70-646 | Todd's Blog

Windows Server Administration 70-646 – Chapter 3 Lesson 1 – Active Directory

posted on March 23, 2009

Back from March break, hope yours was as good as mine. Lets get back to studying.

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

This lesson covers new and enhanced features of AD in Windows Server 2008. It doesn’t cover the general day to day tasks which as an experienced System Administrator, you already know.

Introducing Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Server Role

What’s new:

Read-Only Domain Controllers
New Enhanced Tools and Wizards
Fine-grain Security Policies
Restartable AD DS
AD DS Data Mining Tool
Auditing Enhancements

Planning and Information on RODCs

Read only domain controllers are domain controllers you may install in areas where physical security is not guaranteed. Think a branch office where multiple people can access the server. Before you may have had a WAN connection to the branch office with the Domain Controller in the head office. If the WAN connection failed then the users on the other end were in trouble; RODCs address this problem. You need a writeable Windows Server 2008 in the domain. Your forest functional level and domain function level must be Windows Server 2003. When a user logs into the network on the remote end, the first login is authenticated across the WAN, but the RODC pulls that information to its machine so the subsequent logins are served by the RODC. You can also create Password Replication Policies which will control which passwords get cached on the RODC. You can delegate management (non-admin access) of the RODC to a local user. Finally, RODCs do not support client updates on DNS and does not register NS resource records. When a clients wants to update is DNS records against an RODC, the RODC points the client to a writeable DC.

Utilizing wizard Enhancements

A new option for dcpromo is a the /adv mode. The advanced mode allows you to select the source DC for the installation. You can also use backup media from an existing DC to cut down on network traffic on the initial replication. You can create a new domain tree and change the default NetBIOS name. You can set forest and domain functional levels when you create new forest or domain. You can configure the Password Replication Policy for an RODC. Another change is the selection of existing domain names instead typing. When creating a answer file password=* will make the system prompt instead of having a password stored in clear text in the answer file.

Delegating RODC Installation

You can have part of the RODC done at the HQ then have a branch user who is delegated authority to complete the task. A user with delegated authority can complete the task by running dcpromo /UseExistingAccount:Attach.

Utilizing MMC Enhancements

There are some enhancements. A find command has been added to the toolbar and action menu. You can easily discover which site a DC is in now. You can also use the MMC to determine which passwords have been sent to a RODC.

Planning Fine-Grained Password and Account Lockout Policies

I showed this in my presentation last February to the OWSUG. Fine grained passwords need a domain functional level of Windows Server 2008. Its best to create a group and change the settings on the group to what you want for your password policies (You can’t apply it to a GPO, user or group only). The tool you use to change the settings is either ADSIEdit or create an LDF file with the settings and then use ldifde command.

Planning the Use of the Data Mining Tool

You can create snapshots of your AD using dsamain.exe. You can use a LDAP tool to view the snapshot. Data mining will help you develop a backup and recovery plan for your AD data.

Planning AD DS Auditing

Windows Server 2008 turns on Audit Directory Service Access by default. Auditing in Windows Server 2008 has new levels, detailed or normal. Event IDs 5136 – Modify, 5137 – Create, 5138 – Undelete, 5139 – Move.

Planning Domain and Forest Functionality

Remember you can raise the functional level of a domain but it is almost impossible to lower them.

Domain Functional Level Considerations

Windows 2008 Server supports the following levels:

Windows 2000 Native
Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2008

Domain Functional Level	Supported DCs
Windows 2000 Native	Windows 2000 Server Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003	Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008	Windows Server 2008

Not covered was the domain mode (Windows 2003 interim) which allows an upgrade from Windows NT straight to Windows Server 2003.

Be sure to check out the table on page 153 of the book and remember some of the features of each of the levels. Remember to change a domain name, you need to be at a Windows Server 2003 level. For fine grained password policies, the level needs to be Windows Server 2008.

