14. What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?

The Windows 2003 support tools are a collection of resources with the aim of assisting administrators to simplify management tasks. These include: troubleshooting operating systems, configuring networking and security features, managing Active Directory, and automating application deployment. With the use of these tools, the user is able to pin-point problematic issues with the system and will therefore be able to find a solution more easily.


The Windows 2003 Support Tools consist of a number of command-line utilities, visual basic scripts, GUI based applications, and documents - all of which you must install from a separate application. The Support Tools are not automatically installed when you install Windows 2003; their installation isn’t an option in the Windows 2003 setup. The installation program is located on the CD-ROM in the \support\tools folder and the setup file (suptools.msi) must be opened manually to initiate the installation wizard. You can also download support tool fromhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=96A35011-FD83-419D-939B-9A772EA2DF90&displaylang=en

13. Trying to look at the Schema, how can I do that?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)


Active Directory Schema Tools and Settings
When existing class and attribute definitions in the Active Directory schema do not meet the needs of your organization, you can use schema-based administrative tools to modify or add schema objects. You can modify an existing attribute or add a new class or attribute to the schema to store a new type of information in the directory. The process of modifying or updating the schema is often referred to as “extending the schema.” In addition to using schema tools to extend the schema, you can perform most schema extensions by using customized applications or Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) scripts.
The following tools are associated with the Active Directory schema.
Adsiedit.exe: ADSI Edit
ADSI Edit is included when you install Support Tools for Windows Server 2003 and later.
ADSI Edit is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that uses ADSI, which uses the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). You can use ADSI Edit to view and modify directory objects in the Active Directory database. You can also use it to view schema directory partition objects and properties. When you open ADSI Edit, the Schema container is displayed by default. You can expand the container to view schema classes and attributes.
Csvde.exe: Csvde
Csvde is a command-line tool that ships with Windows Server 2003.
You can use Csvde.exe to export directory information to an Excel spreadsheet or to import data from a spreadsheet into Active Directory. You can use this format only for additions to the directory. Csvde.exe cannot be used to modify or delete objects.
Ldifde.exe: Ldifde
Ldifde is a command-line tool that ships with Windows Server 2003.
Active Directory supports the use of files that are formatted with the LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) for importing and exporting information in the directory. This includes information that is stored in the schema, such as schema modifications. After an LDIF file is created, a tool such as Ldifde.exe performs the import operation by using the LDIF file for input. You can also use Ldifde.exe to add, modify, and delete directory objects; export Active Directory user and group information to other applications or services; and populate Active Directory with data from other directory services.



Schmmgmt.msc: The Active Directory Schema snap-in
The Active Directory Schema snap-in is an MMC snap-in in Administrative Tools that is installed automatically on all domain controllers running Windows Server 2003. However, you must register it manually before you use it for the first time. To register the Active Directory Schema snap-in, run Regsvr32 Schmmgmt.dll from the command prompt or from the Run command on the Start menu. Open MMC and add Active directory schema snap in.
ADSI and Visual Basic Scripts
Active Directory provides a set of interfaces that you can use programmatically to gain access to directory objects, including schema objects. ADSI conforms to the Component Object Model (COM), and it supports standard COM features. ADSI defines a directory service model and a set of COM interfaces that you can easily use with a variety of programming languages. With Microsoft Visual Basic, Scripting Edition and ADSI, you can write scripts to modify the directory in various ways, including extending the schema.

12. Why not make all DCs in a large forest as GCs?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

Unless you have some really bad connections that may not be able to handle the extra traffic, you should make every DC a GC. In ANY single domain forest, it is recommended and beneficial to make all DCs GCs since it has no replication impact and serves to better distribute query load.

11. How do you view all the GCs in the forest?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)


DSQUERY server can be used to locate global catalogs
To search the entire forest
dsquery server -forest -isgc
To locate global catalogs in your current (logon) domain
dsquery server –isgc.
To locate global catalogs in a specific domain
dsquery server -domain tech.cpandl.com -isgc
Here, you search for global catalog servers in the tech.cpandl.com domain.



You can also search for global catalog servers by site, but to do this, you must know the full site name, and cannot use wildcards. For example, if you wanted to find all the global catalog servers for Default-First-Site-Name, you would have to type
dsquery server –site Default-First-Site-Name.
The resulting output is a list of DNs for global catalogs, such as
"CN=CORPSVR02,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-
Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=cpandl,DC=com"

10. What is the Global Catalog?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

The global catalog is a distributed data repository that contains a searchable, partial representation of every object in every domain in a multidomain Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) forest. The global catalog is stored on domain controllers that have been designated as global catalog servers and is distributed through multimaster replication. Searches that are directed to the global catalog are faster because they do not involve referrals to different domain controllers

9. How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)




Install Replication Monitor from Support tools, run from command line with "replmon" command, and add DC and it will show you all partitions that DC holds and all replication partners for each partition.

8. How do you create a new application partition

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

You can create an application directory partition by using the create nc option in the domain management (partition management in windows 2008) menu of Ntdsutil. When creating an application directory partition using LDP or ADSI, provide a description in the description attribute of the domain DNS object that indicates the specific application that will use the partition. For example, if the application directory partition will be used to store data for a Microsoft accounting program, the description could be Microsoft accounting application. Ntdsutil does not facilitate the creation of a description.
To create or delete an application directory partition
The sample commands below were written for Windows Server 2008. If you're using Windows 2003, you don’t need to include the ACTIVE INSTANCE NTDS command, and you would use DOMAIN MANAGEMENT instead of PARTITION MANAGEMENT.
ntdsutil: activate instance ntds
Active instance set to "ntds".
ntdsutil: partition management
partition management: connections
Connected to \\server1.contoso.com using credentials of locally logged on user.
server connections: connect to server server1.contoso.com
Disconnecting from \\ server1.contoso.com...
Binding to server1.contoso.com ...
Connected to server1.contoso.com using credentials of locally logged on user.
server connections: quit
partition management: list
Note: Directory partition names with International/Unicode characters will only display correctly if appropriate fonts and language support are loaded Found 5 Naming Context(s)
0 - CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
1 - CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
2 - DC=contoso,DC=com
3 - DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
4 - DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com



partition management: create nc dc=app1,dc=contoso,dc=com
server1.contoso.com
adding object dc=app1,dc=contoso,dc=com
partition management: list
Note: Directory partition names with International/Unicode characters will only display correctly if appropriate fonts and language support are loaded Found 5 Naming Context(s)
0 - CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
1 - CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
2 - DC=contoso,DC=com
3 - DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
4 - DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
5 - DC=app1,DC=contoso,DC=com
Create an application directory partition by using the DnsCmd command
Use the following syntax:
DnsCmd ServerName /CreateDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition
To create an application directory partition that is named CustomDNSPartition on a domain controller that is named DC-1, follow these steps:



1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER: dnscmd DC-1 /createdirectorypartition CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com
When the application directory partition has been successfully created, the following information appears:
DNS Server DC-1 created directory partition: CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com Command completed successfully.
Configure an additional domain controller DNS server to host the application directory partition
Configure an additional domain controller that is acting as a DNS server to host the new application directory partition that you created. To do this, use the following syntax with the DnsCmdcommand:
DnsCmd ServerName /EnlistDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition
To configure the example domain controller that is named DC-2 to host this custom application directory partition, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER: dnscmd DC-2 /enlistdirectorypartition CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com
DNS Server DC-2 enlisted directory partition: CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com Command completed successfully.