Installing and Removing Active Directory
After you’ve completed your preparation work with the installation prerequisites described in
There are four ways to install Active Directory:
Using the Active Directory Installation Wizard (to install Active Directory in most situations)
Using an answer file to perform an unattended installation (to install Active Directory remotely)
Using the network or backup media (to install Active Directory on additional domain controllers in the network using media)
Using the Configure Your Server Wizard (an additional way to install the first domain controller in a network only)
All these methods promote the computer to the role of domain controller, install Active Directory, and, if desired, install and configure the DNS server.
After you input this information, the wizard installs Active Directory, creates the full domain name, assigns the NetBIOS name for the domain, sets the Active Directory database and log folder location, sets the shared system volume folder location, and installs DNS and a preferred DNS server if you requested automatic DNS installation. The Active Directory Installation Wizard does not install Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), assign the static IP address, assign the subnet mask, create a
As you begin installing Active Directory using the Active Directory Installation Wizard, you must choose whether to create the first domain controller for a new domain or add the new domain controller to an existing domain. You portray the domain structure by making these choices as they are presented in the wizard.
Creating the First Domain Controller for a New Domain If you choose to create the first domain controller for a new domain, you create both the domain controller and a new domain. You can then specify whether you want to create a new domain in a new forest, a child domain in an existing domain tree, or a new domain tree in an existing forest, as illustrated in Figure 2-5.
When you create a new domain in a new forest, either the new domain is the first domain in the organization or it is a new domain that you want to be completely inde?pendent from your existing forest. When you create a new child domain in an existing domain tree, the new domain is a child domain of an existing domain. Recall that domains in a tree share a contiguous namespace and a hierarchical naming structure. When you create a new domain tree in an existing forest, the new domain is not part of an existing domain. Recall that trees in a forest have different naming structures, according to their domains, but the forest enables