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Create, manage, and delete users and groups in Active Directory

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This article describes how to create, manage, and delete users and groups in Microsoft® Active Directory®.

This article applies only to those customers using their own Active Directory setup. Those customers who
want to manage Active Directory users in the Rackspace Shared Active Directory domain should open a support
ticket in your portal.

Prerequisites:

  • Must have Active Directory Domain Services installed
  • Must have access to the domain controller to make changes
  • Must have domain admin access to the domain controller

Create a new user in Active Directory

Use the following steps to create a new user in Active Directory:

  1. Log in to your domain controller by using the Remote Desktop.

  2. Use one of the following options to open Active Directory Users and Computers:

    • Right-click the Start menu, select Run, enter dsa.msc, and click OK.

    • Use the Windows® search function by clicking on Start and entering dsa.msc.

    • Click on Server Manager -> Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers from the menu.

  3. Expand your domain from the left-hand menu.

  4. Depending on whether you are using organizational units or not, find the appropriate object to place
    the user in. By default, you can use the Users object if you do not have or plan to create an
    organizational unit.

  5. After you find the appropriate object for the new user, right-click it, select New from the menu,
    and select User.

  6. In the New Object - User window, enter the First Name, Last Name, and User logon name.
    When you enter the First Name and Last Name, the wizard auto-populates the Full Name.
    Note: If you use the User logon name (pre-Windows 2000), this choice limits you to 20 characters.

  7. Click Next. For the new password, we recommend using an online tool to generate a random password or
    creating a complex password that includes at least three of the four following categories:

    • English uppercase characters (A through Z)

    • English lowercase characters (a through z)

    • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)

    • Non-alphabetic characters (For example, !, $, #, %)

  8. Input the password. When finished, click Next.

  9. After you review the Summary, click Finish.

Delete or remove a user from Active Directory

Use the following steps to delete a new user from Active Directory:

  1. Log in to your domain controller by using Remote Desktop.

  2. Use one of the following options to open Active Directory Users and Computers:

    • Right-click the Start menu, select Run, enter dsa.msc, and click OK.

    • Use the Windows search function by clicking on Start and entering dsa.msc.

    • Click on Server Manager -> Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers from the menu.

  3. Expand your domain from the left-hand menu.

  4. To use the Find function in Active Directory, right-click your domain and select Find. Ensure
    that you select Users, Contacts, and Groups from the Find drop-down menu. Then, type the Name
    of the user you want to delete.

  5. You can delete or disable the user.
    Note: Deleting the user is not reversible.

    • To delete the user, right-click the user and select delete. Click Yes in the confirmation
      window if you are sure.

    • To disable the user, right-click the user and select disable. Click Yes in the confirmation
      window if you are sure.

Create a new group within Active Directory

Use the following steps to create a new group in Active Directory:

  1. Log in to your domain controller by using the Remote Desktop.

  2. Use one of the following options to open Active Directory Users and Computers:

    • Right-click the Start menu, select Run, enter dsa.msc, and click OK.

    • Use the Windows search function by clicking on Start and entering dsa.msc.

    • Click on Server Manager -> Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers from the menu.

  3. Expand your domain from the left-hand menu.

  4. Depending on whether you are using organizational units or not, find the appropriate object to place
    the user in. By default, the built-in Microsoft default groups are under the Users organization unit.
    If you prefer, you can put the user in a custom organization unit.

  5. Right-click the object you want to choose for the user, select New, and select Group.

  6. In the wizard, enter your group name. By default, the wizard preselects Global under Group Scope
    and Security under Group Type. Do not change the group type to Distribution because that option
    creates distribution groups for Microsoft Exchange® and e-mail.

Add or remove users to or from a group

You can add and remove a user to or from a group from the Group or from the User. This section describes
both options.

Use the following steps to add or remove a users to or from groups in Active Directory:

  1. Log in to your domain controller by using Remote Desktop.

  2. Use one of the following options to open Active Directory Users and Computers:

    • Right-click the Start menu, select Run, enter dsa.msc, and click OK.

    • Use the Windows search function by clicking on Start and entering dsa.msc.

    • Click on Server Manager -> Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers from the menu.

  3. Expand your domain from the left-hand menu.

  4. To add the user to a group from the Group, use the following steps:

    a. Right-click your domain and select Find. Ensure that you select Users, Contacts, and Groups
    from the Find drop-down menu. Enter the Name of the group and click Find Now.

    b. Right-click the group and select Properties.

    c. Click the Members tab.

    d. To remove a user, click the user to highlight it and click Remove.

    e. To add a user, click Add. Type the username into Enter the object names to select.
    Click Check Names. Click OK when the wizard underlines the name.

  5. To add a user to a group from the User, use the following steps:

    a. Right-click your domain and select Find. Ensure that you select Users, Contacts, and Groups
    from the Find drop-down menu. Enter the Name of the user and click Find Now.

    b. Right-click the user and select Properties.

    c. Click the Member Of tab.

    d. To remove the user from a group, click the group and click Remove.

    e. To add the user to a group click Add. Type the group name into
    Enter the object names to select. Click Check Names and click OK when the wizard underlines the name.

Delete a Group within Active Directory

Use the following steps to delete a group from Active Directory:

  1. Log in to your domain controller by using Remote Desktop.

  2. Use one of the following options to open Active Directory Users and Computers:

    • Right-click the Start menu, select Run, enter dsa.msc, and click OK.

    • Use the Windows search function by clicking on Start and entering dsa.msc.

    • Click on Server Manager -> Tools and select Active Directory Users and Computers from the menu.

  3. Expand your domain from the left-hand menu.

  4. To use the Find function within Active Directory, right-click your domain and select Find. Ensure
    that you select Users, Contacts, and Groups from the Find drop down menu. Type the Name of the
    group you want to delete.

  5. Right-click the group and select delete. Click Yes in the confirmation window if you are sure.

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Updated 4 months ago