Mac OS X Lion Server For Dummies®

Binding Your Server to Active Directory

The first step in integrating a Mac server into an Active Directory environment is to bind the Mac OS X Server to the Active Directory domain. Binding, in this case, means creating the link between the Mac server and Active Directory.

Prior to binding the Mac server to the Active Directory domain, you need to have ready the following information (some of which must come from your Active Directory domain administrator):

• Mac Server credentials: You need to have your local server administrator login and password at the ready. But you have that memorized anyway, right?
• Domain administrator login credentials or rights: An administrator login and password for the Active Directory domain to which the server will be bound (or having your credentials added to this administrative group in Active Directory).
• Fully qualified domain name for the Active Directory (AD) domain: If you don't know the fully qualified AD domain name, ask your AD administrator. Generally, the domain name is domain.top-level-domain — for example, mycompany.com in a simple structure or NorthAmerica.BigCompany.Com in a larger network with multiple domains.
• The hostname or IP address of the time server used by the Active Directory domain: The time setting for the Active Directory server must be within five minutes of the time setting for the Mac OS X Server for the binding to be successful. The easiest way to ensure that the time settings are correct is to use the same time server ...