Active Administrator 8.4 - User Guide

Searching Active Directory

Use the Search module to find Active Directory® objects quickly and to perform basic tasks.

NOTE: You can perform a quick search on the Home page. See Using quick tasks.

NOTE: Use the icons to manage the selected managed domain controller. See Managing domain controllers.

Opening the Web Console

Active Administrator® Web Console extends the functionality of the built-in Windows® management tools for Active Directory® by allowing administrators to view and manage security in a much more extensible interface. You can open Active Administrator Web Console on a variety of devices in the following browsers:

The Active Directory Health dashboard is where you can monitor the overall health of your organization. From the dashboard, you can view Alerts, set up Notifications, run Health checks, and generate Reports. The Active Directory Topology viewer lets you monitor alerts while viewing a customizable topology diagram of your organization. For more information on the Web Console, see the Active Administrator Web Console User Guide.

NOTE: You must configure the web server before you open the web console. See Configuring the web server in the Active Administrator Web Console User Guide.

Certificates

With the Certificates module, you can monitor and manage the certificates in your organization. The two components of the Certificates module enable you to view the certificates on a single computer and to view all the certificates in your organization. Regardless of the view you choose, you easily can view, update, export, install, and remove certificates.

With the Certificate Management feature, you can manage certificates on selected computers in your organization. You quickly can identify certificates that are about to expire and set up automatic email notifications. You also see if certificates were deleted by native tools, and you easily can reinstall the deleted certificate.

With the Certificate Authority feature, you can manage the Certificate Authority (CA) servers, the Active Directory Certificate Service (certsvc), and CA certificates within a selected forest. Quickly see the status of the certsvc, and associated Active Directory objects. Back up CA servers, view processing events, view certificate templates, and search for CA certificates and templates.

With the Certificate Repository feature, you can manage all the certificates you choose to add to the repository. You can sort the list to find the certificates that are about to expire, update the certificate, and install it on selected computers.

The Certificate Search feature enables you to search for certificates based on a variety of search criteria. You can create multiple search definitions that search for certificates on managed computers, in certificate stores on selected computers, and in the Certificate Repository. From the search results, you can install, export, or add to the repository.

IMPORTANT: A license is required for the Certificates module. If you do not have a license for the Certificates module applied to your installation, the Certificates module will not appear in Active Administrator®. NOTE: Users must have the Certificate Management and the Certificate Management Viewer roles enabled to manage certificates. For read-only access to the Certificate module, users require only the Certificate Management Viewer role. See Defining role-based access.

Topics:

Using the Certificates landing page

The landing page displays the active tiles for each computer in the section. The active tiles automatically update every 30 minutes, but you can use the icons to refresh the tiles at any time. You also can pause and resume the refresh of data. To customize the active tile refresh, see Setting general user options.

NOTE: After initial installation, the Certificates Management landing page is empty. You must add at least one computer to activate the landing page. See Adding computers.