Active Directory : SCCM 2016 Step by Step Lab Setup

In previous section, I showed how to install Windows Server 2016 on bare metal Dell server. My major focus in this post will be on Windows Active Directory.

For Step 1: Installing Windows Server 2016

In this section you will learn:

How to Enable Hyper-V Feature
How to Create New Virtual Machine in Hyper visor.
How to Setup Active Directory
How to Setup DHCP

What is Hyper-V?

Hypervisor technology is software on which multiple virtual machines can run, with the hypervisor layer controlling the hardware and allocating resources to each VM operating system. Hyper-V is the virtualization platform that is included in Windows Server 2008 or later.

Enable Hyper V On Windows Server 2016:

Click Search Icon next to start button and search for “Add Features”. Select “Turn Windows Features on or Off”
Click “Next”
Check “Rol-Based or feature-based installation” & Click “Next”
Leave everything default and click “Next”
“Check Hyper-V” and click “Next”
Click ” Add Features” and follow through all default dialogs till the end.

Create New Machine in Hyper-V:

Launch Hyper-V Manager from Start Menu
Right Click on VM server and click New > Virtual Machine
Click “Next”
Select Machine Name, Machine Store Location and Click “Next”
Check “Generation 2” and Click “Next”
Type in amount of Memory you want to dedicate to Domain Controller (In my case I’m assigning 4 GB). Click “Next”
Select Available network adapter from drop down menu and click ” Next”
Specify Name, location and size for Virtual Hard Disk. (Im leaving all defaults). Click “Next”
Give a Path to Operating System ISO (In my case, it’s Windows Server 2016). Click Next
Click “Finish”

You should see new virtual machine in your hyper-V manager.

Install OS on Domain Controller DC01:

Go to Hyper-V Manger and Right click DC01 & Select “Start”. This should start DC01 and also start installation process for Windows Server 2016 on the VM. For Step by step instructions on how to install Windows Server 2016, visit my previous post Here.

Once Installation of OS is completed. Login to DC01.

Change the machine name to “DC01”
Assign a static IP (Step by step instructions Here )
Also turn on RDP option (Remote Desktop Protocol)

As you can see in the snapshots below. I have already changed the machine to “DC01”, Assigned static IP address and turned on RDP respectively.

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Active Directory Setup

So What is Active Directory?

Active Directory (AD) is a directory service that Microsoft developed for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services.Initially, Active Directory was only in charge of centralized domain management. Starting with Windows Server 2008, however, Active Directory became an umbrella title for a broad range of directory based identity related services.

Let’s setup Active directory for our System Center Lab.

Login to DC01. Launch Server manager and Click “Add Roles and Features”
Click “Next”
Select “Role-Based or feature-based Installation” & Click “Next”
Leave Everything Default and Click “Next”
Select “Active Directory Domain Services” & Click “Next”
Click “Add Features”
Leave Everything Default and click “Next”
All Defaults and click “Next”
Check “Restart the destination server automatically” if required and click “Install”
Click Close
Note! Depending on the speed of your machine, It can take up to 10 minutes to complete the AD Creation process. So grab a cup of coffee and wait for it to complete. 🙂
Upon successful installation you should see AD DS under Roles and Server Groups.
Click on Top right flag and Click on “Promote this server to a domain controller”
Check “Add a New Forest” enter “Root Domain Name” and click “Next”.
Note! In my case, I’m using mycomputerlessons.com . you can enter any domain of your choice. It’s not necessary the domain is register with domain registrar.
Leave everything default. Enter the password for DSRM and click “Next”
Everything default and click “Next”
Wait for few seconds. The NetBIOS domain Name should populate automatically. you have choice to change NetBios Domain if you desire to do so. Populate the NetBios Name and Click “Next”
If you want to change the directory or drives for Active Directory database, log files SYSVOL you can change it here. For me I’m choosing everything default. Click “Next”
Click “Next”
The system will verify all the prerequisites. It should not take more than 30 seconds. If everything went fine as it should. You will see “All Prerequisite checks passed successfully.” Message.
Click ” Install”
The system should automatically reboot at this stage. All set on Active Directory setup. Next would be enabling DHCP on DC01 server.

What is DHCP?

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a standardized network protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The DHCP is controlled by a DHCP server that dynamically distributes network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses, for interfaces and services. A router or a residential gateway can be enabled to act as a DHCP server. A DHCP server enables computers to request IP addresses and networking parameters automatically, reducing the need for a network administrator or a user to configure these settings manually.

DHCP Setup:

Login to DC01. Launch Server manager Dashboard . Click on “Manage and Add Roles and Features”
Click “Next”
Leave Defaults and click “Next”
All Defaults and click “Next”
Check “DHCP Server” and Click “Next”
Click “Add Features”
Click Continue
Click “Next”
Click “Next”
Click “Next” to continue
Check “Restart the destination server automatically if required” and click “Install”
Click “Close”