In this tutorial we will create a new Windows Server 2012 VM and add it to EXAMPLE.COM domain which we created in our previous article using Samba4 AD DC. We can use samba-tool to manage the Active Directory organization but with Windows it is always easier with GUI. Moreover it will feel friendly to anyone who is coming from a Windows background managing Windows Active Directory.
Install Windows Server 2012
Bringing up of Windows Server 2012 VM is not covered as part of this tutorial so I hope you already have your Windows VM or server.
Add Windows to Samba AD DC
Once your Windows Server is up and running, open the run prompt using Ctrl+r and enter ncpa.cpl
This will open Network Connections window
Choose your Ethernet Card, right click and select Properties
Select "Internet Protocol Version" based on the version you are using. Since I am using IPv4 network, I will choose V4, click on Properties
Provide the IP of your DNS server in the Preferred DNS server. Since we do not have Alternate DNS Server at the moment so we will leave it to only one DNS value.
Next open the Properties of This PC and click on Change settings
Select the Computer Name TAB and click on Change
Now here we need to provide the Realm Name of our Active Directory which in this case is EXAMPLE.COM
As soon as you click on OK you will get a login prompt to authenticate to your Samba Active Directory Domain Controller
If the authentication was successful then you should get a confirmation prompt
Next the server must be rebooted to complete the process of adding Windows Server to Samba Active Directory DC.
Install Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)
We have samba-tool command which can be used to manage Samba Active Directory DC from the Linux command line but it is more friendly to use the native Windows administrative tools instead. To do so we need to install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT).
- To install RSAT feature, start Server Manager
- From the Manage menu, select Add Roles and Features.
- Click Next to the Before you begin screen.
- For Select installation type, select Role-based or Feature-based installation, and click Next.
- Select the server and click Next.
- Click Next to Server Roles as this does not require any additional role to be added.
- On the Features screen, scroll down to Remote Server Administration Tools,then expand the Feature and Role Administration Tools, select the tools you want installed, then click Next.
- Click Next to the Confirmation.
Click Install to complete the installation, then click Close once complete.
Check Domain Controllers
Now we will use our Windows Server to manage Samba Active Directory Domain Controller.
Open the run prompt on your windows workstation, and enter "dsa.msc" which is the shortcut for "Active Directory Users and Computers"
Check the available Domain Controllers. It shows the hostname of our samba-ad.example.com active directory
Create AD Users and Groups
Next to create users and groups in the Active Directory, click on the user icon
This will open a new pop up window where you can fill in the user details
Now you can follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. Similarly you can create groups, add computers to the domain and much more.
Conclusion
In this tutorial we added Windows Server 2012 to our Samba Active Directory Domain Controller. Similarly you can also add any WIndows Workstation to the Samba AD and then install RSAT to manage your Domain Controller.
Lastly I hope the steps from the article to add Windows Workstation using Samba Domain was helpful. So, let me know your suggestions and feedback using the comment section.
