On a previous blog ( here ), LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution) was installed. LAPS manages and updates the local Administrator passwords on clients and member servers, controlled via GPO. Only Domain Admins have default permission to view the local administrator password for clients and member servers. Access to view the passwords by non-Domain Admins is via delegation, here lies the problem. Access to the local administrator passwords may be delegated unintentionally. This could lead to a serious security breach, leaking all local admin accounts passwords for all computer objects to those that shouldn't have access. This article will demonstrate a typical delegation for adding a computer object to an OU and how to tweak the delegation to prevent access to the ms-Mcs-AdmPwd attribute. Prep Work There is some prep-work, LAPS is required to be installed and configured, follow the above link. At least 1 non-domain joined client, preferably 2 eg Windows 10 or 11 Enterprise. A test account, mine's named TestAdmin, with no privileges or delegations and an OU named 'Workstation Test'. Ideally, I'll be using AD Groups and not adding TestAdmin directly to the OU, it's easy for demonstration purposes. Delegation of Account Open Active Directory Users and Computers or type dsa.msc in the run command. With a Domain Admin account right-click on 'Workstation Test' OU, Properties, Security Tab and then Advanced. Click Add and select the TestAdmin as the principal. Select, Applies to: This Object and all Descendant Objects In the Permission window below select: Create Computer Objects Delete Computer Objects Apply the change. This is a 2 step process, repeat this time selecting. Applies to: Descendant Computer Objects Select Full Control in the Permissions window. Test Delegation Log on to a domain workstation with RSAT installed and open Active Directory Users and Computers. Test by pre-creating a Computer object, right-click on the OU and select New > Computer, and type the hostname of the client to be added. Log on to a non-domain joined Windows client as the administrator and add to the domain using the TestAdmin credentials, reboot. Then wait for the LAPS policy to apply.......I've set a policy to update daily. View the LAPS Password As the TestAdmin, from within AD Users and Computers go to View and select Advanced. Right-click properties on the client, select the Attribute tab Scroll down and locate 'ms-Mcs-AdmPwd', that the Administrator password for that client. The Fix.... To prevent TestAdmin from reading the ms-Mcs-AdmPwd attribute value, a slight amendment to the delegation is required. As the Domain Admin right-click on 'Workstation Test' OU, Properties, Security Tab and then Advanced. Select the TestAdmin entry, it should say 'Full Control'. Remove 'All Extended Rights', 'Change Password' and 'Reset Password' and apply the change. As TestAdmin open AD Users and open the Computer attributes. ms-Mcs-AdmPwd is no longer visible. Did I Just Break Something...... Test the change by adding a computer object to the OU and adding a client to the domain. Introducing computers to the domain is functional... No harm no foul. Final Thoughts Removing the Extended Rights and Password permissions prevents the delegated account from reading the local administrator password from ms-Mcs-AdmPwd AD attribute without causing any noticeable problems. Watch for any future delegations ensuring the permissions aren't restored by accident. Enjoy and hope this was insightful.

In this article, I'll describe the process of Code Signing PowerShell scripts from a Microsoft CA. I'll not cover how Code Signing adds security, simply put Code Signing doesn't provide or was intended to provide a robust security layer. However, Code Signing does provide both Authenticity and Integrity: The Authenticity that the script was written or reviewed by a trusted entity and then signed. Integrity ensures that once signed the script hasn't been modified, useful when deploying scripts or executing scripts by a scheduled task with a service account. Bypassing Code Signing requirements is simple, open ISE, paste in the code and F8, instant bypass. However, my development 'Enterprise' system is not standard, ISE won't work as Constrained Language Mode prevents all but core functionality from loading, meaning no API's, .Net, Com and most modules. As a note, even with the script, code signed, ISE is next to useless with Constrained Language Mode enforced. Scripts require both signing and authorising in Applocker\WDAC and will only execute from native PowerShell. Back to it..... This is a typical message when executing a PowerShell script with the system requiring Code Signing. To successfully execute the script, the script must be signed with a digital signature from either a CA or Self Signed certificate. I'm not going to Self Sign, it's filth and I've access to a Microsoft Certificate Authority (CA) as part of the Enterprise. Login to the CA, launch 'Manage' and locate the 'Code Signing' template, then 'Duplicate Template'. Complete the new template with the following settings: General: Name the new certificate template with something meaningful and up the validity to 3 years or to the maximum the corporate policy allows. Compatibility: Update the Compatibility Settings and Certificate Recipient to 'Windows Server 2016' and 'Windows 10/Windows Server 2016' respectively. Request Handling: Check the 'Allow private key to be exported'. Cryptographic: Set 'Minimum key size' to either 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192 or 16,384 Select 'Requests must use one of the following providers:' and check 'Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider' ( description ) Security: Ideally, enrolment is controlled via an AD Group with both READ and Enrol permissions. Do not under any circumstances allow WRITE or FULL. Save the new template and then issue by right-clicking on 'Certificate Template' > New and 'Certificate Template to Issue'. From a client and logged on with the account that is a member of the 'CRT_PowerShellCodeSigning' group, launch MMC and add the Certificate snap-in for the Current User. Browse to Personal > Certificates and right-click in the empty space to the right, then click on 'All Tasks' > 'Request New Certificate. Select the 'Toyo Code Signing' template and then click on 'Properties' to add in some additional information. Add a Friendly Name and Description. Enrol the template. Now, right-click on the new 'Code Signing' certificate > All Tasks > Export. Select 'Yes, export the private key'. Ensure the 2 PKCS options are selected. Check the 'Group or username (recommended)' and on the Encryption drop-down select 'AES256-SHA256'. Complete the wizard by exporting the .pfx file The final step is to sign a script with the .pfx file using PowerShell. Set-AuthenticodeSignature -FilePath "C:\Downloads\SecureReport9.4.ps1" -cert "C:\Downloads\CodeSigning.pfx" Open the newly signed script and at the bottom of the script is the digital signature. Launch PowerShell.exe and run the script. For those with Applocker\WDAC then the script requires adding to the allow list by file hash. Now I'll be able to execute my own Pentest script on my allegedly secure system and locate any missing settings..... As always thanks for your support.

Today is a quick explanation regarding OU delegation using PowerShell with usable examples and how-to located the GUID that identifies the object type being delegated. All the required scripts can be found on my Github ( here ). Delegated Test Account: For demonstration purposes, the following is executed directly on the Domain Controller and as a Domain Admin. Create a test user named 'SrvOps' and add it to the 'Server Operators', group. This effectively provides Administrator privileges on the DC's without access to AD. Create the following Global Groups, CompDele, UserDele and GroupDele and to the SrvOps user. Greate the following OU's, Computer, User and Group. Shift and Right-click 'Active Directory Users and Computer' and 'Run as a Different User', and enter the SrvOps credentials. Right-click on the Computer OU and you will notice that there's no options to New and select an object type. ADSI Edit and Object GUID: Close the AD snap-in. Back to Domain Admin and launch 'adsiedit.msc'. Select 'Schema' from the 'Select a well known Naming Context:' and OK. Scroll down and select 'CN=Computer' properties. On the 'Attribute Editor' tab scroll down and locate 'schemaIDGUID'. This is the Guid object identity used for delegating Computer objects. It's not possible to copy the value directly and double clicking provides Hex or Binary values which can be copied. The following converts the Hex to the required Guid value. $trim = ("86 7A 96 BF E6 0D D0 11 A2 85 00 AA 00 30 49 E2").replace(" ","") $oct = "$trim" $oct1 = $oct.substring(0,2) $oct2 = $oct.substring(2,2) $oct3 = $oct.substring(4,2) $oct4 = $oct.substring(6,2) $oct5 = $oct.substring(8,2) $oct6 = $oct.substring(10,2) $oct7 = $oct.substring(12,2) $oct8 = $oct.substring(14,2) $oct9 = $oct.substring(16,4) $oct10 = $oct.substring(20,12) $strOut = "$oct4" + "$oct3" + "$oct2" + "$oct1" + "-" + "$oct6" + "$oct5" + "-" + "$oct8" + "$oct7" + "-" + "$oct9" + "-" + "$oct10" write-host $strOut #result = BF967A86-0DE6-11D0-A285-00AA003049E2 The Script: Download the scripts from Github ( here ) and open with Powershell_ise. Update the DN, the OU path to the Computer OU created earlier. Execute the script and repeat for Users and Groups scripts. Relaunch 'Active Directory Users and Computers' as a different user and enter the SrvOps account credentials. Right-click on each of the OU's and 'New'. You will notice SrvOps can now create objects relative to the name of the OU. Final Considerations: Retrieving the 'schemaIDGUID' from ADSI Edit allows the delegation of pretty much any object type within AD and for the most part a couple of minor tweaks to the scripts provided and your set. Enjoy and if you find this useful please provide some feedback via the homepage's comment box.

I encountered an issue with SCCM\MECM failing to deploy the LAPS application to clients and servers. This was previously working fine but now was failing with a Past Due error in Software Center. The AppEnforce.log produced the only meaningful SCCM error events of 0x87d01106 and 0x80070005. 0x80070005 CMsiHandler::EnforceApp failed (0x80070005). AppProvider::EnforceApp - Failed to invoke EnforceApp on Application handler(0x80070005). CommenceEnforcement failed with error 0x80070005. Method CommenceEnforcement failed with error code 80070005 ++++++ Failed to enforce app. Error 0x80070005. ++++++ CMTrace Error Lookup reported ‘Access denied’ 0x87d01106 Invalid executable file C:\Windows\msiexec.exe CMsiHandler::EnforceApp failed (0x87d01106). AppProvider::EnforceApp - Failed to invoke EnforceApp on Application handler(0x87d01106). CommenceEnforcement failed with error 0x87d01106. Method CommenceEnforcement failed with error code 87D01106 ++++++ Failed to enforce app. Error 0x87d01106. ++++++ CMTrace Error Lookup reported Failed to verify the executable file is valid or to construct the associated command line. Source: Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Interestingly testing revealed that .msi applications, configuration items aka compliance and WDAC policy were affected with .exe deployments remaining unaffected. Executing the install string from the administrator account also worked. Somewhat concerning as SCCM deployments execute as System, the highest privilege possible, yet all application installs failed across the entire domain. At this point, Google is normally your friend..... but the results suggested PowerShell, and the wrong user context, as it's a msi issue, these suggestions were not helpful. Clearly, I'm asking the wrong question...... When in doubt or.... stuck, trawl the eventlogs, the SCCM logs weren't going to give up anything further. Fortunately, in fairly short order the following errors were located in the Windows Defender log. Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard has blocked an operation that is not allowed by your IT administrator. For more information please contact your IT administrator. ID: D1E49AAC-8F56-4280-B9BA-993A6D77406C Detection time: 2023-02-23T21:03:46.265Z User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Path: C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe Process Name: C:\Windows\System32\wbem\WmiPrvSE.exe Target Commandline: "C:\Windows\system32\msiexec.exe" /i "LAPS.x64.msi" /q /qn Parent Commandline: C:\Windows\system32\wbem\wmiprvse.exe -Embedding Involved File: Inheritance Flags: 0x00000000 Security intelligence Version: 1.383.518.0 Engine Version: 1.1.20000.2 Product Version: 4.18.2301.6 Now I know the correct question to ask Google 'D1E49AAC-8F56-4280-B9BA-993A6D77406C', with Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) being the culprit. The following is an extract from the Microsoft page: 'Block process creations originating from PSExec and WMI commands D1E49AAC-8F56-4280-B9BA-993A6D77406C Block process creations originating from PSExec and WMI commands This rule blocks processes created through PsExec and WMI from running. Both PsExec and WMI can remotely execute code. There's a risk of malware abusing the functionality of PsExec and WMI for command and control purposes, or to spread infection throughout an organization's network. Warning Only use this rule if you're managing your devices with Intune or another MDM solution. This rule is incompatible with management through Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager because this rule blocks WMI commands the Configuration Manager client uses to function correctly. There is no fix, only a workaround, involving updating the ASR setting Block Mode to Audit Mode in Group Policy. Open GPO Management and locate the ASR rules under Windows Components/Microsoft Defender Antivirus/Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard/Attack Surface Reduction. Open the 'Configure Attack Surface Reduction Rules'. Update value name 'D1E49AAC-8F56-4280-B9BA-993A6D77406C' from 1 to 2. Gpupdate /force to refresh the GPO's on the client, then check the eventlog for 5007 recording the change from Block to Audit Mode. Test an SCCM Application deployment to confirm the fix. One final check of the event log confirming event id 1122 for the deployed application.

When deploying a Windows operating system or installing MDT applications, a mapped network drive is usually mounted temporarily as Z:\. The letter "Z" is chosen because it is typically not used for local drives in most deployments, it's less likely to conflict with existing drive letters on the target computer. What occurs when an application necessitates the use of the Z:\ drive during the process of deploying an image through MDT? It's often better to overlook your initial reaction.....Z: Being engaged during the operating system installation. Applications can persist with preconfigured mapped network drives. The illustration provided represents a common example of a regular operating system deployment, and it's evident that the drive letter Z: is assigned to the MDT Deployment share. There appear to be two approaches to altering the fixed Z:\ drive mapping to a different designated letter, although there might be additional methods available as well . During my search for a solution, Google yielded no results, which could potentially be attributed to me asking the wrong questions. Late to the party and whilst writing this blog, ChatGPT provided a suggestion to address this issue, update the 'CustomSettings.ini' file by incorporating 'DriveLetter=Y'. Had it succeeded on the initial attempt, it would have presented a more graceful resolution, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, I haven't delved into the reasons behind the failure. Let's proceed with a working solution by modifying the hardcoded drive letter in ZTIUtility.vbs. I'm using PowerShell_ISE as it conveniently displays the line number. Browse to C:\MDTDeploymentShare\Scripts\ZTIUtility.vbs Search for "z" and on line 3003 or thereabouts, depending on the version of MDT installed, update the hardcoded drive 'Z' to something else, not C: or X: as these are also used by the OS and MDT. In this case, I've designated the letter 'T' as the new MDT mapped network drive. Regenerate the Boot images by Updating the Deployment Share. Choose 'Completely regenerate the boot images', then grab a coffee. Launch WDS and Replace the Image. Browse to the MDT Share and select the LiteTouchPE_x64.wim. Deploy a new Windows OS from MDT Pxe and the MDTDeploymentShare is now mapped as "T:\". If you found the content valuable, I encourage you to explore the MDT deployment guides and instructional resources available under the main website sections. Finally, I'm headed off to have strong words with the individual responsible for implementing an application that requires hardcoded drives for configuration components.

Thousands of files, no structure, let's get them organised into months and years with PowerShell. Duplicates are moved to another directory for review. This script was written in response to trying to manage the 10’s of thousands of photos and videos being uploaded to a file share each year. Management is near impossible with Synology’s DS Photo Android App automatically uploading new photo’s to the root of the share. Plus any taken with cameras or other mobiles were also dumped into the same share. A bit of a mess. For the purposes of testing and this blog, a Data directory was created off the root of C:\. A few hundred photos and videos have been dumped… oops… copied into the folder. The files were copied to create duplicates. Download the 'hash and then sort by month' script from @ Tenaka/FileSystem (github.com) Open PowerShell_ise and browse to the downloaded script. Update the $path variable, Ctrl + A and then F8, sit back and wait for the files to be organised. On a serious note, please don't run this without testing. So what does it do: All files are compared based on their file hash to find all duplicates. Duplicate file names are amended to include an incremental number preventing potential loss of data with files overwriting each other. Files that aren't duplicates are moved based on their creation date to Year\Month directory.

