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Active Directory - Joining a Computer to the Domain (Windows Vista/Windows 7)

A Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine must be joined to the Campus Active Directory domain before it can make use of the Active Directory resources.

You can join a Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine to the Campus Active Directory domain using either the Computer Properties dialog or the PowerShell. Both options are documented here.

Authorized Users Only: Only authorized users are allowed to join a machine to the campus active directory domain. If you are interested in using the campus active directory for your department or organization, please fill out a request form.

Before Joining

Before joining a Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine to the Campus Active Directory, please have the following information ready:

New Users:
If you have just received your Campus Active Directory user account, you will need to change its password before you can join a machine to the domain. Active Directory - Changing your account password

Network Requirements:
The computer joining the domain must be connected to the campus network or WiscVPN in order to join and log into the Campus Active Directory.

Using the Computer Properties Dialog

Screenshots are taken from Windows 7, but should look similar, if not identical, to Windows Vista.

1. Log into the Windows computer you want to join to the domain. You must be logged into an account with Administrator access.
   
   
2. In the Start Menu or Desktop, right-click Computer and select Properties. This will open the System control panel menu.
   
   
3. Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, click Change Settings
   
   
   
   
4. Under the Computer Name tab, click the Change... button.
   
   
   
   
5. Verify the computer name under Computer Name. Please prepend it with your OU name and a hyphen to comply with our Naming Conventions Policy.
   
   
6. Select the Domain option, then enter ad.wisc.edu or adtest.wisc.edu as the domain. Click OK to continue.
   
   
   
   
7. You will be prompted for a user name and password. Enter the credentials provided to you by the Campus Active Directory administrators and click OK.
   
   
8. If authentication succeeds, you will receive a welcome message. Click OK to continue. If you receive in error, verify you have entered the domain, user name, and password correctly. If you still cannot join to the domain, contact the Campus Active Directory administrators at activedirectory@doit.wisc.edu. Please include the error message you received.
   
   
9. You will be informed to restart your computer. Click OK to continue. This will not restart your computer.
   
   
10. Click OK in the System Properties dialog to continue.
    
    
11. You will be prompted to restart your computer. If you are ready to restart, click Yes to restart the computer. Otherwise, click No and manually restart later. You must restart in order to complete the process of joining the domain.
    
    
12. Perform any additional tasks after joining the domain.
    
    

Using the PowerShell

You can join a machine to the Campus Active Directory using the Add-Computer PowerShell Command. Windows PowerShell comes pre-installed with Windows 7. Windows Vista (and XP SP2) users can download and install Windows PowerShell from the Recommended Updates section of Windows Update or by visiting the Windows PowerShell homepage.

Note: The Add-Computer command does not allow you to specify a computer name, so verify your computer is named to what you want before running this command. (The Rename-Computer command is not available in PowerShell v2).

1. Log into the Windows machine you want to join as an Administrator.
   
   
2. Open a Command Prompt (located in All Programs -> Accessories).
   
   
3. Type in the following command to start Windows PowerShell: powershell
   
   
4. In the PowerShell prompt enter the following command:
   
   Add-Computer -Domain domain -Credential domain\netid-ou
   
   where domain is either ad.wisc.edu or adtest.wisc.edu and netid-ou is your OU administrator account.
   
   
5. You will be asked for your password, then the computer will be joined to the domain. You will have to restart the computer for the changes to take affect.
   
   

After Joining

Logging in with AD Credentials: You can log into your workstation with your OU Administrator account by prepending the username with ad.wisc.edu\ or adtest.wisc.edu\. Note that additional configuration is required to allow NetID authentication. (See below.)

Installing AD Management Software: You can install additional Windows tools to manage your Organizational Unit. Active Directory - Remote Administration Tools

Moving the Computer: A computer is placed in a default OU when joining the domain. You should move it within your own OU as soon as possible after joining. Active Directory - Moving a Newly Joined Machine to Your Organizational Unit

NetID Authentication: NetIDs cannot be authenticated against the AD.WISC.EDU or ADTEST.WISC.EDU domains. In order to use NetIDs for authentication, a registry edit must be made to allow authentication against the LOGIN.WISC.EDU Kerberos realm. Active Directory - Configuring a Workstation for NetID Authentication (Windows)

See Also:

• Active Directory - Joining a Computer to the Domain (Windows XP)
• Active Directory - Joining a Computer to the Domain (Mac OS X)
• Active Directory - Configuring a Workstation for NetID Authentication (Windows)
• Active Directory - Moving a Newly Joined Machine to Your Organizational Unit
• Active Directory - Remote Administration Tools