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Here is a list of most frequently asked 100 interview questions and its answers related to
Microsoft Active Directory technologies. I have attended few interviews and been asked
few of these questions. These Q&A is related to both Windows Server 2003 and 2008. I
have not included questions regarding old versions of AD as those are almost obsolete. I
will be posting other Q&A specifically related to DNS and Group Policy etc. soon in
another post. Please look at the bottom of the post for hints to the answers.
1. Explain three main features of Active Directory?
2. What do you mean by Active Directory functional levels? How does it help an
organizations network functionality?
3. What are the Domain and Forest functional levels of Windows Server 2003 AD?
4. What are the Domain and Forest functional levels of Windows Server 2008 AD?
5. How to add additional Domain Controller in a remote site with slower WAN link?
6. How do we install Active Directory in Windows 7 Computer?
7. What are the prerequisites to install Active Directory in a Server?
8. What is FSMO role? (Or what are Single Master Operations / Flexible Single
Master Operations / Operations Master Role / SMO / OMR?)
9. Explain Infrastructure Master Role. What will be the impact if DC with
Infrastructure Master Role goes down?
10. What are the two forest specific FSMO roles?
11. Which FSMO role directly impacting the consistency of Group Policy?
12. I want to promote a new additional Domain Controller in an existing domain.
Which are the groups I should be a member of?
13. Tell me one easiest way to check all the 5 FSMO roles.
14. Can I configure two RID masters in a domain?
15. Can I configure two Infrastructure Master Role in a forest? If yes, please explain.
16. What will be the impact on the network if Domain Controller with PDC Emulator
crashes?
17. What are the physical components of Active Directory?
18. What are the logical components of Active Directory?
19. What are the Active Directory Partitions? (Or what are Active Directory Naming
Contexts? Or what is AD NC?)
20. What is group nesting?
21. Explain Group Types and Group Scopes?
22. What is the feature of Domain Local Group?
23. How will you take Active Directory backup?
24. What are the Active Directory Restore types?
25. How is Authoritative Restore different from non-Authoritative Restore?
26. Explain me, how to restore Active Directory using command line?
27. Tell me few switches of NTDSUTIL command.
28. What is a tombstone? What is the tombstone lifetime period?
29. What do you understand by Garbage Collection? Explain.

30. What is Lost and Found Container?

31. Where can I locate Lost and Found Container?
32. Is Lost and Found Container included in Windows Server 2008 AD?
33. Have you ever installed Active Directory in a production environment?
34. Do we use clustering in Active Directory? Why?
35. What is Active Directory Recycle Bin?
36. What is RODC? Why do we configure RODC?
37. How do you check currently forest and domain functional levels? Say both GUI
and Command line.
38. Explain Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC)
39. What are the tools used to check and troubleshoot replication of Active Directory?
40. What is SYSVOL folder used for?
41. What is the use of Kerberos in Active Directory? Which port is used for Kerberos
communication?
42. Which version of Kerberos is used for Windows 2000/2003 and 2008 Active
Directory?
43. Please name few port numbers related to Active Directory.
44. What is an FQDN?
45. Tell me few DS commands and its usage.
46. Explain Active Directory tree and forest.
47. What are Intersite and Intrasite replication?
48. What is shortcut trust?
49. What is selective Authentication?
50. Give me brief explanation of different types of Active Directory trusts.
51. Have you heard of ADAC?
52. What is the use of ADSIEDIT? How do we install it in Windows Server 2003
AD?
53. I am unable to create a Universal Security group in my Active Directory? What
will be the possible reason?
54. What is ADMT? What is it used for?
55. What do you mean by Lingering Objects in AD? How to remove Lingering
Objects?
56. Explain Global Catalog. What kind of AD infrastructure makes most use of
Global Catalog?
57. Global Catalog and Infrastructure master roles cannot be configure in same
Domain Controller. Why?
58. How do you check all the GCs in the forest?
59. How many objects can be created in Active Directory? (both 2003 and 2008)
60. Can you explain the process between a user providing his Domain credential to
his workstation and the desktop being loaded? Or how the AD authentication
works?
61. What is LDAP?
62. Which is default location of Active Directory? What are the main files related to
AD?
63. In a large forest environment, why we dont configure all Domain Controllers as
GCs?

