▷ How to connect computer to active directory and access with user

In this article we are going to see what we must do to connect a computer to Active Directory and access with a user that is in it. Already in other articles we have seen how to install and configure Active Directory in Windows Server 2016. Now it is time to make this configuration effective and give it the utility for which it is designed.

The purpose of Active Directory is precisely to contain a database in which we can store objects such as users, computers, or shared directories to which we will assign access permissions.

Our purpose will be to connect with a computer to an Active Directory server and register with a user that we have previously created in it. So we will see what we must do to achieve this. To do this, we will use a computer with Windows 10 installed.

DNS settings on the client computer

Before we can join the domain and connect through a user to our server, we will have to configure our network connection to point to the correct DNS server. This will be our Windows Server 2016.

We will go to the taskbar to open the network adapter options. We will click on the adapter icon to access the configuration window. In this, we will click on the option “ Change adapter options ”.

Now we will open the window where our network adapter appears, we must right-click on it and choose " Properties"

Once inside, we choose the option " IPv4 Internet Protocol " and click again on " Properties"

We assign as a “ Preferred DNS Server ” parameter the IP address of our Windows Server 2016 server, which has a DNS server installed for these purposes.

Optionally, we can also configure a static IP address so that it is preset on the computer. As secondary DNS we can place for example 8.8.8.8 which is the IP of Google's DNS.

In this way Windows Server will be able to resolve on NetBIOS name of our domain.

Set up computer to connect to a domain

To do this, we must make sure that our client computer belongs to the domain that we have created. To do this, open the file explorer and click on " This computer " with the right button and go to " Properties ".

In the properties window, we will go to the names section and click on " Change settings ".

Now a window opens in which we must go to " Team name ". click on the " Change " button.

In this window, it is where we will have to make the modifications. We must choose the " Domain " option, and write the domain that we have created in Active Directory.

We will not write the full name of the Domain, but the NetBIOS name that we configure during its creation.

A window will appear where we will have to put the credentials of a user to join the domain. In our case it will be a user that we created in a previous article about installing Active Directory .

We must put the NetBIOS name that we gave to our domain when we create the forest. In our case it will be " proreview ".

The team will notify us that we have successfully joined the domain. Now it will ask us to restart the computer for the changes to take effect. We accept all windows, and the computer will proceed to restart.

Now in the blocking window we will have to choose " Other user " to connect with the Active Directory user, so we will put the corresponding credentials to log in.

Once inside with the user, we can see how the network shows that we are connected to the Active Directory domain that we have created.

This will be the way to connect a computer as an Active Directory client and thus take advantage of its resources.

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We hope the tutorial has been useful to you. Leave us in the comments that you think.