OS X Mountain 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 OS X Server to the Active Directory domain. Binding, in this case, means creating the link between the Mac server and Active Directory.

Figure 6-1: The Active Directory–Open Directory magic triangle.

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.

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 ...