64. What is NETDOM command line tool used for?

65. What is role seizure? Who do we perform role seizure?
66. What is ISTG? What is role of ISTG in Active Directory?
67. Is it possible to find idle users who did not log in for last few months?
68. Tell me the order of GPO as it applied.
69. What are the uses of CSVDE and LDIFDE?
70. What are the differences between a user object and contact object?
71. What do you mean by Bridge Head server?
72. What is urgent replication?
73. Please explain Realm trust.
74. Explain object class and object attribute.
75. My organization wants to add new object attribute to the user object. How do you
achieve it?
76. What do you understand about GUID?
77. What is the command used for Domain Controller decommissioning?
78. Have you ever planned and implemented Active Directory infrastructure
anywhere? Tell me few considerations we have to take during the AD planning.
79. Name few differences from Windows Server 2003 AD and Windows Server 2008
AD.
80. Which domain and forest functional level I will select if I am installing Windows
Server 2008 AD in an Existing environment where we have Windows Server 2003
Domain Controllers?
81. What are the replication intervals for Intersite and intrasite replication? Is there
any change in 2003 and 2008?
82. I want to transfer RID master role to a new Domain Controller. What are the steps
I need to follow?
83. Tell me few uses of NTDSUTIL commands?
84. Name few services that directly impact the functionality of Domain Controller.
85. You said there are 5 FSMO roles. Please explain what will be the impact on the
AD infra if each FSMO roles fails?
86. What is Active Directory defragmentation? How do you do AD defragmentation?
And why do we do it?
87. Tell me Different between online and offline defragmentation.
88. How do you uninstall active directory? What are the precautions we have to take
before removing active directory?
89. A user is unable to log into his desktop which is connected to a domain. What are
the troubleshooting steps you will consider?
90. A Domain Controller called ABC is failing replication with XYZ. How do you
troubleshoot the issue?
91. A user account is frequently being locked out. How do you investigate this issue?
What will be the possible solution suggest the user?
92. Imagine you are trying to add a Windows 7 computer to Active Directory domain.
But its showing an error Unable to find Domain Controller. How will you
handle this issue?
93. What are the services required for Active Directory replication?
94. What is Active Directory application partition? What are the uses of it?

95. Many users of a network are facing latency while trying to log into their
workstations. How do you investigate this problem?
96. Now, some questions related to Windows Server 2008 Active Directory. What do
you mean by IDA? What are the new components of Windows 2K8 Active
Directory?
97. I want to edit the Active Directory Schema. How can I bring Schema editor into
my MMC?
98. Name few Active Directory Built in groups
99. What are the differences between Enterprise Administrators and Domain
Administrators groups?
100.
I have to create 1000 user objects in my Active Directory domain. Who
can I achieve that with least administrative effort? Tell me few tools that I can use.

