Active Directory Deployed in the Cloud (Azure)

This tutorial outlines the implementation of on-premises Active Directory within Azure Virtual Machines.

Environments and Technologies Used

• Microsoft Azure (Virtual Machines/Compute)
• Remote Desktop
• Active Directory Domain Services
• PowerShell

Operating Systems Used

• Windows Server 2022
• Windows 10 (21H2)

High-Level Deployment and Configuration Steps

• Create a Resource Group
• Create a Virtual Network and Subnet
• Create the Domain Controller VM (Windows Server 2022) named DC-1
• Login to the VM using your username and password
• Create another VM named Client-1 using Windows 10
• Login to that VM using your user name and password
• Make sure to use the same Virtual Network and region as DC-1
• After VM is created, set Client-1’s DNS settings to DC-1’s Private IP address
• From the Azure Portal, restart Client-1
• Login to Client-1
• Attempt to ping DC-1’s private IP address
• From Client-1, open PowerShell and run ipconfig /all

Deployment and Configuration Steps

Install Active Directory, Login to DC-1 and install Active Directory Domain Services, Promote as a DC: Setup a new forest as mydomain.com (can be anything, just remember what it is) Restart and then log back into DC-1 as user: mydomain.com\labuser

Within Active Directory Users and Computers you can create an Organizational Unit and therefor add employees and admins to their selective Units. Adding a user to the Admins OU gives you access to join the domain controller from the Client-1 Virtual Machine.

Log into Client-1 as mydomain.com\(username here) -> Open system properties -> Click “Remote Desktop” -> Allow “domain users” access to remote desktop, you can now log into Client-1 as a normal, non-administrative user.