Siddaway - Learn active directory management in a month of lunches

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ISBN: 9781617291197

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To my children, Robert and Alexander You make me so proud

Ive worked with many organizations over the last 10 years. In that time Ive realized that Active Directory administration is a critical function for the continued health of a Windows environment. Unfortunately, many AD administrators arent taught how to perform these tasks. An even worse scenario is when they are taught bad practices which have become ingrained in the organization. There are many administrators who find themselves responsible for administering an Active Directory without the skills and knowledge to do so.

This book looks at AD administration from a different viewpoint than most books on the subject. It concentrates on the day-to-day administration tasks you need to perform to get your job done. Theres some theory, but just enough to explain why things are done the way they are. You can always learn the rest of the theory once youve put the fires out.

Ive taken a pragmatic approach to the contents and kept a rigorous focus on the information you need to complete a task. Many of the administration tasks can be completed using GUI tools or through Windows PowerShell. Ive tried to show both where possiblethough some tasks only have a single possible way to complete them.

Ive brought some of the experience Ive had building Active Directories and troubleshooting AD in various organizations. Hopefully, this will help you avoid some of the pitfalls and problems Ive seen.

The book is designed to be a tutorial, so work through the book, but also keep it close by as a reference for when you need it. My hope is that it will help you over some of the learning hurdles and help you become a skilled AD administrator.

Most of all, enjoy.

Most of what youll need to know about this book is in , but there are a few things that need to be mentioned up front.

First, this book is intended for the IT Pro that needs to learn about managing Active Directory. Its not a reference book. It wont teach you how to design a new Active Directory. It will teach you to manage your Active Directory and supply the theory you need to accomplish the management tasks. Most people learn best by using multiple techniques. I strongly recommend that you complete the exercises in each chapter and the lab section at the end of each chapter. Youll be learning by reading and learning by doing.

Second, read the book from beginning to end. Ive put the most common AD management tasks (user and group management) in the early chapters. This will enable you to become immediately effective as an Active Directory administrator. The later chapters build on this knowledge. Taking the chapters in a random order will provide a diminished learning experience.

Third, Ill show you how to complete the management tasks using a variety of tools. AD Administrative Center and AD Users and Computers are GUI tools that have been available through several versions of Active Directory. The other tool Ill show is Windows PowerShell which is Microsofts scripting and automation language. Automation through Windows PowerShell is a topic that administrators are going to find increasingly important to their careers, and if you havent learned how to use it, I recommend that you do. I concentrate on AD management in this book, so for the most part I just use PowerShell at the command line. You shouldnt have any difficulty following the commands, but if you want to learn more about PowerShell, I very strongly recommend Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches by Don Jones and Jeff Hicks (Manning, 2012).

You will find the following available for download from the publishers website at www.manning.com/siddaway3 or www.manning.com/LearnActiveDirectoryManagementinaMonthofLunches:

• Code listings from the individual chapters
• Sample answers to the lab questions in each chapter

The books web page at http://morelunches.com contains additional resources and information.

Purchase of this book includes free access to a private web forum run by Manning Publications where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the author and other users. To access the forum and subscribe to it, visit www.manning.com/siddaway3. This page provides information on how to get on the forum once youre registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of conduct on the forum.

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The Author Online forum and the archives of previous discussions will be accessible from the publishers website as long as the book is in print.

Richard Siddaway is based in the U.K. and is currently working on automation projects for Kelway. With over 25 years of experience in various aspects of IT, Richard specializes in the Microsoft environment at an architectural levelespecially around Active Directory (AD), Exchange, SQL Server, and infrastructure optimization.

Much of his recent experience has involved Active Directory migrations and optimizations, which often include Exchange. Richard has hands-on administration experience and is involved in implementation activity, in addition to filling architectural and design roles. He has extensive experience specifying, designing, and implementing high-availability solutions for a number of versions of the Windows platform, especially for Exchange and SQL Server.