AD Management Basics

RDP to a windows machine

xfreerdp /v:10.129.202.146 /u:htb-student_adm /p:Academy_student_DA!

Manage Users

Our first task of the day includes adding a few new-hire users into AD. We are just going to create them under the "inlanefreight.local" scope, drilling down into the "Corp > Employees > HQ-NYC > IT " folder structure for now. Once we create our other groups, we will move them into the new folders. You can utilize the Active Directory PowerShell module (New-ADUser), the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, or MMC to perform these actions.

Each user should have the following attributes set, along with their name:

Attribute
full name
email ([email protected]) ( ex. [email protected] )
display name
User must change password at next logon

Add a user

PS C:\htb> New-ADUser -Name "Orion Starchaser" -Accountpassword (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText (Read-Host "Enter a secure password") -Force ) -Enabled $true -OtherAttributes @{'title'="Analyst";'mail'="[email protected]"} /smart-sizing:1400x1080 /f

GUI

To add an AD user via the GUI we first need to open Active Directory Users and Computers via the Start Menu folder Administrative Tools.

1. Right click on "IT", Select "New" > "User".

Add A User

We will add the new user Andromeda Cepheus to our domain. We can do so by:

• Right-click on "IT" > Select "New" > "User". A popup window will appear with a field for you to fill in.

• Add the user's First and Last name, set the "User Logon Name:" as acepheus, and then hit Next.

• Now supply the new user with a password of NewP@ssw0rd123!, confirm the password again, and check the box for " User must change password at next login", then hit next. Select "Finish" in the last window if all attributes look correct.

Remove a user

Powershell

PS C:\htb> Remove-ADUser -Identity pvalencia

GUI

To delete a user via the GUI, we will use the ADUC snap-in just like when we added a user to the domain above.

PowerShell To Unlock a User

PS C:\htb> Unlock-ADAccount -Identity amasters 

Reset User Password (Set-ADAccountPassword)

PS C:\htb> Set-ADAccountPassword -Identity 'amasters' -Reset -NewPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText "NewP@ssw0rdReset!" -Force)

Force Password Change (Set-ADUser)

PS C:\htb> Set-ADUser -Identity amasters -ChangePasswordAtLogon $true

Add and Remove Computers To The Domain

To add the localhost to a domain via PowerShell, Open a PowerShell session as administrator, and then we can use the following command:

PowerShell Join a Domain

PS C:\htb> Add-Computer -DomainName INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL -Credential INLANEFREIGHT\HTB-student_adm -Restart

This string utilizes the domain (INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL) we wish to join the host to, and we must specify the user whose credentials we will use to authorize the join. (HTB-student_ADM). Specifying the restart at the string is necessary because the join will not occur until the host restarts again, allowing it to acquire settings and policies from the domain.

Add via the GUI

To add the computer to the domain from the localhost GUI is a bit different. Follow these steps to join it to the domain:

• From the computer you wish to join the domain, open the Control Panel and navigate to "System and Security > System."

• Now select the "Change Settings" icon in the Computer name section. Another dialog box will pop up asking you for administrator credentials. In the next window, we need to select the change icon next to the portion that says, "To rename this computer or change its domain or workgroup, click change" This will open yet another window for you to modify the computer's name, domain, and workgroup. Check that the computer's name matches the naming standard you wish to use for the domain before joining. Doing so will ease the administrative burden of renaming a domain-joined host later.

• next, we need to enter the name of the domain we wish to join the computer to (INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL) and click OK. You may receive a warning about NetBIOS name resolution. That is an issue outside the scope of this lab. For now, move forward.

  • You will be prompted for domain credentials to complete this action. Utilize the domain administrator account you have been given at the beginning of this lab. (htb-student_adm).

  • If all goes well, you will be presented with a prompt welcoming you to the domain. The computer needs to restart to apply changes and new group policy settings it will receive from the domain.

We are going to use the Windows GUI to add this PC to the domain.

1. From the control panel, open up system properties for the pc. Click on Change Settings in the Computer name section.

1. In this window, select the Change button beside "rename this computer or change its domain."

1. Enter the domain you wish to join the host to. (INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL) Hit OK.

2. Enter the domain administrator credentials provided to join the host to the domain.

Add a Remote Computer to a Domain

PS C:\htb> Add-Computer -ComputerName ACADEMY-IAD-W10 -LocalCredential ACADEMY-IAD-W10\image -DomainName INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL -Credential INLANEFREIGHT\htb-student_adm -Restart

When we added the computer to the domain, we did not stage an AD object for it in the OU we wanted the computer in beforehand, so we have to move it to the correct OU now. To do so via PowerShell:

Check OU Membership of a Host

PS C:\htb> Get-ADComputer -Identity "ACADEMY-IAD-W10" -Properties * | select CN,CanonicalName,IPv4Address

The CanonicalName property (seen above) will tell us the full path of the host by printing out the name in the