Microsoft Active Directory Tools

MS Active Directory Tools

Microsoft Active Directory support tools are provided to administrators so that the entire directory service can be managed with efficiency and problems (if any) be diagnosed. In order to use Microsoft Active Directory tools, one has to install them from the windows 2000 installation CD. In the Browse This CD option, navigate through CD directory and select \SUPPORT\TOOLS directory and run the program SETUP.EXE.

Once the setup program gets completed, all the Windows Support Tools are added to the Start menu. Details of the some of the Microsoft Active Directory tools are given below:

Active Directory Administration Tool (LDAP tool)

Since Active Directory is a lightweight directory access protocol based system, administrators can perform the basic LDAP functions on it. Functions such as adding, searching, deleting or modifying an object can be performed with the AD administrative tool, also known as the LDAP tool. The Active Directory administration tool has 5 different options in its menu bar. Of those options, administrators must first select the Connect option from the Connection menu. After entering information like the server name and LDAP port number, the AD administration tool tries to connect to the server. Once the connection with the server is established, a summary of the Active Directory status of the server is displayed.

Active Directory Replication Monitor

Active Directory replication process takes place in every domain site and is conducted by the replicating the changed AD status in every domain controller. The complexity involved in Active Directory replication makes its administration error prone. Monitoring the replication process is important as different issues or problems may crop up with added domain controllers.

The Active Directory replication monitor tool helps in this respect. This tool is used to monitor all the servers and the domain controller as well as view the current replication status of the Active Directory. Moreover, this AD tools also lets administrators to manually force replication, if needed.

Active Directory Migration Tool

The Active Directory migration tool is used to securely migrate from Windows NTR to Windows R 2000 Server Active Directory service. Furthermore, this tool allows administrators to restructure the Active Directory domains in windows 2000. The ADMT task wizard also allows migration of users, groups, computers and Exchange Server mailboxes to new domain. Any potential problems arising before migration process can be identified and sorted out by this tool. Upon computer migration or during resource translation, the ADMT automatically installs services also called Agents on the source computers so that administrators are not required to manually load the tool on each computer. After the migration process gets terminated, the tool again uninstalls the agent automatically.