Create first DC server

Setup datastore & install first VM

Create new datastore from Storage > New datastore. Created datastore ds1
From Virtual machines > Create/Register VM
Create a new VM with 2 cpu, 4 gb ram, 60 gb storage
Upload Windows server 2022 ISO file into the ds1 datastore (inside an ISOs folder)
Select the ISO as DVD attachment for the VM

Spin up the VM and install Windows. Set up Administrator account. Once the installation is done, I am able to log in to the Administrator account and access Windows environment.

Change server name & Set static IP

From the server manager dashboard:

Go to local server > click on computer name
Change the computer name(i.e. UCCH45DC01) following the next prompt
Click OK and restart the computer
After the restart I can see the name set accordingly

From the IPv4 settings of the ethernet adapter, setting the following static IP for the DC server as 192.168.0.161/24 and the preferred DNS server address to it’s own address 192.168.0.161

Install AD DS

From the server manager dashboard:

Select Add roles and features
Installation type: role-based or feature-based installation
Select the server
Select role Active Directory Domain Services
The default features for this role is automatically added
Check the automatic restart option and then the installation begins

Promote into domain controller

There is a notification flag with option “Promote this server into a domain controller”. Going into that:

Select deployment operation “Add a new forest”
Provide root domain name as “yourdomain.com”
Set a secure DSRM password

Since the DNS server is being created at the moment, there is a warning about a “delegation for the DNS server cannot be created”. This warning can be ignored in this case.

Set a NetBIOS name same as the root domain name “yourdomain”
Keep the default options for AD DS database, log files and SYSVOL paths
If all the prerequisites are met, click install

After the installation is finished, the server restarts automatically.