Author: Christian Kintu
Last Updated: Fri, Sep 16, 2022Windows Active Directory is a computer management service that lets you control your resources, services, and users and share files in a single private local area network. In the cloud, you can deploy Windows Active Directory on a Vultr Virtual Private Cloud and control computers connected to the domain.
Windows Active Directory consists of groups and organizational structures stored as objects. An Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) is the main server running all domain services in the directory structure. Depending on your organization's size, you may need to set up two or more AD DCs in a single network.
This article explains how you can install Windows Active Directory service in a private Vultr Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and connect clients to the domain.
Deploy two Windows Server instances in the same Vultr location.
This article uses Windows Server 2022, but all included steps work on any Windows Server version.
By default, your Vultr Windows Server may come with the VPC interface auto-configured or set to DHCP. Usually, it's set to DHCP, and you need to manually configure the interface with a static IP address before using it to send and receive network packets on the server, as illustrated in the steps below.
To find the VPC network address assigned to your server, log in to your Vultr account, open the server dashboard, click Settings, and navigate to IPV4.
Enter your Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) VPC network address in the Preferred DNS field.
Active Directory requires proper DNS settings pointed to a domain controller. If you intend to run a second DC in your VPC network, enter its IP Address in the Alternate DNS field.
Click Save to apply changes.
Enter the following command to test your second Windows server's connectivity in the VPC network. Replace the example IP 192.0.2.1
with your actual client address.
ping 192.0.2.1
Your output should look like the one below.
Pinging 192.0.2.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.0.2.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.0.2.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.0.2.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.0.2.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.0.2.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms
Access the main Windows Server in your VPC, and log in using the Administrator user account.
Add roles and features
from the drop-down list.Monitor the Installation Progress. When complete, close the wizard.
A new Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) option is now available on the Server Manager left navigation menu.
On the Post-deployment Configuration warning, click Promote this server to a domain controller.
Choose Add a forest in the deployment configuration wizard
In the New Object-User pop-up window, enter the user's first name and login name (username) and click Next.
Assign the user a strong password that meets the Active Directory password requirements.
In the properties pop-up window, navigate to Members.
Click Add, enter the target user account name, then click Check Names.
Click Reverse Lookup Zones, right-click the group, and select New Zone.
In the New Zone wizard, click Next to get started.
192.0.2
, then click Next.Access your second Windows Server using RDP.
WORKGROUP
.rename this computer or change its domain or workgroup
.example.com\username
and the password you created earlier.When you receive the welcome to domain prompt, your Windows Server successfully joined the Active Directory domain.
If you receive the Active Directory Domain Controller (AD DC) cannot be contacted error, please set the AD DC VPC network address as your preferred DNS server, as described earlier.
You successfully installed Windows Active Directory on the main domain controller (AD DC) in a single Vultr Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). You can configure multiple users, groups, and group policies for all client machines.
To connect your organization's computers to the cloud Active Directory. You need to create a VPN connection on any of the Windows Servers to securely connect to the Vultr Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and share resources with other computers on the network. For more information, please visit the following articles.