• Create a child domain within the existing forest.

• Verify that the domain controllers were successfully added and operating correctly.

Technologies Used

• Windows Server

• Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

• DNS Server

• Active Directory Users and Computers

• Domain Name System (DNS)

Configurations

Forest Root Domain

To start deploying Active Directory in the network, I first installed the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and DNS Server roles. From Add Roles and Features, I selected both roles. DNS is required for Active Directory because AD DS relies on DNS for domain controller discovery and other domain operations. If DNS is not selected during the installation, it can be installed automatically when promoting the server to a domain controller.

After reviewing the installation summary, I installed the selected roles and received a successful installation message.

Then, after selecting Promote this server to a domain controller, I chose Add a new forest because this was the first domain controller and I wanted to create a new Active Directory forest. I then assigned the company name as the forest root domain name.

Next, I assigned a Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) password. This password was set to access the domain controller in DSRM for recovery and maintenance of Active Directory Domain Services.

Since this was the first domain controller in the new forest, there was no existing DNS server in the domain. Therefore, I left the DNS Options step with the default configuration. DNS was installed and configured on this domain controller as part of the AD DS deployment.

In the Additional Options step, I provided the NetBIOS domain name. This is normally the domain name without the top-level domain and is mainly used for compatibility with older Windows systems and applications.

After reviewing the configuration summary, I clicked Next and then Install to complete the Active Directory Domain Services deployment.

After the installation was completed successfully, I signed out and signed in again using a domain account.

I then used the domain account to sign in to the forest root domain controller and confirmed that the server was operating as a domain controller.

Additional Domain Controller

To provide redundancy for Active Directory services, I created an additional domain controller in the same forest. This provides another domain controller that can continue providing Active Directory and DNS services if the primary domain controller becomes unavailable.

For this purpose, I prepared another Windows Server and installed Windows Server on it. Using a separate server also provides protection against a hardware failure on the primary domain controller.

I then assigned a computer name to the new server, configured a static IP address, and set the forest root domain controller as its primary DNS server. After restarting the server, I installed the Active Directory Domain Services role.

I then started the domain controller promotion process. In Deployment Configuration, I selected Add a domain controller to an existing domain because I wanted to add the server as an additional domain controller in the existing domain.

I entered the forest root domain name and provided a domain administrator account with the required permissions to add the new domain controller.

After the credentials and domain information were successfully validated, I assigned a DSRM password for offline recovery and maintenance of the domain controller.

I left the remaining configuration options at their default values and started the installation to complete the domain controller promotion.

To verify that the additional domain controller was successfully added, I performed the following checks. In Active Directory Users and Computers > Domain > Domain Controllers, I confirmed that both domain controllers were listed.

I also checked the server's network configuration and confirmed that the server was now joined to the domain.

Finally, I configured the additional domain controller to use itself as its preferred DNS server by using its loopback address, and configured the primary domain controller as the alternate DNS server.

Create a Child

To separate the company's departments into different Active Directory domains while keeping them within the same forest, I created a child domain.

In the Deployment Configuration section, I selected Add a new domain to an existing forest. I then selected Child Domain as the domain type.

I entered the parent domain name and specified the name of the child domain that I wanted to create.

Finally, I provided a forest-level domain administrator account with the required permissions to create the child domain.

I left the remaining configuration options at their default values and completed the installation.

Results

The Active Directory environment was successfully deployed. A new forest root domain was created with its domain controller, an additional domain controller was added to provide redundancy, and a child domain was created within the existing forest. The domain controllers were also verified through Active Directory Users and Computers and DNS configuration.