Hey everyone! I'm a fairly new IT support engineer exploring how to set up Active Directory (AD) from scratch using a couple of servers my boss lent me. I bought a domain name, which I'll refer to as example.online, for the setup. I'm struggling with getting my client PCs to recognize my AD domain. I've already set up an A record for my public IP, a CNAME record for dc01, and an SRV record for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.dc01.example.online pointing to dc01.example.online. I've also forwarded several ports (like 88 for Kerberos, 389 for LDAP, and others) to my domain controller, but I feel like I'm missing something crucial. I want to be able to connect to my AD domain without a VPN, but I realize that security is a big concern. Can anyone help me understand how to properly set up my AD domain and DNS without exposing it to the internet?
4 Answers
I think you may have a misunderstanding about the setup. Your AD should remain internal, and creating a separate internal domain (like example.local) is a common practice to avoid conflicts with any public domains you might have. Just focus on getting your DC configured correctly, ensure it has the DNS role installed, and avoid exposing it directly to the internet. Trust me, that will save you a lot of headaches!
Good call! Make sure your DC is secure before configuring anything else.
You should definitely avoid exposing your AD server over the internet. That's a major security risk! Keep your DNS for AD local and use a VPN for external access. When configuring DNS, focus on dynamic updates from your DC and ensure that all necessary records get created automatically. It’s very important that your clients correctly use the IP of your DC as their DNS server for name resolution.
Thanks for the heads-up! I won't try to bypass security measures anymore.
Also, if you run into connectivity issues, tools like nslookup and dcdiag can help diagnose any problems.
Connecting to your AD domain from anywhere without a VPN is very risky and generally not recommended. It's best to keep your AD secured within your internal network to prevent security breaches. Instead of trying to expose your AD to the outside world, ensure that your internal DNS server setup is correct and that clients point to it for domain resolution. Consider using a VPN for remote access to maintain security.
It sounds like you're mixing up internal and external DNS configurations. In a typical on-prem environment, the internal DHCP server assigns DNS settings to clients, pointing them directly to the IP of the domain controller (DC). You don’t actually need to buy an external domain since your AD can function with just the internal DNS. Your DC also acts as the DNS server, so just focus on that setup.
Using an external domain can add convenience for specific setups but it isn't mandatory for basic AD configuration. Just make sure your internal DNS is functioning correctly.
I see! I'll set the internal DNS to the DC and not worry about external records.
Got it! I’ll focus on keeping it internal and learning the proper separation of domains.