Forest Functional Level Considerations

Forest Functional Level	Supported DCs
Windows 2000	Windows NT 4.0 Windows 2000 Server Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003	Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008	Windows Server 2008

On page 155 of the book, another good chart describing what has changed between Windows 2000 and the Windows Server 2003 levels. There has been no change so far between Windows Server 2003 and the Windows Server 2008 levels.

Forest Level Trusts

Trust Types

Shortcut Trust – Makes it quicker for authentication for users in one child domain who access resources in a different child domain.
External Trust – When a domain needs requires a trust with a domain that doesn’t belong to the forest. For example, a Windows Server 2008 domain trusting a Windows NT domain.
Realm Trust – A trust between a Windows Domain and a Unix realm.

Creating Forest Trusts

Forest trusts are created in Active Directory Domains and Trusts from the admin tools. You need to connect to a DC in the forest root domain before creating the trust. Right click on the domain, click properties and go to the Trust tab. Click new to launch the wizard. You get the choice on type of trust and you can select one-way incoming, one-way outgoing and two-way. You then get the option of deciding your side of the trust or both. If you do both, you need to know the admin password for the other domain as well. After that, you can select Forest Wide authentication or Selective Authentication.

Whew, this was a big lesson and lots to digest. Spend significant amounts of time on this lesson as you can bet you will see a few questions on this subject on the exam. Active Directory is the bread and butter of Windows Server.

*Disclaimer:

My notes in helping me prepare for the 70-646 Exam, PRO: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator are just those, notes and I am trying to help highlight what is covered in the book, not replicate it. If you want to pass the exam, you will need more than just these notes to pass. I suggest you get a good book and get familiar with the product. The expectation is that you have about one year of experience with Windows 2008 Server (your mileage may vary) when writing this exam. The book I am using for my preparation and where I am drawing the information for these notes is the Microsoft Press book, MCITP Exam Prep 70-646: Windows Server Administration; ISBN: 0735625107.

Windows Server Administration 70-646 – Chapter 2 Lesson 1

posted on March 2, 2009

This lesson covers IPv6 and its use in Windows Server 2008.

Using IPv6 in Windows Server 2008

IPv6 Addresses problems in IPv4

Automatic Address Configuration – Stateful hosts use DHCPv6. Stateless hosts configure themselves.
Header Size – Non-essential and optional fields are found in extension headers.
Routing Table Size – Designed to be more efficient.
Network Level Security – IPSec is now mandatory.
Real Time Data Delivery – payload encryption does not affect QoS.
Removal of Broadcast Traffic – Neighbour discovery replaces ARP broadcasts, ICMPv4, Router Discovery and ICMPv4 redirect messages.
IPV6 Address Structure
IPv6 Address Syntax

IPv6 is a 128-address divided into 16-bit boundaries. Each 16 bit block is converted to a 4 bit hex number and colons are used to separate the bits. Leading zeros can be removed and long sequences of zeros can be compressed. For example 21cd:0048:0000:0000:03ac:ae45:8e4c can be expressed as 21cd:48::3ac:ae45:8e4c

IPv6 Address Prefix

Like we do in IPv4 and express subnets as 192.168.12.0/24, we can also do this in IPv6 and would look like 21cd:53::/64

IPv6 Address Types

Unicast
Multicast
Anycast

IPv6 Unicast Addresses

Global
Link-Local
Site-Local
Special
Network Service Access Point and Internet Packet Exchange mapped addresses

Planning an IPv4 to IPv6 Transition Strategy

Those Strategies include:

Dual Stack Transition
Configured Tunneling Transition
Automatic Tunneling
6to4
Teredo
Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol

Implementing IPv4-to-IPv6 Compatibility

IPv4 Compatible Address
IPv4 Mapped Address
Teredo Address
ISATAP Addresses

Using IPv6 Tools

Ping works by specifying the IPv6 address. IPconfig /all will show you the IPv6 setting and IPv4 settings. Netsh interface ipv6 – ipv6 added to netsh interface commands specifies the IPv6 stack

Configuring Clients through DHCPv6

Configuring a DHCPv6 scope is very much the same as configuring an IPv4 DHCP scope. Page 87 of the book goes through a great description of configuring DHCPv6. Remember the 80/20 rule.