Answers
1. Active Directory enables single sign on to access resources on the network such
as desktops, shared files, printers etc. Active Directory provides advanced security
for the entire network and network resources. Active Directory is more scalable
and flexible for administration.
2. Functional levels help the coexistence of Active Directory versions such as,
Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server
2008. The functional level of a domain or forest controls which advanced features
are available in the domain or forest. Although lowest functional levels help to
coexist with legacy Active Directory, it will disable some of the new features of
Active Directory. But if you are setting up a new Active Directory environment
with latest version of Windows Server and AD, you can set to the highest
functional level, thus all the new AD functionality will be enabled.
3. Windows Server 2003 Domain Functional Levels: Windows 2000 mixed
(Default), Windows 2000 native, Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows
Server 2003.
4. Forest Functional Levels: Windows 2000 (default), Windows Server 2003 interim,
Windows Server.
5. Windows Server 2008 Domain Functional Levels: Windows 2000 Native,
Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2.
6. Forest Functional Levels: Windows 2000, Windows Server 2008, Windows
Server 2008 R2.
7. It is possible to take a backup copy of existing Domain Controller, and restore it
in Windows Server machine in the remote locations with slower WAN link.
8. Active Directory is designed for Server Operating System, and it cannot be
installed on Windows 7.
9. Windows Server Operating System. Free hard disk space with NTFS partition.
Administrator's privilege on the computer. Network connection with IP address,
Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS address. A DNS server, that can be installed
along with first Domain Controller. Windows Server intallation CD or i386 folder.
10. Flexible Single-Master Operation (FSMO) roles,manage an aspect of the domain
or forest, to prevent conflicts, which are handled by Single domain controllers in
domain or forest. The tasks which are not suited to multi-master replication, There
are 5 FSMO roles, and Schema Master and Domain naming master roles are
handled by a single domain controller in a forest, and PDC, RID master and
Infrastructure master roles are handled by a single domain controller in each
domain.
11. Infrastrcture master role is a domain-specific role and its purpose is to ensure that
cross-domain object references are correctly handled. For example, if you add a
user from one domain to a security group from a different domain, the
Infrastructure Master makes sure this is done properly.Intrastrcuture master does
not have any functions to do in a single domain environment.If the Domain
controller with Infrastructure master role goes down in a single domain
environemt, there will be no impact at all. Where as, in a complex environment
with multiple domains, it may imact creation and modification of groups and
group authentication.

12. Schema Master role and Domain Naming Master role.

13. PDC Emulator
14. You should be a member of Enterprise Admins group or the Domain Admins
group. Also you should be member of local Administrators group of the member
server which you are going to promote as additional Domain Controller.
15. Use netdom query /domain:YourDomain FSMO command. It will list all the
FSMO role handling domain controllers.
16. No, there should be only one Domain Controller handling RID master role in a
Domain.
17. There should be only one Domain Controller handling Infrastructure master role
in a domain. Hence if you have two domains in a forest, you can configure two
Infrastructure masters, one in each domain.
18. If PDC emulator crashes, there will be immediate impact on the environment.
User authentication will fail as password changes wont get effected, and there will
be frequent account lock out issues. Network time synchronization will be
impacted. It will also impact DFS consistency and Group policy replication as
well.
19. Domain controllers and Sites. Domain controllers are physical computers which is
running Windows Server operating system and Active Directory data base. Sites
are a network segment based on geographical location and which contains
multiple domain controllers in each site.
20. Domains, Organizational Units, trees and forests are logical components of Active
Directory.
21. Active Directory database is divided into different partitions such as Schema
partition, Domain partition, and Configuration partition. Apart from these
partitions, we can create Application partition based on the requirement.
22. Adding one group as a member of another group is called 'group nesting'. This
will help for easy administration and reduced replication traffic.
23. Group types are categorized based on its nature. There are two group types:
Security Groups and Distribution Groups. Security groups are used to apply
permissions to resources where as distribution groups are used to create Exchange
server email communication groups. Group scopes are categorized based on the
usage. There are three group types: Domain Local Group, Global Group and
Universal Group.
24. Domain local groups are mainly used for granting access to network resources.A
Domain local group can contain accounts from any domain, global groups from
any domain and universal groups from any domain. For example, if you want to
grant permission to a printer located at Domain A, to 10 users from Domain B,
then create a Global group in Domain B and add all 10 users into that Global
group. Then, create a Domain local group at Domain A, and add Global group of
Domain B to Domain local group of Domain A, then, add Domain local group of
Domain A to the printer(of Domain A) security ACL.
25. Active Directory is backed up along with System State data. System state data
includes Local registry, COM+, Boot files, NTDS.DIT and SYSVOL folder.
System state can be backed up either using Microsoft's default NTBACKUP tool

or third party tools such as Symantech NetBackup, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
etc.
26. There are two types of Active Directory restores, Authoritative restore and NonAuthoritative restore.
27. Non-Authoritative means, a normal restore of a single Domain controller in case
that particular domain controller OS or hardware crashed. After non-authoritative
restoration completed, compares its data base with peer domain controllers in the
network and accepts all the directory changes that have been made since the
backup. This is done through multi master replication.
28. Where as, in Authoritative restore, a restored data base of a Domain controller
forcefully replicated to all the other domain controllers. Authoritative restore is
performed to recover an active directory resource or object(eg. an Organizational
Unit) which accidentally deleted and it needs to be restored.
29. We can use NTDSUTIL command line to perform Authoritative restore of Active
Directory. First, start a domain controller in 'Directory Service Restore Mode'.
Then, restore the System State data of Domain controller using NTBACKUP tool.
This is non-authoritative restore. Once non-authoritative restore is completed, we
have to perform authoritative restore immediately before restarting the Domain
Controller.
30. Open command prompt and type NTDSUTIL and enter, then type authoritative
restore and press enter, then type restore database and press enter, click OK and
then click Yes. This will restore all the data in authoritative restore mode. If you
want to restore only a specific object or sub-tree, you can type below command
instead of 'restore database'.
31. restore subtree ou=OU_Name,dc=Domain_Name,dc=xxx
32. Authoritative restore, Configurable settings, Partition management, Set DSRM
Password etc.
33. A tombstone is a container object for deleted items from Active Directory
database, even if objects are deleted, it will be kept hidden in the active directory
data base for a specific period. This period is known as tombstone lifetime.
Tombstone lifetime is 180 days on Windows Server 2003 SP1 and later versions
of Windows Server.
34. Garbage collection is a process of Active Directory. This process starts by
removing the remains of previously deleted objects from the database. These
objects are known as tombstones. Then, the garbage collection process deletes
unnecessary log files. And the process starts a defragmentation thread to claim
additional free space. The garbage collection process is running on all the domain
controllers in an interval of 12 hours.
35. In multimaster replication method, replication conflicts can happen. Objects with
replication conflicts will be stored in a container called 'Lost and Found'
container. This container also used to store orphaned user accounts and other
objects.
36. Lost and Found container can be viewed by enabling advanced features from
View menu of Active Directory User and Computers MMC.
37. Yes, it is included.

38. [Never say no] We had set up an additional domain for a new subsidiary of the
firm, and I was a member of the team who handled installation and configuration
of domain controllers for the sub domain.[or] I was supporting an existing Active
Directory network environment of the company, but I have installed and
configured Active Directory in test environment several occasions.
39. No one installs Active Directory in a cluster. There is no need of clustering a
domain controller. Because Active Directory provides total redundancy with two
or more servers.
40. Active Directory Recycle bin is a feature of Windows Server 2008 AD. It helps to
restore accidentally deleted Active Directory objects without using a backed up
AD database, rebooting domain controller or restarting any services.
41. Read only domain controller (RODC) is a feature of Windows Server 2008
Operating System. RODC is a read only copy of Active Directory database and it
can be deployed in a remote branch office where physical security cannot be
guaranteed. RODC provides more improved security and faster log on time for
the branch office.
42. To find out forest and domain functional levels in GUI mode, open ADUC, right
click on the domain name and take properties. Both domain and forest functional
levels will be listed there. TO find out forest and domain functional levels, you
can use DSQUERY command.
43. KCC can be expanded as Knowledge Consistency Checker. It is a protocol
procecss running on all domain controllers, and it generates and maintains the
replication topology for replication within sites and between sites.
44. We can use command line tools such as repadmin and dcdiag. GUI tool
REPLMON can also be used for replication monitoring and troubleshooting.
45. SYSVOL is a folder exits on each domain controller, which contains Actvie
Directory related files and folders. SYSVOL mainly stores important elements of
Group Policy Objects and scripts, and it is being replicated among domain
controllers using File Replication Service (FRS).
46. Kerberos is a network authentication protocol. Active Directory uses Kerberos for
user and resource authentication and trust relationship functionality. Kerberos
uses port number 88.
47. All versions of Windows Server Active Directory use Kerberos 5.
48. Kerberos 88, LDAP 389, DNS 53, SMB 445.
49. FQDN can be expanded as Fully Qualified Domain Name.It is a hierarchy of a
domain name system which points to a device in the domain at its left most end.
For example in system.
50. Dsadd - to add an object to the directory, Dsget - displays requested properties of
an object in AD, Dsmove - Used to move one object from one location to another
in the directory, DSquery - To query specific objects.
51. A tree in Active Directory is a collection of one or more domains which are
interconnected and sharing global resources each other. If a tree has more than
one domain, it will have contiguous namespace. When we add a new domain in
an existing tree, it will be called a child domain.
52. A forest is a collection of one or more trees which trust each other and sharing a
common schema.It also shares common configuration and global catalog. When a

forest contains more than one tree, the trees will not form a contiguous
namespace.
53. Replication between domain controllers inside a single site is called Intrasite
replication, where as replication between domain controllers located in different
sites is called Intersite replication. Intrasite replication will be very frequent,
where as Intersite replication will be with specific interval and in a controlled
fashion just to preserve network bandwidth.
54. Shortcut trust is a manually created transitive trust which is configured to enable
fast and optimized authentication process.For example, If we create short cut trust
between two domains of different trees, they can quickly authenticate each other
without traveling through the entire parent domains. short cut trust can be either
one-way or two-way.
55. Selective authentication is generally used in forest trust and external trusts.
Selective authentication is a security setting which allows administrators to grant
access to shared resources in their organizations forest to a limited set of users in
another organizations forest. Selective authentication method can decide which
groups of users in a trusted forest can access shared resources in the trusting
forest.
56. Trusts can be categorized by its nature. There can be two-way trust or one-way
trust,implicit or explicit trust, transitive or non transitive trust. Trust can be
categorized by types, such as parent and child, tree root trust, external trust, realm
trust forest trust and shortcut trust.
57. ADAC- Active Directory Administrative Center is a new GUI tool came with
Windows Server 2008 R2, which provides enhanced data management experience
to the admin. ADAC helps administrators to perform common Active Directory
object management task across multiple domains with the same ADAC instance.
58. ADSIEDIT- Active Directory Service Interfaces Editor is a GUI tool which is
used to perform advanced AD object and attribute management. This Active
Directory tool helps us to view objects and attributes that are not visible through
normal Active Directory Management Consoles. ADSIEDIT can be downloaded
and installed along with Windows Server 2003 Support Tools.
59. This is due to domain functional level. If domain functional level of Windows
Server 2003 AD is Windows 2000 Mixed, Universal Group option will be greyed
out. You need to raise domain functional level to Windows 2000 native or above.
60. ADMT - Active Directory Migration Tool, is a tool which is used for migrating
Active Directory objects from one domain to another. ADMT is an effective tool
that simplifies the process of migrating users, computers, and groups to new
domains.
61. When a domain controller is disconnected for a period that is longer than the
tombstone life time, one or more objects that are deleted from Active Directory on
all other domain controllers may remain on the disconnected domain controller.
Such objects are called lingering objects. Lingering objects can be removed from
Windows Server 2003 or 2008 using REPADMIN utility.
62. The Global catalog is a container which contains a searchable partial replica of all
objects from all domains of the forest, and full replica of all objects from the
domain where it is situated. The global catalog is stored on domain controllers

that have been designated as global catalog servers and is distributed through
multimaster replication. Global catalogs are mostly used in multidomain, multisite
and complex forest environment, where as Global catalog does not function in a
single domain forest.
63. In a forest that contains only a single Active Directory domain, there is no harm in
placing both GC and Infrastructure master in same DC, because Infrastructure
master does not have any work to do in a single domain environment. But in a
forest with multiple and complex domain structure, the infrastructure master
should be located on a DC which is not a Global Catalog server. Because the
global catalog server holds a partial replica of every object in the forest, the
infrastructure master, if placed on a global catalog server, will never update
anything, because it does not contain any references to objects that it does not
hold.
64. Command line method: nslookup gc._msdcs.<forest root DNS Domain Name>,
nltest /dsgetdc:corp /GC. GUI method: Open DNS management, and under
Forward Lookup Zone, click on GC container. To check if a server is GC or not,
go to Active Directory Sites and Services MMC and under Servers folder, take
properties of NTDS settings of the desired DC and find Global Catalog option is
checked.
65. As per Microsoft, a single AD domain controller can create around 2.15 billion
objects during its lifetime.
66. When a user enters a user name and password, the computer sends the user name
to the KDC. The KDC contains a master database of unique long term keys for
every principal in its realm. The KDC looks up the user's master key (KA), which
is based on the user's password. The KDC then creates two items: a session key
(SA) to share with the user and a Ticket-Granting Ticket (TGT). The TGT
includes a second copy of the SA, the user name, and an expiration time. The
KDC encrypts this ticket by using its own master key (KKDC), which only the
KDC knows. The client computer receives the information from the KDC and
runs the user's password through a one-way hashing function, which converts the
password into the user's KA. The client computer now has a session key and a
TGT so that it can securely communicate with the KDC. The client is now
authenticated to the domain and is ready to access other resources in the domain
by using the Kerberos protocol.
67. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an Internet standard protocol
which is used as a standard protocol for Active Directory functions. It runs
directly over TCP, and can be used to access a standalone LDAP directory service
or to access a directory service that is back-ended by X.500.
68. Active Directory related files are by default located at %SystemRoot%\ntds
folder. NTDS.DIT is the main Active Directory database file. Apart from this
other files such as EDB.LOG, EDB.CHK, RES1.LOG, TEMP.EDB etc. are also
located at the same folder.
69. Global Catalog servers produce huge traffic related to the replication
process.There for making all the domain controllers in the forest as Global
Catalog servers will cause network bandwidth poroblem. GCs should be placed
based on Network bandwidth and user or application requirement.

Answers Part 3 : 64 to 80
64. Netdomm is used to manage Active Directory domains and trust relationships from
the command prompt. Some of the Netdom functions include; Join a computer to domain,
Establish one-way or two-way trust relationships between domains, Manage trust
relationships between domains, Manages the primary and alternate names for a computer
etc.
65. Role seizure is the action of assigning an operations master role to a new domain
controller without the support of the existing role holder (generally because it is offline
due to a hardware failure). During role seizure, a new domain controller assumes the
operations master role without communicating with the existing role holder. Role seizure
can be done using repadmin.exe and Ntdsutil.exe commands.
66. Inter-Site Topology Generator. One domain controller per site holds the Inter-Site
Topology Generator (ISTG) role, which is responsible for managing the inbound
replication connection objects for all bridgehead servers in the site in which it is located.
67. Yes, this is possible using PowerShell command, with the help of
LastLogonTimeStamp. Commands and pipes such as Get-ADUser, Where-Object,
LastLogonDate etc. can be used to get inactive users.
68. GPO applies in this order Local Policy, Site, Domain, and Organizational Units.
69. CSVDE and LDIFDE are used to Import or Export Active Directory data to a file.
CSV (comma-separated value) format files can be read with MS Excel and are simply
altered with a batch script. LDIF files (Ldap Data Interchange Format) are a crossplatform standard.
70. A user object is an object that is a security principal in the directory. A user can log
on to the network with these authorizations and access permissions can be granted to
users. A contact object is an account that does not have any security permissions. You
cannot log on to the network as a contact. Contacts are normally used to indicate outside
users for the purpose of e-mail.
71. A bridgehead server is a domain controller in each site, which is used as a interaction
point to obtain and replicate data between sites. For intersite replication, KCC entitles
one of the domain controllers as a bridgehead server. In case the server is down, KCC
entitles another one from the domain controller. When a bridgehead server obtains
replication updates from another site, it replicates the data to the other domain controllers
within its site.
72. Active Directory replication occurs between domain controllers when directory data
is updated on one domain controller and that update is replicated to all other domain
controllers. When a change in directory data occurs, the source domain controller sends

