Tag Archives: Active Directory

Active Directory Snapshot with NTDSUTIL

When making changes to Active Directory, like Schema updates, it is recommended to make a backup of AD. It is also recommended to perform these changes on an offline Domain Controller, perform your tests, and the only then replicate the changes to the remaining DCs. The topic of this article is about backing up AD. […]

Set Windows 2008 R2 Server to Sync Time with Time.Windows.com

Time synchronization is an important aspect for all computers on the network. By default, the clients computers get their time from a Domain Controller and the Domain Controller gets his time from the domain’s PDC Operation Master. Therefore the PDC must synchronize his time from an external source. I usually use the servers listed at […]

Windows Active Directory Schema Versions

There are a couple ways to determine your Windows AD Schema Version: ADSIedit.msc and/or LDP.exe. In this article I use ADSIedit.msc. Note: The sample domain used in this article is Servusinc.com. Substitute this domain with your own AD domain. Open “ADSIEdit.msc ” Navigate to: “CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=ServusInc,DC=com” Right-click on “CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=ServusInc,DC=com” and select properties. Scroll down to “objectVersion” […]

Exchange Schema Versions

This is an article I first published a couple of years ago to check what schema version a customer was running when performing an Exchange upgrade.  There have since been official articles published by Microsoft, but I prefer to keep my own blog post for easy access. This article outlines how to find the Exchange […]

AD: Managing Local Administrator Group Memberships

Being able to easily delegate access to domain systems is essential for administrators to enable necessary IT staff to manage their environments. The proper OU structure along with the deployment of Active Directory GPOs makes this a fairly simple task. GPOs can be used to add users or groups to local admins or to replace […]

E2K7: How to Change the Recipient Scope

When managing Exchange 2007, the recipient scope for Exchange Management Shell (EMS) and Exchange Management Console (EMC) defaults to the domain where the Exchange servers are located. Recipient scope refers to the specified portion of the Active Directory directory service hierarchy that the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell uses for recipient management. When […]

Sync your Domain with an Internet time server

Recently, the time on all of my domain computers was out of sync. Each computer in my domain had the same time, but it was about 10 minutes slow. Domain computers get their time from your domain controller(s), so I looked into syncing the time of my DC with an internet time server. The steps […]