Invizbox If you’re looking to take your online privacy up a notch, combining Tor with an InvizBox router is a smart move. The InvizBox makes it easy to route your network traffic through the Tor network, giving you anonymity without having to tinker with complex configurations on each device. In this blog I'll walk through how to get Tor running on your InvizBox so you can browse the web more securely and privately. TOR TOR protects the user's privacy and your IP address from your ISP and anyone interested in the traffic leaving the property by applying multiple layers of encryption to your browser traffic and passing the traffic through a series of random Tor relays. As the traffic progresses through the relays a layer of encryption is decrypted revealing the next hope unit the exit node where the final layer is decrypted and the original web request is sent on to its final destination. Simplified diagram of Tor. The green lines are encrypted. That's the basics of how Tor works and I tend to run it from a Linux variant such as Kali or Backbox. A while back I purchased an Invizbox One, tested it and then chucked it in the back of the drawer. But with some extra time on my hands due to CV-19 I thought I would revisit the Invizbox. To start with the Invizbox didn't power on, a great start, it didn't like being plugged into the USB port of the router and so I moved it to a PC. Once connected to the Admin page the firmware had to be updated before Tor would start. On the Zyxel I assigned the DMZ to port 5, configured the Firewall, DHCP, DNS and then plugged in the yellow cable. On the Invizbox Admin page, I set the Privacy Mode to 'Tor' Set the country options to Europe and UK, wasn't sure if the UK was considered part of the EU or not...... That was pretty much it, nice and easy. Any client, Windows, Linux or even...Mac (yuck) can connect to the Invizbox wifi and browse from any country in Europe or UK. Yesterday apparently I was visiting Romania and today it's Germany. To sum up, it's a nifty little device that makes it easy and more accessible to more devices including those you can't install software on. The Invizbox was purchased a few years back at a cost of £50, it's now £80 on Amazon, direct from the Invizbox there's now a subscription for the VPN. There are alternatives like Anonabox. Would I purchase one today at £80, unlikely, if I had to use a device I would rather build an Onion Pi or Odroid. But likely I would carry on using Kali with Tor, it's free. Now the words of warning: There have been security flaws with Tor devices and with Tor as a browser, regularly check for updates. To maintain anonymity don't use the computer where your also logging on to Facebook, Amazon etc.... I would stay away from using Windows as it's a little heavy on the MS spyware and there's the potential for AV and Windows updates to be tampered with on the exit nodes. Only use secure websites to prevent the exit nodes from performing Man In The Middle attacks. The relay nodes are run and maintained by volunteers, which means that the nodes can't be trusted and some will be run by the NSA, FBI or criminals. https://tails.boum.org/ is recommended for maintaining privacy Invizbox and Alternatives https://www.anonabox.com/buy-anonabox-original.html https://www.invizbox.com/products/invizbox/#pricing https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/onion-pi-tor-proxy/

Creating a simple web report with PowerShell doesn't need to be a chore, there are limitations and it's definitely not a proper HTML editor. It doesn't mean the output should look shoddy. Like many, I'm using PowerShell to analyse Windows and display the results. The screen grab below is a section of a report I'm currently working on and soon to be published. The script is a comprehensive vulnerability assessment written entirely in PowerShell and made to look pretty without trawling through copious amounts of log outputs. This blog will cover the basics of taking PowerShell objects from various sources and creating HTLM output. It's not difficult, just fiddley, a couple of different techniques to successfully convert PowerShell to HTML may be required. Before everyone gets critical regarding the script formatting, some are due to how ConvertTo-HTML expects the data, most are to help those that aren’t familiar with scripting. There is a conscious decision not to use aliases or abbreviations and where possible to create variables. #Set Output Location Variables Nothing challenging here, creates a working directory, and sets the variable for the report output. Tests the existence of the path and if doesn’t exist creates the directory structure. $RootPath = "C:\Report" $OutFunc = "SystemReport" $tpSec10 = Test-Path "$RootPath \$OutFunc\" if ($tpSec10 -eq $false) { New-Item -Path "$RootPath \$OutFunc\" -ItemType Directory -Force } $working = "$RootPath \$OutFunc\" $Report = "$RootPath \$OutFunc\"+ "$OutFunc.html" #HTML to Text Keep it simple, create a variable and add some text. This is the one that ought to be straightforward and ended up being a bit of a pain. The conversion to HTML ended up producing garbage. Google gave some interesting solutions…. The fix I discovered turned out to be super simple. The fragment needs to be set as a ‘Table’ and not a ‘List’. Doh….. $Intro = "The results in this report are a guide and not a guarantee that the tested system is not without further defects or vulnerabilities." #Simple WMI This is a report about Windows, had better collect some wmi attributes. There are 2 methods, dump the attributes into a variable and process them later. Or create a variable for each required attribute and hashtable the data, the latter is a lot of effort. $hn = Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_computersystem $os = Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_operatingsystem $bios = Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_bios $cpu = Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_processor #Foreach and New-Object. Now life starts to get interesting. The date format needs updating from “23/11/2021 00:00:00” to “23/11/2021” to maintain the formatting a ‘foreach’ is required to strip out the additional characters per line, then added to an array. Under normal circumstances, the red code snippet would suffice. Foreach ($hfitem in $getHF) { $hfid = $hfitem.hotfixid $hfdate = ($hfitem.installedon).ToShortDateString() $hfurl = $hfitem.caption $newObjHF = $hfid, $hfdate,$hfurl $HotFix += $newObjHF } When dealing with HTML the correct method requires the use of ‘New-Object’ command. $HotFix=@() $getHF = Get-HotFix | Select-Object HotFixID,InstalledOn,Caption Foreach ($hfitem in $getHF) { $hfid = $hfitem.hotfixid $hfdate = $hfitem.installedon $hfurl = $hfitem.caption $newObjHF = New-Object psObject Add-Member -InputObject $newObjHF -Type NoteProperty -Name HotFixID -Value $hfid Add-Member -InputObject $newObjHF -Type NoteProperty -Name InstalledOn -Value ($hfdate).Date.ToString("dd-MM-yyyy") Add-Member -InputObject $newObjHF -Type NoteProperty -Name Caption -Value $hfurl $HotFix += $newObjHF } #Pulling Data from the Registry Registry keys require the ‘Get-ChildItem’ followed by ‘Get-ItemProperty’ to extract the individual settings from the Registry Hive. Each setting is then assigned to a variable. $getUnin = Get-ChildItem "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\" $UninChild = $getUnin.Name.Replace("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE","HKLM:") $InstallApps =@() Foreach ( $uninItem in $UninChild) { $getUninItem = Get-ItemProperty $uninItem $UninDisN = $getUninItem.DisplayName -replace "$null","" $UninDisVer = $getUninItem.DisplayVersion -replace "$null","" $UninPub = $getUninItem.Publisher -replace "$null","" $UninDate = $getUninItem.InstallDate -replace "$null","" $newObjInstApps = New-Object -TypeName PSObject Add-Member -InputObject $newObjInstApps -Type NoteProperty -Name Publisher -Value $UninPub Add-Member -InputObject $newObjInstApps -Type NoteProperty -Name DisplayName -Value $UninDisN Add-Member -InputObject $newObjInstApps -Type NoteProperty -Name DisplayVersion -Value $UninDisVer Add-Member -InputObject $newObjInstApps -Type NoteProperty -Name InstallDate -Value $UninDate $InstallApps += $newObjInstApps } #Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) To apply a consistent style to each element we use a CSS containing text size, colour and font as well as spacing and background colours. Each style, for example 'h1' has a set of properties that applies to any number of elements tagged "variable or text". reducing repeat lines of code required, updating the CSS and all elements receive the change. CSS Tutorial (w3schools.com) is a good resource to learn and try out CSS. In the example below h1, h2 and h3 set different sized fonts and colours. $style = @"

Ever looked at a packet trace and wondered where all those network connections are coming from, or where they’re headed, without having to query each IP one by one? Wireshark has you covered. Whether from a live capture or an imported file (say, from a Zyxel firewall), it can generate a clean, visual map of the traffic, like the example below. This is the standard log output from a Zyxel, nothing exciting, honest. Ignore 192.168.0.247 attempting to establish a UDP port 500 Isakmp to somewhere not local to query time. Enable a packet capture from the Diagnostic section and capture, add at least the external facing port, wan1. Once the capture has run for a while, stop and then export the files to the local computer where Wireshark is installed. Sign up to MaxMind.com, it's free to download the GeoLite2 Geo Data. https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geolite2-free-geolocation-data?lang=en At the bottom of the 'Products' list select 'GeoLite2 Free Geolocation Data' or click the link below. https://www.maxmind.com/en/accounts/699472/geoip/downloads Download the 3 zip files, GeoLite2 ASN, GeoLite2 City and GeoLite2 Country. Unpack and more to a common directory. Open Wireshark, File, Open and select the Zyxel packet capture to import. To import the Geo-Location data, select 'Edit' then 'Preferences'. Select 'Name Resolution' and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select 'Edit' for MaxMind Database Directories. Set the location for the unpacked files. To view the map, select 'Statistics' then 'Endpoints'. Select IPv4 or a tab with a number. At the bottom of the page, select 'Map' and then 'Open in Browser'. That's it.... done

Introduction This post walks through how to use PowerShell to set up targeted delegation for DNS, creating the right AD groups with clear scopes and following Microsoft’s recommended naming conventions. DNS Delegation DNSAdmins is a default security group in Active Directory that delegates administrative control over the DNS Zones and some DNS servers settings to a specific user account or Group. Members of this group have permission to manage DNS zones and records and configure DNS server settings including Forwarders etc. However, it may not be desirable to delegate the entire DNSAdmin permission to a user via DNSAdmins and a more targeted approach of delegating zone management or creation could be necessary. The script ( here ), creates the required groups to delegate DNS Server management, the ability to create and delete zones and finally zone management. Group names will either be named DNSServer or DNSZone, where 'MicrosoftDNS' is used the group defines a top-level permission. Also, AD groups follow the suggested Microsoft naming convention of 'AT' or Action Task. Here are a few examples: AT_DNSServer_MicrosoftDNS_Manage is defined as the ability to change settings for the DNS Server eg create Forwarders or scavenging. AT_DNSZone_MicrosoftDNS_Manage is defined as the ability to create and delete Zones but not change any DNS Server settings. AT_DNSZone_Microsoft.com_Manage is defined as the ability to manage the Microsoft.com DNS Zone. Note: DNSAdmin group on its own does not have enough permissions and requires Server Operators, Administrators for the Domain or Domain Admin, basically local administrative rights over Domain Controllers. Setup The setup is pretty straightforward a virtual Domain Controller and Member Server. An OU for the delegated groups with a pre-existing group named AT_Server_User. This is to provide login via a user account to the Member Server with Remote Desktop User Rights Assignment and the delegated DNS group(s). Update the Member Server OU GPO with the following changes. Create 'Restricted Groups' for Administrators and add AT_Server_Admin. Create 'Restricted Groups' for Remote Desktop Users and add AT_Server_User. Add both Remote Desktop Users and AT_Server_User to the 'Allow log on through Remote Desktop Service' User Rights Assignment. Create a user account and add it to the AT_Server_User group. Deploy the DNS delegation script ( here ) with Domain Admin rights on the Domain Controller. After executing the script the delegation OU should be similar to the picture below with groups for both forward and reverse zones and 2 default MicrosoftDNS groups. DNS Server Delegation Members of AT_DNSServer_MicrosoftDNS_Manage are able to connect DNS and manage server settings but not create, delete or manage any existing zone. Due to the issue of requiring administrative rights on Domain Controllers, not all settings can be managed. Setting for interface options, DNSSec or Trustpoints requires further rights, most other DNS configuration options are available. All DNS Delegation groups require a minimum of READ to connect via the DNS snapin. DNS Server permissions can be found under System, MicrosoftDNS in dsa.msc DNS Zone Creation and Deletion To create and delete zones open adsiedit and type 'dc=domaindnszones,dc=fqdn'. Full control for AT_DNSZone_Manage is set against CN=MicrosoftDNS without inheritance. DNS Zone Management Finally, each zone is delegated to a named DNS zone group. use adsiedit, connect to the 'default naming context' to browse to each zone to interrogate permissions.

Welcome Back Welcome back to the continuation of our series on deploying Domain Controllers using PowerShell and JSON. If you've been following along with Part 1 , you should now have a newly configured Domain Controller with a delegated Organizational Unit (OU) structure in place. If you missed Part 1 of the series, you can access the necessary files by following the provided link or reference, ( here ). This blog will provide an in-depth explanation of the delegation model that has been delivered by PowerShell. It will also delve into the intricacies of the Organizational Unit (OU) structure, the arrangement of nested Groups and the various Roles assigned. Aim of the Game The objective is to establish an Organizational Unit (OU) structure that aligns with a clear and consistent delegation model. This approach incorporates well-defined naming standards to enhance comprehensibility and facilitate ease of navigation and management within the structure. AD Group Best Practice Group management will follow Microsoft's best practice of assigning Domain Local groups against the object, eg an OU or GPO. The Domain Local group is then added as a 'Member of' a Domain Global group. The user is added to Domain Global as a 'Member'. The naming convention I've persisted with over the years, again from Microsoft, is naming delegation groups 'Action Tasks', a task being an individual permission set. And 'Roles', a role being a collection of Tasks or individual permissions. AG is Action Task Global Group AL is Action Task Domain Local Group RG is a Role Global Group RL is a Role Domain Local Group Again, something that I've persisted with over the years is that Groups and OUs are named based on their Distinguished Name (DN). Let's break down an example of a group name: AG_RG_Member Servers_SCCM_Servers_ResGrpAdmin AG\AL\RG\RL - Action Task Global, AL for AT Domain Local, R for Role RG\OU\GPO - Restricted Group, OU or GPO - Type of object delegation Member Servers - The Top-Tier OU name SCCM - The Application or Service eg SCCM or Certificates Servers - It's for Computer objects ResGrpAdmin - ResGrpAdmin is a Restricted Group providing Admin privileges. ResGrpUser is a Restricted Group providing User privileges. CompMgmt, create\delete and modify Computer objects. UserMgmt, create\delete and modify User objects. GroupMgmt, create\delete and modify Group objects. GPOModify, edit GPO settings. SvcMgmt, create\delete and modify user objects. FullCtrl, full control over OU's and any child objects. JSON OU Configuration Traditionally, there are only 3 tiers, the lower the tier the less trustworthy: Zero = Domain Controllers and CA's One = Member Servers Two = Clients and Users Given that this script can potentially generate numerous levels or hierarchies, it seemed more suitable to avoid the term "tier" and instead opted to label the top-level OU's as "Organizations" for a more meaningful representation. The JSON configuration provided creates an OU structure based on a default OU structure for many businesses, where Orgainisation1 is for Member Servers and Orgainisation2 is for Clients and Users. In addition, Organisation0 provides Admin Resources OU for the management of all delegation, role and admin account provision. Organisation0 - Admin Resources Organisation0 , creates a top-level management OU named Admin Resources ' This OU serves as the central hub for all delegation and management groups across subsequent Organizations. Each Organization benefits from having its own dedicated management OU within the Admin Resources OU. Organisation specific delegation groups, roles, and admin accounts are created. This approach allows for potential future delegation. Admin Accounts Member Servers Admin Tasks Member Servers Admin Roles Member Servers "OU": { " Organisation0 ": { "Name":"Admin Resources", "Path":"Root", "Type":"Admin", "Protect":"false", "AdministrativeOU":"Administrative Resources", "AdministrativeResources": [ "AD Roles,Group", "AD Tasks,Group", "Admin Accounts,User" ] }, Organisation1 - Member Servers Organisation1 represents the typical Member Server OU and it's of the Type Server . The type Server designates a behavioural difference for assigning policy. AppResources designates application service OU's that will be created eg Exchange. Service Resources is used for creating OU's based on a set of standard administrative functions for example Servers and the delegation and object type of Computers. " Organisation1 ": { "Name":"Member Servers ", "Path":"Root", "Type":"Server", "Protect":"false", "AdministrativeOU":"Service Infrastructure", "AdministrativeResources": [ "AD Roles,Group", "AD Tasks,Group", "Admin Accounts,User" ], "AppResources":"Certificates,MOSS,SCCM,SCOM,File Server,Exchange", "ServiceResources": [ "Servers,Computer", "Application Groups,Group", "Service Accounts,SvcAccts", "URA,Group" ] }, Organisation2 - Client Services Organisation2 represents the typical User Services OU and it's of the Type 'Clients'. " Organisation2 ": { "Name":"User Services", "Path":"Root", "Type":"Clients", "Protect":"false", "AdministrativeOU":"Service Infrastructure", "AdministrativeResources": [ "AD Roles,Group", "AD Tasks,Group", "Admin Accounts,User" ], "AppResources":"Clients", "ServiceResources": [ "Workstations,Computer", "Groups,Group", "Accounts,User", "URA,Group" ] } } Hundreds and thousands It's possible to add further top-level OU's by duplicating an Organisation, then updating the Organisation(*) and Name values as they need to be unique. It's possible to add hundreds or even thousands of Organisations, with this possibility in mind, the management and delegation structure reflects this within the design. Levels of OU Delegation As we delve deeper into the structure of each organization, we encounter a hierarchy consisting of three levels of delegation, using Member Servers as an example: Organisation = Member Servers (Level 1) Application Service = Certificates (Level 2) Resources = Computer, Groups, Users and Service Accounts (Level 3) OU delegation controls the level of access to manage objects eg create a Computer or Group object. Level 1 Level 1 is the organisation level in this case it's the Member Server OU. It's delegated with AL_OU_Member Servers_FullCtrl . The group provides full control over the OU, sub-OU's and all objects within. The arrow serves as an indicator, denoting the point at which the group's application takes effect within the structure. Level 2 Level 2 is the Service Application level, in this case, Certificate services. AL_OU_Member Servers_Certificates_FullCtrl is applied a level below Member Servers and provides full control over itself and any subsequent objects. Level 3 At Level 3, the delegation involves the management of Service Applications resources, which includes items such as Server objects and service accounts. The 4 default OU's allow the delegation and management of their respective resource types, for example, the Application Groups OU permits the creation and deletion of Group objects via AL_OU_Member Servers_Certifcates_Applications Groups_GroupMgmt . Application Groups - Application specific Groups Servers - Server or Computer objects Service Accounts - Service Accounts for running the application services URA - User Rights Assignments for services that require LogonAsAService etc Restricted Groups and User Rights Assignment (URA) Levels In this delegated model, Restricted Groups facilitate access by allowing administrative access whilst User Rights Assignments (URA) allow admins or users to log on over Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). There are two primary levels of organization. The first level encompasses the entire organization, including all subsequent Organizational Units (OUs). The second level consists of a dedicated Servers OU for each specific Service Application. Level 1 of Restricted Groups The GPO GPO_Member Server_RestrictedGroups is linked to the Member Servers OU and has the following groups assigned: URA: Allow log on through Terminal Services: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpAdmin AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpUser Restricted Group: Administrators: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpAdmin Remote Desktop Users: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpUser This is how it looks when applied in GPO. Within this delegation model, the ability to manage Group Policy Object (GPO) settings is also delegated to ensure comprehensive control and management of the environment. via AL_GPO_Member Servers_GPOModify Group. Level 2 of Restricted Groups The GPO GPO_Member Server_Certificates_Servers_RestrictedGroups is linked to the sub-OU Servers under Certificates and has the following groups assigned, that of the Organisation and of the Service Application: URA: Allow log on through Terminal Services: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpAdmin AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpUser AL_RG_Member Servers_Certifcates_ResGrpAdmin AL_RG_Member Servers_Certificates_ResGrpUser Restricted Group: Administrators: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpAdmin AL_RG_Member Servers_Certifcates_ResGrpAdmin Remote Desktop Users: AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpUser AL_RG_Member Servers_Certificates_ResGrpUser This is how it looks when applied in GPO. As above Group Policy Object (GPO) settings are also delegated via AL_GPO_Member Servers_Certificates_Servers_GPOModify Bringing it all together with Roles In this demonstration, an account named 'CertAdmin01' has been specifically created to oversee the management of resources within the Certificates OU. The account is added to the role group RG_OU_Member Servers Certificates_AdminRole . Opening the RG_ group and then selecting the 'Members Of' tab displays the nested RL_ group. Drilling down into the RL_ group displays the individual delegated task groups. Delegated Admin To test the certificate Admin (CertAdmin01) deploy an additional server, adding to the domain and ensuring the computer object is in the Certificate Servers OU. Login as CertAdmin01 to the new member server and install the GPO Management and AD Tools. Browse to Member Server and then Certificates OU and complete