Managing Groups

This chapter is from the book 

Creating and Managing Groups

• Objective:
• Create and manage groups

It's much easier to administer a network when you can manage several users at once. We can expect that all members of a given section of an organization will have the same needs in accessing data or using printers, and it's also likely that they should be subject to the same security restrictions. Rather than granting individual users the rights to print to a particular printer or to update files in a given folder, we can allocate those rights to a group object.

With users belonging to groups, you can allocate resource access permissions to the group one time rather than individually to each user in that group. For example, you might have 50 members of a human resource group. You can individually grant access to human resource files and folders to the 50 members, but that obviously could take a long time and leave you open to committing an error that potentially could breach the security of highly sensitive human resource data. Now, if you create a human resource group and add the 50 human resource members to the group, you can configure the necessary access levels to all 50 human resource users at one time by configuring the proper access permissions to the group. It's a one-time action that takes care of 50 individuals!

Making user accounts members of the group automatically grants them any rights that group object has. Therefore, it is useful to create groups, allocate members to those groups, and grant resource access permissions to the groups.

Windows Server 2003 has a number of ways of defining groups of user accounts. We'll describe the different methods a little later, but first you have to understand that Windows Server 2003 domains can be in four different functional levels, and those levels impact what types of groups are possible and what nesting of those groups can be done. (The functional levels have implications related to other capabilities as well, such as Active Directory replication efficiencies, but we're interested only in group behavior here.)

The Four Domain Functional Levels

When the Windows Server 2003 version of Active Directory is installed, a basic set of features is enabled that allows the new domain controller to retain backward compatibility with older domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000. As these older domain controllers are removed from the network, the administrator can enable the additional features by raising the domain functional level. The domain functional level determines what features are available and whether older domain controllers are supported. Here are the four domain functional levels:

• Windows 2000 mixed—The default level in Windows Server 2003, this level is equivalent to mixed mode in Windows 2000. At this level, a domain can contain domain controllers on computers running Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003. This flexibility comes with a price, as you'll see, because at this level you cannot use the enhanced group features available in either Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003.
• Windows 2000 native—After you have removed all Windows NT domain controllers from the domain, you can increase the domain functionality level to Windows 2000 native. At the Windows 2000 native level, you get the improved group capabilities of Active Directory as delivered in Windows 2000, such as the capability to "nest" groups and the availability of groups of Universal scope.
• Windows Server 2003 interim—Both Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 domain controllers can exist in a domain at this level. As with the Windows 2000 mixed level, enhanced group functionality cannot be used.
• Windows Server 2003—Only domains that have no Windows 2000 or Windows NT domain controllers can be raised to this level of domain functionality. This is the most advanced level of domain functionality. Although important enhancements are achieved in upgrading from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory, there are no significant differences in group functionality between the two levels.

Figure 3.1 shows raising the domain functional level using the Active Directory Users and Computers Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

The Three Forest Functional Levels

If you remember when we were promoting our member server to a domain controller, we were prompted as to whether to create a new Forest. A Forest is a logical construct within Active Directory. Logical in that you really can't see or manage it. The forest encompasses all the objects, domains, organizational units (OUs), and so on within it. By default, all domains created in a forest are linked together via transitive trusts so that the administrator has the option of granting access to resources in his or her domain to users and groups in other domains.

Although you can expect forests to be covered at length in other exams, for this one, you will only need to know the following:

• Windows 2000 forest—The default level in Windows Server 2003, this level is equivalent to mixed mode in Windows 2000. At this level, a domain can contain domain controllers on computers running Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003. At this level, each group can contain no more than 5,000 accounts. This level is the default with a new installation.
• Windows Server 2003 interim forest—Only Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 domain controllers can exist in a forest at this level. As with the Windows 2000 level, enhanced group functionality cannot be used. This level is the default when upgrading from Windows NT 4.0.
• Windows Server 2003 forest—Only forests that have no Windows 2000 or Windows NT domain controllers can be raised to this level of forest functionality. This level enables support for groups containing more than 5,000 members.

Figure 3.2 shows raising the forest functional level using the Active Directory Domains and Trusts MMC.

Group Type

The two types of groups are distribution groups, which are used only for email lists, and security groups, which can be used both for email distribution and resource access. You choose the type depending on the reason you are creating the group:

• Distribution Groups—Used for email distribution lists only. Cannot be assigned permissions to use resources.
• Security Groups—Used both for assignment of permissions to use resources and for email distribution.