out a notice that its directory store now contains updated data. The domain controllers
replication partners then send a request to the source domain controller to receive those
updates. Usually, the source domain controller sends out a change notification after a
delay. However, any delay in replication can result in a security risk for definite types of
changes. Urgent replication ensures that critical directory changes are immediately
replicated, including account lockouts, changes in the account lockout policy, changes in
the domain password policy, and changes to the password on a domain controller
account.
73. Realm trust is a transitive or non-transitive one way or two way trust used to form a
trust relationship between a non-Windows Kerberos realm and a Windows Server 2003
domain. This trust relationship allows cross-platform interoperability with security
services based on other Kerberos V5 versions such as UNIX and MIT implementations.
74. An Active Directory structure is an arrangement of information about objects. The
objects fall into two broad categories: resources (e.g., printers) and security principals
(user or computer accounts and groups). Security principals are assigned unique security
identifiers (SIDs).Each object represents a single entitywhether a user, a computer, a
printer, or a groupand its attributes. Certain objects can contain other objects. An object
is uniquely identified by its name and has a set of attributesthe characteristics and
information that the object represents defined by a schema, which also determines the
kinds of objects that can be stored in Active Directory.
75. Adding custom attribute involves modification in Active Directory schema which
requires the modifying user to be a member of Schema Administrators and Enterprise
Administrators groups. By default, the Administrator account is a member of the Schema
Administrator group.You can use adsiedit.msc or schmmgmt.msc to modify the
properties of an AD object.
76. When a new domain user or group account is created, Active Directory stores the
account's SID in the Object-SID (objectSID) property of a User or Group object. It also
allocates the new object a globally unique identifier (GUID), which is a 128-bit value that
is unique not only in the enterprise but also across the world. GUIDs are assigned to
every object created by Active Directory. Each object's GUID is stored in its ObjectGUID (objectGUID) property.
77. Dcpromo
78. Yes. Keeping your Active Directory as simple as possible will help improve overall
efficiency, and it will make the troubleshooting process easier whenever problems arise.
Use the appropriate site topology. Use dedicated domain controllers. Have at least two
DNS servers. Place at least one global catalog server in each site.
79. There are many changes in Active Directory from 2003 version to 2008 version, like
Active Directory is a service now that can be restarted. RODC is a new type of DC
introduce in windows 2008. Group policy preference mode is introduced. New number

of AD templates has been introduced in 2008. DFS is being used for replication instead of
FRS in 2003.Windows Server 2008 AD includes new features such as Active Directory
Recycle Bin, Active Directory Administrative Center, Active Directory Web Services,
Offline domain join etc.
80. In order to configure Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controller within Windows
2003 network we need to check if Domain Functional Level is set up at least in Windows
2000 native mode. But preferable Domain Functional Level is Windows Server 2003.
When its set up in Windows Server 2003 mode, and you have only one domain in a
forest or each domains have only Windows 2003 Domain Controllers, you are also able
to raise Forest Functional Level to Windows Server 2003 to use Read-Only Domain
Controller (RODC) within your network.
Answers Part 4 : 81 to 100
81. Replication within a site occurs automatically on the basis of change notification.
Intrasite replication begins when you make a directory update on a domain controller. By
default, the source domain controller waits 15 seconds and then sends an update
notification to its closest replication partner. If the source domain controller has more
than one replication partner, subsequent notifications go out by default at 3 second
intervals to each partner.By default, intersite replication across each site link occurs every
180 minutes (3 hours). You can adjust this frequency to match your specific needs.
82. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. In the console tree, right-click Active
Directory Users and Computers, and then click Connect to Domain Controller. In Enter
the name of another domain controller, type the name of the domain controller you want
to hold the RID master role. In the console tree, right-click Active Directory Users and
Computers, point to All Tasks, and then click Operations Masters. Click the RID tab, and
then click Change.
83. We can use ntdsutil commands to perform database maintenance of AD DS, manage
and control single master operations, Active Directory Backup restoration and remove
metadata left behind by domain controllers that were removed from the network without
being properly uninstalled.
84. Active Directory Domain Services, Active Directory Web Services, Netlogon Service,
Windows Time Service.
85. Immediate impact if PDC Emulator fails. RID master impact only when RID pool
finishes. Will not be able to create new domain if domain naming master fails. Last
impact will be due to schema master role. Schema extension will not be possible.
86. Active Directory database has a habit of becoming fragmented through normal use.
The process of adding and removing objects obviously creates fragmentation. The

