Network settings help

[mritter]

I need to double check some network things. I think I have them right, but......

Workgroup names are always uppercase. Are domain names uppercase, too? Case sensitive?

How long can a domain name be?

How long can a domain user name be? Case sensitive?

How long can a domain group name be? Case sensitive?

What special characters can be used in group name, domain name, user name, and password? (spaces, # $ ^ * / " etc)

Is a domain user always a member of at least 1 group? (admins, accounting, peons, etc)

If above is yes, do you specify it when creating user account?

When on a workgroup you make a Windows User Account so not using Administrator (even though new user can be administrator), usually just your name, Mark, Bob, etc. Now, when formatting a computer for use in a Domain, do you still make a Windows User Account (not Administrator) AND domain account?

Are client computer names important on Domains?

When done installing Windows on client machine, do you make the user account on the machine, or through the server?

Spaces are allowed in Windows User Account names, but do you allow them? (Mark Ritter, or MarkRitter, or Mark_Ritter)

If you want to volunteer any other important information that may come in handy, please post it or email it to me.

I will also be contacting some of you via email or PM about this.

Edited August 30, 2009 by mritter

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Your domain may include: Letters

Numbers

Hyphens (must be in the middle, cannot begin or end your domain name)

Your domain may not include: Spaces

Special characters, such as ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ?

More than 63 characters total (some places do allow a few more than this

[iamtheky]

Is a domain user always a member of at least 1 group? 'Users' defaults, at least, most likely authenticated users as well

If above is yes, do you specify it when creating user account? anything other than users/everyone

Now, when formatting a computer for use in a Domain, do you still make a Windows User Account (not Administrator) AND domain account? We alias the default administrator to a common name that they would fear changing (i.e. SERVICE). And then we build an account named administrator (not a member of administrators) give it a brutal password and disable it. That serves to catch the occasional ERD commander action and makes you do a bit more work to Kon-Boot it.

Are client computer names important on Domains? Using a scheme that lets you know where they are geographically is helpful. Other software that depends on naming may care about having something unique in the first 10 characters or not using a certain wildcard, we had issues with the 10g ODAC that ended up being naming related.

When done installing Windows on client machine, do you make the user account on the machine, or through the server? Through the AD box and then make that account a local admin, and cache it (we cache the last 10 users, but if its a single user a lower number would be fine).

Spaces are allowed in Windows User Account names, but do you allow them? we separate them firstname.lastname

Edited September 1, 2009 by iamtheky

[ICANIT]

Workgroup names are always uppercase. Are domain names uppercase, too? Case sensitive? - Netbios names are typically uppercase, but FQDN are not, ex: DOMAIN\User-account = user-account@domain.com

Is a domain user always a member of at least 1 group? (admins, accounting, peons, etc)? - Yes, "Domain users"

If above is yes, do you specify it when creating user account? - No, its default when you create the account in AD (active directory)

When on a workgroup you make a Windows User Account so not using Administrator (even though new user can be administrator), usually just your name, Mark, Bob, etc. Now, when formatting a computer for use in a Domain, do you still make a Windows User Account (not Administrator) AND domain account? - No, you only login with the domain account. Domain admins do have locally admin rights on the client by default.

Are client computer names important on Domains? - Yes and No, since you typically doesnt have client-to-client communication the name is not important, but you cant have two identical names on the domain. it is however nice to have some policy on names, for easy identification.

When done installing Windows on client machine, do you make the user account on the machine, or through the server? - Computer accounts are made on the client when you join the domain, user accounts are made in AD on the server.

[mritter]

I've pretty much figured everything out through trial and error. Just have one last thing I believe I have over-built:

When picking either Workgroup or Domain for the client machine, if pick a Domain, do you enter anything or leave it up to Admin on the AD server? Is the below section for Domain needed?

Is just the Domain name text box needed, or the user stuff, also? I have all of it working, but I would imagine the user would really need to be created on the Admin server through AD.

[ICANIT]

I've pretty much figured everything out through trial and error. Just have one last thing I believe I have over-built:

When picking either Workgroup or Domain for the client machine, if pick a Domain, do you enter anything or leave it up to Admin on the AD server? Is the below section for Domain needed?

Is just the Domain name text box needed, or the user stuff, also? I have all of it working, but I would imagine the user would really need to be created on the Admin server through AD.

for Workgroup you can write anything you want. but for Domain, the domain must exist and be accessable from the client computer and the useraccount must exist in AD and have rights for creating computeraccounts.

How are you planning to use this? you cannot create a Useraccount from the client, so the "User Name" in your box must be an allready existing user in AD, and then you dont need to type the password twice. (default, only Administrators have rights to join computers to the domain)

Personally I dont see the need for this, since its done in the unattended SIF or XML file. but lets see what you can come up with. :-)

[mritter]

That's what I needed clarification on: Was is even possible to make a user account on the client machine and join a domain from the client machine and have the server recognize it. Sounds like no.

So really, all I even need to have there is a box for Workgroup name. Not even offer anything for domain, right? Since it is all done through the server.

The whole idea behind the new Network Wizard is you make a list of users with their appropriate machine IP info, computer name, user account, etc. ahead of time. So say you have a business with 25 computers on a Workgroup, you make an entry for every person/computer. Then your winnt.sif could still have the basic info (key, unattended, display, etc), but no user/machine specific info. WPI's new Network Wizard will open a new window when install process is started and you pick the user you want to install for (or none). Or specify from command line args so no window opens.

For people on a domain, you can still use this to set IP info, computer name, create Window's accounts, etc.

So what I will do is get rid of all domain stuff, no radio button for Workgroup, just a text box. If something is entered then it will assume Workgroup and join it. If left blank, nothing will be done.