Planning an IPv6 Network

There are three steps to planning your IPv6 network. First step is to identify and analyze hardware requirements. Look at all the hardware you have and identify if it will all work with IPv6. If not, will you replace this hardware or continue to support the hardware.

The second step is to analyze software and application requirements. Does everything work with IPv6? If not, how will you support these applications?

Finally your last step is to document the requirements. How many sites are there, how should the prefix allocation be delegated, etc. These three steps will take a lot of time but once complete, you can draw up the project plan. Project planning isn’t covered in this lesson.

That’s all for Chapter 2, Lesson 1. There is a lot of information to digest there and for most of us, its relatively new and will take some time work through and understand it. Lesson 2 of the chapter covers Configuring DNS.

*Disclaimer:

Windows Server Administration 70-646 – Chapter 1 Lesson 2

posted on February 23, 2009

Continuing on in Chapter 1 brings us to Lesson 2.

In this lesson the book looks at:

Windows Server 2008 Answer Files
Windows Deployment Services
Multicast, Scheduled and Automatic Deployment
Windows Deployment Services Images
WDS and Product Activation
Rollback Preparation

Windows Server 2008 Answer Files

The first part of the lesson covers the answer file. If you want to create an answer file the recommendation is to download the Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) which is included in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). Once you are done save the autounattended.xml file to a removable media. Windows Server 2008 setup as part of its routine, will look for this file on a removable media. If you are running setup.exe from a network location the if mapping the location on the file as X:, the setup command is setup.exe /unattend:x:\autounattended.xml

Windows Deployment Services

The next part of the lesson covers WDS. WDS cannot be installed onto a computer running Server Core. WDS requires that it be installed to a computer which is a member of an Active Directory domain. A DNS server is required along with a DHCP server and a NTFS partition for storing images. If a DHCP server is running on the same machine as WDS, configure WDS not to listen on port 67. You also need to add option tag 60 on your DHCP server so PXE clients are able to detect the WDS server. In the GUI you can also change Multicast settings, add an unattended xml file and you can configure how the WDS server will respond to PXE request. The three responses are:

Do not respond to Any Client
Respond only to known Client Computers
Respond to All (Known and Unknown) Client Computers

Multicast, Scheduled and Automatic Deployment

This section covers setting up WDS to use multicast and the benefits of using it. The main benefit is it allows a reduction of network bandwidth for multiple installs. Scheduling allows an admin to limit impact on a companies network bandwidth during peak time and allows the install to be scheduled for off-peak time. Auto-cast means to install as soon as a client asks for an install image.

Windows Deployment Services Images

There are two types of images, boot images and install images. You will need separate images for x64, x32 and Itanium. Boot images are used to boot a computer prior to installing an operating system. Discover images are created for booting a computer without a PXE enabled network card from media (USB, Floppy, CD or DVD)

WDS and Product Activation

There are to types of keys, Multiple Activation Key (MAK) and Key Management System (KMS). MAK allows for a specific number of activations against a key. A MAK proxy allows for a single connection Microsoft’s activation servers. Independent Activation requires each computer connects to Microsoft.

KMS activation uses a server in your environment which computers must authenticate against every 180 days. You also need to have at least 25 computers before activation can occur.

Rollback Preparation

You can rollback an upgrade of Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 if something goes wrong during installation. Once there is a successful login to Windows Server 2008, you cannot rollback. If you need to rollback then one must follow the procedure for disaster recovery under Windows Server 2003.

The next chapter covers IPV6 and configuring the Domain Name System

*Disclaimer: