Samples of basic administrative tasks

To give a glimpse of how day-to-day administration will be handled, this page shows examples of a few common tasks and how they are handled when the client systems are in an OU.  Almost all administration of clients is handled via the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

Clients in this case are all Windows 2000 systems.  Windows NT clients will still respond to the NT management tools like the User Manager for Domains and the Server Manager which both work fine on Windows 2000.

• Adding a new client to the OU.

• Moving a computer from one OU to another

• Controlling services on a client.

• Creating a share on a remote machine.

Adding a new client system to the OU

This describes the process for bringing a new Windows 2000 client up in an OU.  An administrator of the OU needs to pre-create the machine in the OU so when it joins the yu.yale.edu domain it's placed in the correct location.

Note that the ability to add a specific machine to the domain can be granted to a specified user so that end users can add their own machines without further administrative action.

1. Start the MMC "Active Directory Users and Computers" plugin.  It will show the domain and all OU's and elements in it:
   
   
   
   
2. Right-click on the OU that you want to add the machine to and select "New  -> Computer".  The following Window will appear:
   
   
   
   
3. Now enter the name of the new computer in the box provided.
   
4. Optionally, click on the "Change" button and select the user or group who will have the authority to add this computer to the domain.  This is a ONE-TIME action and is not the same as granting the user rights to add any computer to the domain.
   
5. If the computer is a Windows NT machine (unlikely), check the box labeled "Allow Pre-Windows 2000 computers to use this account".  Note that windows 2000 management control over NT machines is very spotty.
   
   The user will now be able to insert their computer into the domain and it will also be automatically placed in the proper OU.

Moving an object from one OU to another

Moving computers or other objects from one OU to another is very easy if you have privileges in both the source and the target OU.

Simply right-click on the object that you want to move in the "Active Directory Users and Computers" snap-in and select "Move..." from the menu:

The object is moved immediately.  If moving the object will cause a change in what Group Policies are applied, the computer can be rebooted to pick up the new policy information.

Note that computers aren't the only objects that can be moved!  You can also move groups or entire OU's.

If you need to move an object to or from an OU that you don't have access to, an administrator will be able to help.

Controlling Services on a Client

This steps through one of the ways that an administrator can manage an installed service on a client system.  This assumes the current user logged in with an account that is an administrator of the target computer.

1. Right-click on "my computer" and select "Manage".  The MMC will start and load the computer management plugin for the local system:
   
   
   
2. Right-click on "Computer Management (Local)" and select "Connect to another computer..."  Select or enter the name of the target computer in the window that appears:
   
   
   
3. The Computer Management console will change to show the name of the target system:
   
   
   
4. Open up the "Services and Applications" section and click on "services" to see the list of services installed on the client:
   
   
   
   
5. Now just open up the properties window for the service you are interested in and make the necessary changes:
   
   
   

That's it.  Note that the management tool for local and remote systems are one and the same. (!)

Creating a share on a remote machine

This shows a sample procedure for creating a share on a remote system with the MMC.

This procedure starts in the "Active Directory Users and computers" but it could also start with the "computer management" plugin like the above process.

1. Select the target computer in the "AD Users and Computers MMC".  
   
   
   
2. Right-click on it and choose "Manage" to bring up the comp

   Due to some large images, this page looks best in at least 1024x768 resolution, full-screen.

   uter management MMC set to work on that machine:
   
   
   
3. Click on "Shares" to see the list of current shares on the target system.  Then, right-click on the word "shares" and choose "New File Share".  The following window appears.  Enter the requested information in the spaces provided and click "Next".
   
   
   
   
4. On the next screen you can configure the share's access permissions:
   
   
   
   
5. Hit "Finish" and the new share is added.
   
   
   
6. The new share is now on the target system.
   
   Due to some large images, this page looks best in at least 1024x768 resolution, full-screen.
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