Active Directory Cookbook

1.1. Where to Find the Tools

For the GUI and CLI solutions to mean much to you, you need access to the tools that are used in the examples. For this reason, in the majority of cases and unless otherwise noted, I only used tools that are part of the default operating system or available in the Resource Kit or Support Tools. The Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit and Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit are invaluable sources of information, along with providing numerous tools that aid administrators in their daily tasks. More information on the Resource Kits can be found at the following web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/. The Windows 2000 Support Tools, which is called the Windows Support Tools in Windows Server 2003, contain many “must have” tools for people that work with Active Directory. The Microsoft installer (MSI) for the Windows Support Tools can be found on a Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 CD in the \support\toolsdirectory. The Appendix A contains a complete list of the tools used within this book, where they can be found, and what recipes they are used in.

Once you have the tools at your disposal, there are a couple other issues to be aware of while trying to apply the solutions in your environment, which I’ll now describe.

Running Tools with Alternate Credentials

A best practice for managing Active Directory is to create separate administrator accounts that you grant elevated privileges, instead of letting administrators use their normal user account ...