the following tests: Right-click on Applications Group > New > Group Right-click on Servers > New > Computer Right-click on Service Accounts > New > User Right-click on URA > New > Group. Open Group Policy Management and Edit GPO_Member Servers_Certificates_Servers_RestrictedGroup. Open Compmgmt.msc and confirm that the Administrators group contains the 2 _ResGrpAdmin groups and the local Administrator. AL_RG_Member Servers_Certificates_Servers_ResGrpAdmin AL_RG_Member Servers_ResGrpAdmin Confirm that CertAdmin01 is unable to create or manage any object outside the delegated OU's. Nearly there.....SCM Policies and ADMX Files As part of the delivery and configuration of the OU structure, Microsoft's Security Compliance Manager (SCM) GPOs and a collection of Administrative (ADMX) templates are included. SCM GPOs: Microsoft's SCM offers a set of pre-configured GPOs that are designed to enhance the security and compliance of Windows systems. These GPOs contain security settings, audit policies, and other configurations that align with industry best practices and Microsoft's security recommendations. ADMX Templates: ADMX files, also known as Administrative Template files, extend functionality within Group Policy Management enabling settings for Microsoft and 3rd party applications. Within a Domain, ADMX files are copied to the PolicyDefinition directory within Sysvol. Zipped... Both SCM and ADMX files are zipped and will automatically be uncompressed during the OU deployment. However, if you would like to add your own policies and ADMX files you can. SCM Policy Placement The SCM policies are delivered in their default configuration, without any modifications or merging. The policies are placed directly into the designated target directory, imported and linked to their respective OU. For example, the Member Server directory content will be linked to any OU that is of type 'Server'. The SCM imported policies are prefixed with 'MSFT,' indicating that they are Microsoft-provided policies. There are a substantial number of these policies linked from the root of the domain down to client and server-specific policies. As far as delegation the SCM policies remain under the jurisdiction of the Domain Admin with control to effect change delegated to the _'RestrictedGroup' policies. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I hope you found the information valuable and that it has been helpful. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Introduction In this post, we'll delve into the automated deployment of a Domain using PowerShell in tandem with a JSON configuration file. In my experience, while there are numerous Windows Server administration tasks suitable for automation, promoting Domain Controllers or deploying a new Forest is not typically among them. Automating Dcpromo can raise the risk of inadvertently exposing plain-text credentials in scripts, which is far from an ideal situation. Furthermore, such tasks are not frequently performed on a daily basis or repeated regularly in standard bau tasks. And now the Thousandath Time lets Lab a Domain Recently, I've been engaged in a fair amount of lab work, involving dismantling and rebuilding domains. One such lab involved using Cloudformation, AWS and deploying a domain via Desired State, pre-packaged code provided by AWS. After going through the experience, I couldn't help but feel that I could deploy a Microsoft Domain setup far more effectively than relying on AWS and so we're here and I've a new PowerShell project to keep me amused... enjoy. The First of Many This is the first instalment of a two-part blog series, Part 2 covers the OU structure and Delegation model. In this post, we'll delve into the automated deployment of a Domain using PowerShell in tandem with a JSON configuration file. This setup encompasses installing essential features such as DNS and AD and automatic logins via scheduled tasks. In the second blog, the focus will shift towards the deployment of Organizational Units (OUs) and Group Policy Objects (GPOs) with Restricted Groups, User Rights Assignments and implementing a comprehensive delegation model. The Requirements A standalone, not domain joined Windows 2022 with an active network is required, I'll be using a Hyper-V VM to host that VM. Testing has exclusively been carried out on Server 2022, the scripts should work with Server 2016 and 2019, it's important to note that I'm unable to provide any guarantees. Download all the files from GitHub ( here ) to the server, and save them to the Administrator Desktop, the 2 zip files will unpack automatically via the script. The Important Stuff Update DCPromo.json, the hostname of the server must match the "PDCName" value. "FirstDC": { "PDCName":"DC01", "PDCRole":"true", "IPAddress":"10.0.0.1", "Subnet":"255.255.255.0", Either update the passwords in the JSON file or update "PromptPw":"false" to "true" . Once set to true the script will prompt for the password to be entered interactively. Regardless, the password is set in clear text into the Registry to allow autologin and later removed during the OU configuration. "DRSM":"Password1234", "DomAcct":"Administrator", "DomPwd":"Password1234", "PromptPw":"false" Any subsequent Domain Controllers can be added, remember that the hostname is the key and the value referenced during deployment. { "DCName":"DC02", "PDCRole":"false", "IPAddress":"10.0.0.2", "Subnet":"255.255.255.0", "DefaultGate way":"10.0.0.254", "SiteName":"Default-First-Site-Name", "DRSM":"Password1234" }, Elevate PowerShell or ISE to execute DCPromo.ps1. Installation of Roles and DCPROMO As long as the above criteria are met, Windows Server will install AD-Domain-Services and DNS Windows Features, set the IP and DCPromo the server to become the first DC in the Forest and the PDC Emulator. Auto-Restart The newly promoted DC will auto-restart twice, this is required to correctly pass domain credentials to execute CreateOU.ps1 the final script. Part 2 - GPO's, OUs and Delegation https://www.tenaka.net/post/deploy-domain-with-powershell-and-json-part-2-ou-delegation