In this post we are going to show you how to install Active Directory Server on Windows Server 2019. As we have already covered the installation of Windows Server 2019, This post will cover step by step procedure to install Active Directory Domain Services along with configuring domain controller.

As we have server already installed, we can make it Domain Controller by installing Active Directory Domain Services through Server Manager.

Login to the Server and launch Server Manager from Windows Start Menu.

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Installation Process

Click on Manage and select Add Roles and Features.

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This will launch Add Roles and Features Wizard, click Next to continue.

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Under Select installation type page, continue with default option ie. Role-based or feature-based installation.

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Under Select destination server page, continue with Select a server from the server pool, current computer name will be displayed under Server Pool.

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Under Select server roles, check the box Active Directory Domain Services, this will auto populate features that are required for Active Directory Domain Services. Click on Add Feature.

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Once you see checkbox is selected for Active Directory Domain Services, click next to continue

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Under Select features page, we will be going with default selection, click on Next to continue.

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Under Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), click Next to continue.

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Under Confirm installation selections, we will see the roles, role services or features which are going to install. Click on Install.

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Installation progress window will show you the installation process.

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Once done, you will see message Configuration required. Installation succeeded on DC01. We can also see Promote this server to a domain controller which will walk us through steps to install Domain Controller.

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If we close above window, we can still get this option through Server Manager. Under Server Manager Dashboard, on the top we can see flag sign with yellow exclamation mark, which will show Post-deployment Configuration window, below that we can see Promote this server to a domain controller option, click on it to initiate the process.

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Promote the server to a domain controller

Under Deployment Configuration page, select the option Add a new forest as we are going to install New Forest, New Domain and New Domain Controller. Under Root Domain Name specify domain name of your choice.

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Under Domain Controller Options, select Forest function level as Windows Server 2016. We are proceeding with the highest function level which will give us all the features of that specific Server level. Incase we have old Servers prior to Windows Server 2016, we need to select relevant function level to support that server so that it can be participated to Domain Controller services.

Domain function level will only have one option ie Windows Server 2016 as we have selected highest Forest function level. We can also see auto selected values for:
Domain Name System (DNS) Server – As we will be proceeding with installation of DNS Server on the same server, we will keep it selected.
Global Catalog (GC)- This is option is greyed out as Global Catalog is must to be get installed with this Domain Contoller.

Provide Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) password. DSRM password is very important in case where we need to restart the Domain Controller in Directory Services Restore Mode.

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Under DNS Options, click Next to continue.

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Under Additional Options, verify NetBIOS Name which gets auto populated through Root Domain name which we selected previously, under The NetBIOS domain name change the name if you want, we will continue by default one.

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Under Paths page, default values will be populated for database, log files and SYSVOL. Default location for Database folder & Log files folder will be C:\Windows\NTDS, while SYSVOL folder will show C:\Windows\SYSVOL.

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Under Review Options page, it will show all settings which will be used to install Active Directory Domain Services, we can readily available script by clicking on View Script, which shows following:

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Import-Module ADDSDeployment
Install-ADDSForest -CreateDnsDelegation:$false
-DatabasePath "C:\Windows\NTDS" -DomainMode "WinThreshold"
-DomainName "MANBAN.COM" -DomainNetbiosName "MANBAN"
-ForestMode "WinThreshold" -InstallDns:$true
-LogPath "C:\Windows\NTDS" -NoRebootOnCompletion:$false
-SysvolPath "C:\Windows\SYSVOL" `
-Force:$true

Prerequisites Check page will begin Verifying prerequisites for domain controller operation.

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Once completed, you can see All prerequisite checks passed successfully. Click ‘Install’ to begin installation. Click on Install to continue.

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Installation page will proceed with installation such as configuring DNS Server service along with creating database for new Domain.

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This process will reboot your system, and will apply new Domain policies for the first time to this Domain Controller.

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Once you are on login window, you can see the difference that the server is now part of existing Domain by looking under Sign in to , which will show Domain Name. Login to the server.

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You will see new services added under Windows Administrative Tools, such as:

  • Active Directory Users and Computers
  • Active Directory Sites and Services
  • Group Policy Management and others
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Server is ready to be used and served as Domain Controller to create domain users/ computers and deploy group policies.

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