Active Directory Lab Part III: Installation Prerequisites

Overview

This post is part of a series illustrating how to automate the process of deploying an AD Lab. This article provides information on system requirements and implementing the prerequisites for installing the AD Lab. These prerequisites are a subset of the prerequisites for part two. If you have already completed that section, you may skip these steps. This is the starting point for deploying the AD Lab if you already have the customized installer ISOs produced in part two.

There is an in-progress project to automate these steps. Please see OZO AD Lab Implement Installation Prerequisites for more details.

System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows Server, Enterprise, or Pro
• Hyper-V and related management tools
• An external (Internet) network connection
• 45GB persistent storage for virtual machine disks
• 40GB temporary storage for downloaded ISOs, customized ISOs, and exported virtual machine archives
• 10GB memory
• 5 virtual CPUs

Prerequisites

Install Hyper-V Components

Run these commands in an Administrator PowerShell to install the Hyper-V components and restart:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All
Restart-Computer

Grant Permissions

Using an account with Administrator rights, add your [regular] user to the local Hyper-V Administrators group, then log out and back in.

Configure Networking

You will need an external switch and a private switch. Use Get-NetAdapter to find the name of your external (Internet) adapter and New-VMSwitch to create the virtual switches, e.g., if your network interface is named Ethernet:

Get-NetAdapter

Name     InterfaceDescription              ifIndex Status MacAddress        LinkSpeed
----     --------------------              ------- ------ ----------        ---------
Ethernet Realtek USB GbE Family Controller      24 Up     AC-1A-3D-7B-7D-34 1 Gbps

New-VMSwitch -Name "AD Lab External" -NetAdapterName "Ethernet"
New-VMSwitch -Name "AD Lab Private" -SwitchType Private

Your new switches will appear in the Hyper-V Virtual switch manager:

Obtain Installer ISOs

You will need the four customized installer ISOs created as described in part two of this series. Copy these to your Downloads directory.

Virtual Machine	ISO
Router	OZO-AD-Lab-Router.iso
DC	OZO-AD-Lab-DC.iso
Server	OZO-AD-Lab-Server.iso
Client	OZO-AD-Lab-Client.iso

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Part I – Introduction

• Introduction
• Architecture

Part II – Customization

• Customization Prerequisites
• Customize the Installer ISOs

Part III – Installation

• Installation Prerequisites
• Create the Virtual Machines
• Install the VMs

Part IV – Conclusion

• Conclusion