10 DNS Errors That Will Kill Your Network March 30, 2017, 3:08 p.m.

  • TCP/IP Configuration Points to Public DNS Servers
  • Improper DNS Suffix Handling
  • Improperly Configured Forwarding
  • Improper Zone Transfer Configuration
  • Failure to Verify Dynamic Update of Resource Records
  • Failure to Properly Delegate Child Zones
  • Failure to Secure Public-Facing DNS Servers
  • Failure to properly Secure Resource Records
  • Incorrect
  • Outdated or Unreachable DNS Servers
  • Lack of Fault Tolerance
sysadmin dns

Name Resolution in Windows March 28, 2017, 9:10 a.m.

When the GetHostByName API is used, the Windows 2000 resolver first submits the name query to DNS. If DNS name resolution fails, the resolver checks whether the name is longer than 15 bytes. If it is longer, resolution fails. If not, the resolver then checks whether NetBIOS is running. If it is not running, resolution fails. If it is running, the resolver then tries NetBIOS name resolution.

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Windows Server 2012 RDS: Enabling the RD WebAccess Expired password reset option March 23, 2017, 3:05 p.m.

Windows Server 2012 comes with an option to support the ability to let users changes their password from within the RD Webaccess interface in case it's expired.

windows sysadmin rds windows server 2012

Fix my IT system: Customise RDS Web access login pages March 23, 2017, 2:57 p.m.

The files that need to be edited are located in C:\Windows\Web\RDWeb\

windows sysadmin rds

Set application settings in IIS through PowerShell March 20, 2017, 2:20 p.m.

  1. Open IIS
  2. Click on the site you want to target.
  3. Open Configuration Editor
  4. Make the change
  5. Then click "Generate Script" on the top right.
sysadmin windows web

Group Policy Processing March 15, 2017, 11:46 a.m.

The local Group Policy object is always processed, followed by GPO. Site first, domain next, and OU last, including any nested OUs, from parent to child. The Block policy inheritance or No Override options can affect the presence or absence of Group Policy objects in the list of Group Policy objects to be processed, but cannot change their order. Computer policy is processed at startup and then user policy is processed when the user logs on. If user and computer policy settings specify different behavior, the computer policy will generally prevail.

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Well-known security identifiers in Windows operating systems March 9, 2017, 10:09 a.m.

A security identifier (SID) is a unique value of variable length that is used to identify a security principal or security group in Windows operating systems. Well-known SIDs are a group of SIDs that identify generic users or generic groups. Their values remain constant across all operating systems.

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Best practice for Default Domain Policy and Default Domain Controllers Policy March 6, 2017, 4:33 p.m.

Microsoft has some good guidance on this topic, but it’s not always clearly and consistently stated. Here’s a quick Q&A that might help.

active directory windows sysadmin best practice

Active Directory Delegation via PowerShell – May I see your ID(entity)? Feb. 22, 2017, 2:42 p.m.

The pseudo code for doing this is pretty simple:

  1. Get the current DACL on the object we desire to set permissions on.
  2. Append the existing DACL with a new ActiveDirectoryAccessRule.
  3. Re-apply the DACL.
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Active Directory's Object Specific ACEs and PowerShell Feb. 22, 2017, 2:38 p.m.

Active Directory ACE (access control entries) are different from your regular ACEs (for example, NTFS), because they can be used to grant permissions only on specific types of objects, and to propagate only to specific types of child objects. My question is - how do I replicate this in PowerShell?

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Who can add workstation to the domain Feb. 22, 2017, 2:32 p.m.

1) If you have delegated rights on the OU, you can join unlimited computers to the domain. Regardless of what is in the DDC policy. 2) If you do not have delegated rights on the OU, but are listed within the DDC policy, then you can add machines up to the limit of the “ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota” attribute.

active directory sysadmin

Dump a list of all schemaIDGUIDs with PowerShell Feb. 22, 2017, 2:26 p.m.

There are well known methods for setting Access Control Entries (ACEs) on Active Directory objects using Powershell, which rely on you knowing the schemaIDGUID of the schema object classes you are working with (e.g. User, Computer, Group). Unless you know your way around AD it’s not always immediately obvious where to find the schemaIDGUIDs that you need. To help you with this, I’ve thrown together a couple of PowerShell snippets.

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Add Object Specific ACEs using Active Directory Powershell Feb. 22, 2017, 2:24 p.m.

In the example below, we are going to create two object specific ACEs with one granting the group “myGroup” the extended right “Reset Password” for all users and the other giving it permission to delete computer objects, all under the organizationUnit “myOU”.

active directory powershell sysadmin

Create new bulk AD delegations with Powershell Feb. 22, 2017, 2:22 p.m.

Here’s a Powershell script I wrote to delegate permissions to a service account to manage user objects within a number of OUs.  The script takes as input a file containing the distinguished names (DNs) of the OUs.  The approach should be reasonably obvious from the comments in the script.  The only complexity comes from having to get the correct System.DirectoryServices syntax for the Access Control Entries (ACEs).

active directory powershell sysadmin

How to configure a firewall for domains and trusts Feb. 15, 2017, 12:08 p.m.

To establish a domain trust or a security channel across a firewall, the following ports must be opened. Be aware that there may be hosts functioning with both client and server roles on both sides of the firewall. Therefore, ports rules may have to be mirrored.

active directory sysadmin

The LastLogonTimeStamp Attribute – What it was designed for and how it works Jan. 18, 2017, 9:44 a.m.

It is important to note that the intended purpose of the lastLogontimeStamp attribute to help identify inactive computer and user accounts. The lastLogon attribute is not designed to provide real time logon information. With default settings in place the lastLogontimeStamp will be 9-14 days behind the current date.

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How to Recover from an Active Directory Failure Jan. 13, 2017, 10:49 a.m.

In this article we will look at the different options and approaches available to recover a DC that has a database corruption. In addition, this article outlines, symptoms, causes, and solutions for this scenario.

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Kerberos Explained Dec. 26, 2016, 10 a.m.

The process of authenticating the identity of users during log-in is the first step in gaining system access. For local machines that aren't actively participating in a domain, Windows NT LAN Manager protocol is still utilized to verify a user's name and password before granting system access. However, in domain environments, Microsoft has coupled Active Directory closely with Kerberos. Once access is granted, tickets that permit specific access to other system resources within the domain are exchanged.

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AWS Quick Starts Dec. 20, 2016, 4:59 p.m.

The Quick Starts on this page were built by AWS solutions architects based on AWS best practices for security and high availability. These reference deployments implement key technologies automatically on the AWS Cloud, often with a single click and in less than an hour. You can build your test or production environment in a few simple steps, and start using it immediately.

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Microsoft Virtual Academy Dec. 11, 2016, 10:44 p.m.

Microsoft Virtual Academy provides free online training by world-class experts for Developers, IT Professionals and Data Scientists.

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