process of reclaiming lost space in the database due to fragmentation is called Active
directory defragmentation. There are two types of defragmentation; offline
defragmentation and online defragmentation. To perform offline defragmentation you
have to start domain controller in Directory Service Restore Mode and then run ntdsutil
command.
87. Online Defragmentation: Active Directory database automatically performs online
defragmentation during its normal operation in every 12 hours interval.
Offline Defragmentation: this is manually performed by an administrator after taking
Domain controller to Directory Services Restore Mode and running ntdsutil command.
88. Active Directory can be uninstalled using dcpromo command. Before uninstalling
Active Directory, we have to verify that this domain controller is not the only global
catalog and it does not hold an operations master role.
89. Check the network connection on the desktop. Try to ping to the domain controller.
Run nslookup and check if name resolution is working. Check Active Directory for the
computer account of the desktop. Compare the time settings on the desktop and Domain
controller. Remove the desktop from domain and rejoin to domain.
90. Active Directory replication issue can occur due to variety of reasons. For example,
DNS issue, network problems, security issues etc. Troubleshooting can start by verifying
DNS records. Then remove and recreate Domain Controller replication link. Check the
time settings on both replication partners. Command line repadmin and replmon tools can
be used to troubleshoot replication issues.
91. Check for any automatic programs or devices which use Exchange actives sync,
which will use old password even after user changes the password. Advise the user to
reconfigure all the programs and devices which use AD credential. Check and verify any
scheduled tasks using old passwords. Verify persistent drive mapping with old password.
Disconnect terminal service sessions. Reconfigure account lockout threshold if required;
if it is set to very narrow.
92. Check the Network Adapter settings and verify the DNS IP address. Configure
proper DNS IP address to lookup the Domain Controller.
93. DFSR (Distributed File System Replication) DNS service, RPC Service etc.
94. Application directory partitions are typically created by the applications that will use
them to store and replicate data. For testing and troubleshooting needs, members of the
Enterprise Admins group can manually create or manage application directory partitions
using the Ntdsutil command-line tool.
95. When checking from System perspective, verify that the Domain Controller in the site
where user desktops are located is up and connected. If the users still facing the latency
there is a probability of network issue and need to be discussed with the team who works
with network.

96. A compilation of Microsoft Active Directory related products are generally described
as Identity and Access (IDA) solution. This terminology started when Windows Server
2008 released. IDA includes Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Active
Directory Lightweight Directory (AD LDS), Active Directory Certificate Services (AD
CS), Active Directory Rights Managements Services (AD RMS) etc.
97. To view AD Schema, Firstly you need to register dll. Start-run- regsvr32. Then run
schmmgmt.dll. Go to run and type mmc and add the Active Directory Schema Snap in to
the mmc.
98. Some of the built in groups are: Administrators, Backup Operators, Account
Operators, Remote Desktop Users, Server Operators, and Users etc.
99. Enterprise Admins group is a group that performs only in the forest root domain and
members of this group have full administrative control on all domains that are in your
forest. Domain Admins group is group that is present in each domain. Members of this
group have a full administrative control on the domain.
100. PowerShell scripts can be used to created bulk users. There is an Active Directory
User Creation tool by Rich Prescott which is very popular.
Hope these Interview Questions and Answers will be helpful to you. Please update your
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