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You probably already know that a User Account is an Active Directory Object, or simply said, a record in an AD database.
Most of the time we create user accounts for people, however user accounts can also be created for applications or processes.
User accounts allow a person to access resources on a network. But we can just as easily deny access to certain resources on the network through the user account. That’s why, User Account Objects are quite important and very useful.
Today I’ll show you how easy it is to create a new user account, create a user template and how to use a template — all on your brand new Windows Server 2008!
Next week we’ll discuss User Groups and Organizational Units — so grab our RSS Feed so you don’t miss my next article! Now, let’s get started with creating a user account.
1. To start let’s go ahead and open up Server Manager
2. Then we will open up the Roles section — next to Active Directory Users and Computers section and finally the Active Directory Users and Computers.
You should now see your domain name.
3. We are going to click on our Users section where we are going to create a new User Account. To do so, right-click on the blank section, point to New and select User.
4. In this window you need to type in the user’s first name, middle initial and last name. Next you will need to create a user’s logon name.
In our example we are going to create a user account for Billy Miles and his logon name will be bmiles. When done, click on the Next button.
5. In the next window you will need to create a password for your new user and select appropriate options.
In our example we are going to have the user change his password at his next logon. You can also prevent a user from changing his password, set the password so that it will never expire or completely disable the account.
When you are done making your selections, click the Next button.
6. And finally, click on the Finish button to complete the creation of new User Account.
A user template in Active Directory will make your life a little easier, especially if you are creating users for a specific department, with exact same properties, and membership to the same user groups.
A user template is nothing more than a disabled user account that has all these settings already in place. The only thing you are doing is copying this account, adding a new name and a password.
You may have multiple user templates for multiple purposes with different settings and properties. There is no limit on the number of user templates, but keep in mind that they are there to help you, not to confuse you, so keep in mind less is better.
To create a user template, we are going to create a regular user account just like we did above. A little note here, you may want to add an * as the first character of the name so it floats at the top in AD and is much easier to find.
1. To start out, right-click on the empty space, point to new, and select User.
2. Type in the user’s name (with asterisks if so desired) and click Next.
3. Create the template’s password and do not forget to check the box next to the Account is disabled option. When ready, click Next.
4. Once the account is created, you can go ahead and add all the properties you need for that template. To do so, double-click on that account and navigate to a specific tab. Once done click OK.
1. Now in order to use that user template, we are going to select it, copy it and add the unique information such as user name, password, etc.
We can do that for as many users as needed. Let’s start by right-clicking on the template and selecting Copy.
2. Next we are going to enter the user’s name, login and password information while making sure the checkbox next to Account is disabled is unchecked.
3. Once we finish, our new user account is created with all the properties of the template account. Now wasn’t that easy!
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Master Active Directory terms, learn about creating, organizing, and managing Users and Groups, installing and upgrading Domain Controller and much more — all on Windows Server 2008.
Johan Cheung Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Many thanks. I found it very helpful !
Are you Kasia’s sister ?. It’s just that I noticed you both have similar surnames ?!
Kasia Grabowska Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
That’s right Johan! We are sisters :)
I’m glad you found this article helpful … we’ll be focusing more and more on Windows Server 2008, so if that’s what you’re interested in grab our RSS feed, if you haven’t already.
Have a great weekend!
Kasia
Patel Devang Says:
March 28th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
It is really great to see configuration steps of new Windows2008 Server…..
chandramohan Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 1:34 am
its really superb much easier for any engineer to create and maintain the AD.
masood Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
abought the windows 2003 administration i.e mcse 7 papers with active directory and exchange 2003 as well as windows server 2008 also