Active Directory Basics

Active Directory is the directory service for Windows Domain Networks. It is used by many of today's top companies and is a vital skill to comprehend when attacking Windows.

It is recommended to have knowledge of basic network services, Windows, networking, and Powershell.

The detail of specific uses and objects will be limited as this is only a general overview of Active Directory. For more information on a specific topic look for the corresponding room or do your own research on the topic.

Caylent Isometric Illustration by Felix Oppenheimer on Dribble (opens in new tab)

What is Active Directory? - 

Active Directory is a collection of machines and servers connected inside of domains, that are a collective part of a bigger forest of domains, that make up the Active Directory network. Active Directory contains many functioning bits and pieces, a majority of which we will be covering in the upcoming tasks. To outline what we'll be covering take a look over this list of Active Directory components and become familiar with the various pieces of Active Directory: 

• Domain Controllers
• Forests, Trees, Domains
• Users + Groups 
• Trusts
• Policies 
• Domain Services

All of these parts of Active Directory come together to make a big network of machines and servers. Now that we know what Active Directory is let's talk about the why?

Why use Active Directory? -

The majority of large companies use Active Directory because it allows for the control and monitoring of their user's computers through a single domain controller. It allows a single user to sign in to any computer on the active directory network and have access to his or her stored files and folders in the server, as well as the local storage on that machine. This allows for any user in the company to use any machine that the company owns, without having to set up multiple users on a machine. Active Directory does it all for you.

Now that we know the what and the why of Active Directory let's move on to how it works and functions.