Saturday, December 16, 2023

Quickly create some accounts in Active Directory for testing


# Define the password for the accounts
$password = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText "Password11" -Force

# Create 100 user accounts (user001 to user100)
1..100 | ForEach-Object {
    $username = "computer{0:D3}" -f $_
    #$username = "user{0:D3}" -f $_
    #New-ADUser -Name $username -SamAccountName $username -UserPrincipalName "$username@enron.com.au" -AccountPassword $password -Enabled $true -Path "CN=Users,DC=enron,DC=com,DC=au" -PassThru
    New-ADComputer -Name $username -SamAccountName $username -UserPrincipalName "$username@enron.com.au" -AccountPassword $password -Enabled $true -Path "CN=Computers,DC=energy,DC=com,DC=au" -PassThru
}


Need to rename an Active Directory (2019 and later) and dont want the life story?

 Here is a bullet point list of the commands to run in order based on the provided text:

On the DC, from an Admin Command Prompt:

rendom /list
Edit the Domainlist.xml file it created to replace all existing domain names with the new domain name, including the NetBIOS name if it’s changed.

rendom /showforest
rendom /upload

Ensure replication is complete, optionally using

repadmin.exe /syncall /d /e /P /q DomainNamingMaster-HostName


rendom /prepare
rendom /execute

After domain controllers restart, log on using the new domain name.
Restart the pretty much everything twice after all domain controllers are back online.

Update GPO linkages with the new domain name using gpfixup . If FQDN is changed:

gpfixup /olddns:old-domain.local /newdns:new-domain.com

If NetBIOS name is changed:

gpfixup /oldnb:OLD-NetBIOS /newnb:NEW-NetBIOS

If needed, synchronise group policy changes with repadmin.exe /syncall /d /e /P /q DC-HostName NewDomainDN

Rename domain controllers with netdom commands:

netdom computername old.computer.name /add:new.computer.name

followed by

netdom computername old.computer.name /makeprimary:new.computer.name

Reboot domain controllers.
Reboot all domain member computers, workstations, and servers twice.

If using domain-based DFS namespaces, update any orphaned paths.
Run rendom /clean to clean up old domain references and unfreeze the forest configuration.

rendom /clean

Open DNS Manager create the new zone, reboot and after you can delete the old domain DNS zone.

Remove the Active Directory Domain Services role from Control Station if applicable.
 
The domain rename process is complex and can have far-reaching effects on your network. It should not be undertaken lightly and requires thorough planning and testing.

 

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