Field Notes: Service running with gMSA account not starting

I recently deployed a new Active Directory Forest in my lab on Windows Server 2022. I wanted to configure the Microsoft On Demand Assessments for Active Directory and also needed to deploy Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI). I wanted to use a Group Managed Service account to run these instead of a normal service account. … Continue reading Field Notes: Service running with gMSA account not starting →

Permanently delete objects from the Active Directory Recycle Bin

With the Active Directory Recycle Bin enabled, deleted Active Directory objects can be easily recovered. The deleted items can be recovered for as long as the Active Directory tombstone lifetime. Based on default configuration this should be 180 days. I recently received a request from a customer to know how they can permanently delete user … Continue reading Permanently delete objects from the Active Directory Recycle Bin →

Field Notes: Active Directory tombstone lifetime

The days of updating the default tombstone lifetime for Active Directory may be long forgotten, but if your Active Directory Forest has been running since Windows Server 2000/2003 and you have never verified the tombstone lifetime, it may be worthwhile to do so. As I have found first-hand with my customer, there are some deployments out there that may still be using a tombstone lifetime of 60 days. Expecting a value of 180 days and realizing too late that this is not the case may cause unnecessary complications in the future.

Use Azure Backup for Active Directory forest recovery requirements | Part 2

In part one of this series, we used Azure Backup to enable a daily backup schedule on two Domain Controllers, one from each domain in the Active Directory forest. A few days have passed since Azure Backup was configured. Multiple backups (restore points) should be available for each of the Domain Controllers. In this post, one of these recovery points will be used to restore the forest root Domain Controller in an Azure isolated virtual network (VNET), while having no impact on the production environment. We should be able to successfully logon to this Domain Controller after the restore, to perform the remaining Active Directory recovery steps.

Use Azure Backup for Active Directory forest recovery requirements | Part 1

In this series I will demonstrate how to configure Azure Backup to protect a Domain Controller deployed in Azure. An initial backup will be performed which will then be used to restore the Azure Virtual Machine (VM) to an isolated Virtual Network. The VM restore will be tested by signing into the Domain Controller with the built-in Administrator account. This validates the successful backup and restore of the Domain Controller VM. Part 1 covers the configuration of Azure Backup and creation of backups for two Domain Controllers in Azure. I will configure backup for a Domain Controller in the forest root domain and a Domain Controller in the child domain.

How to Setup a Managed Identity for the Azure Sentinel Logic App Connector

Something that's been on the waiting list for a number of customers and myself, is the ability to choose a System-assigned Managed Identity for Azure Sentinel Playbooks. This enables Azure Sentinel customers the ease of allowing the system to manage access of the logic behind the automated components, without the drudgery of manually maintaining AAD … Continue reading How to Setup a Managed Identity for the Azure Sentinel Logic App Connector →

Field Notes: Zerologon | CVE-2020-1472 | Manage Netlogon secure channel changes

The Netlogon vulnerability (CVE-2020-1472) is well documented and includes all the required remediation and preparation steps for the next update coming February 2021. We are less than a month away from the enforcement phase, and I have found that some customers are still unsure of what they need to do in regards to this vulnerability and the security updates. I've decided to publish this post to clarify the required actions, and tools available after deploying the August 2020 security update.

Field notes: The case of the missing Organizational Unit (OU)

I recently assisted a customer with missing OU's in Active Directory. We found that the OU's were not deleted (thanks to the AD Recycle Bin), but were actually moved to another OU instead. These occurrences can easily be prevented by using a feature that was introduced with Active Directory on Windows Server 2008. Now this is nothing new, but since we are still finding occurrences of this at our customers, I decided to publish this post as a reminder to review all OU's in your Active Directory forest, and ensure they are protected from accidental deletion.

Intune – Query Azure AD Bitlocker Keys using Graph API

The Issue If you have recently started using the BitLocker Encryption options out of Intune whether its device configuration or the endpoint protection encryption portion you will see there are many great reports like the encryption below. The problem is its quite hard to see if your machines have backed up their keys to Azure … Continue reading Intune – Query Azure AD Bitlocker Keys using Graph API →

Intune – “Conditional Access, Terms of Use and The Company Portal”

The Issue We recently had an issue where we tried to use the Conditional Access setting and only granting Terms of Use for an Android Device Enrollment. The Investigation What happens now is as described in our docs article Terms of use - Azure Active Directory | Microsoft Docs - The authenticator app installs... Why … Continue reading Intune – “Conditional Access, Terms of Use and The Company Portal” →