A great new feature whitin Windows 2012 Server is the possibility to manage servers remote through the Windows Server Manager. In part one of this blogpost, I’m going to deploy a new domain controller to my existing domain in my lab environment through the GUI. In part two of the blogpost, I’m going to deploy again a new domain controller. But now I’m going to use Microsoft Powershell.
I already installed two clean Windows 2012 Servers with the right IP configuration. The servers are added to the Windows Server Manager within my first domain controller, so we’ve the possibility to manage this servers! As you can see, in the begin there’s only one domain controller available.
1.) Login to the existing domain controller of your domain
2.) Open the Server Manager
3.) Navigate to All Servers
4.) Select server SERVER1
5.) Select Manager – Add Roles and Features
6.) Click Next
7.) Select Role-based or feature-based installation
8.) Select server SERVER1
9.) Select server role Active Directory Domain Services and click Next
10.) Click Add Features to install the right Windows features to manage your Active Directory environment
11.) In the confirmation screen, click Install
This will install the server role and features only, not configuring!
12.) After the installation succeeded succesfully, click the red flag on top of the screen
13.) Navigate to Post-deployment Configuration and click Promote this server to a domain controller
14.) Supply the right credentials and click Next
15.) Type the Directory Service Restore Mode (DSRM) password and click Next
16.) In the review screen, you can save the Powershell script to perform this actions automatically the next time.
17.) After the configuration is finished, you’ll see the new domain controller within:
Active Directory Users and Computers
Active Directory Sites and Services