Group Scope

• Objective:
• Identify and modify the scope of a group

The second way of classifying a group is by defining its scope. Group scope means determining where the group members and the resources that the group can be granted access permissions to reside. Table 3.1 lists the scope of the group object in the first column (domain local, Global, and Universal); in the second column, the object types that can be members of this kind of group; in the third column, the locations of the resources that a group can be given access to. Note that in several cases, the characteristics of the group object differ depending on the functionality of the domain.

Table 3.1. Group Scopes and Applicable Members and Rights

Scope	Can Include	Can Be Granted Access to Resources In
domain local	Accounts, global groups, and universal groups from any domain, and, in Windows 2000 native or Windows Server 2003 functional level domains, other domain local groups from the same domain as the group object.	The local domain
Global	In domains at the Windows 2000 mixed level or at the Windows Server 2003 interim level, only accounts from the same domain as the group object. In Windows 2000 native or Windows Server 2003 functional level domains, accounts and other global groups from the same domain as the group object.	Any domain in the forest and any domain in any other forest that trusts the local domain
Universal	(Not available in domains at the Windows 2000 mixed level or the Windows Server 2003 interim level.) Accounts, global groups, and universal groups from any domain.	Any domain in the forest and any domain in any other forest that trusts the local domain

How would you choose the scope of a group you need to create? Let's talk about each scope in turn.

Domain Local Groups

Groups of the domain local scope are typically used for resource access. When creating a group of this scope, you think of the resource that we're granting access to, rather than the users who might use the resource. You also name the group object after the resource. You might create a domain local group with the name DL-PhoenixEngineeringResources, for example. You would grant this group Read and Write access to the folders and printers that are used by engineers in Phoenix. The members of the group can be (refer back to Table 3.1) user accounts, global groups, and universal groups from any domain trusted by this domain.

If the domain is at the Windows 2000 native functional level or the Windows Server 2003 functional level, the new group can also have other domain local group accounts among its members. The capability to make a group a member of another group of the same type is called nesting.

We have just listed the types of objects that can be members of our new domain local group, but what types are we likely to use? Typically, the member list of a domain local group includes an administrator account and one or more global group accounts. More rarely, you may also see universal group accounts in the domain local group member list.

Global Groups

A global group is used to collect user accounts, typically according to the function the members perform in their work. Therefore, their names reference the accounts that are on the group member list—typical global group names are G-PhoenixEngineers and G-KansasCityHR. Only accounts in the same domain as the group object can be members of the global group. The reason the group is called "global" is that the group can be assigned access to any resource or made a member of any domain local group in the entire forest.

If the domain is at the Windows 2000 native functional level or the Windows Server 2003 functional level, the new group can also have other global group accounts from its domain among its members.

A good example of the use of global groups is when users are disbursed and resources exist in few domains. For example, an engineering company has engineers in its Kansas City, Phoenix, and Chicago offices. Each location hosts its own domain in a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory forest. All engineering resources are located in the Phoenix domain. Each domain administrator places his engineers in an "engineers" Global group for his domain. The Phoenix domain administrator creates the EngRes domain local group and assigns the selected permissions to that group. He then places each Engineers Global group from each domain into the EngRes group. The Phoenix administrator relies on the other administrators to determine who in their respective domains is allowed access to the resources.

Universal Groups

A universal group, as its name implies, has no limitations as to where its members are located, or in what domains it can be granted resource access. Its members can come from any trusted domain, and it can be a member of any group or be granted access to resources in any trusted domain. These qualities make the group type seem ideal: no worrying about whether the source of members is all right or whether the group can be assigned access in another domain.

There is a cost to this universality, however: The list of members of a universal group is kept in the Global Catalog (GC) and therefore is replicated to all domain controllers designated as Global Catalog servers in the forest. However, the new link-value replication feature in Windows Server 2003 reduces the amount of replication traffic significantly, compared to Windows 2000, where the entire universal group membership list was replicated whenever a change was made.

You create a universal group when both these conditions apply:

• The members of the group come from more than one domain.
• The group needs resource access in more than one domain.

Universal groups are useful when users and resources are disbursed in all domains. For example, when every domain has EngRes and Engineer Global groups, this might not be bad during the initial setup, but it becomes a nightmare as new domains are added. The Universal groups make it easier, in that each domain's Engineers Global group gets added to the Engineers Universal group, and the Engineers Universal group is added to each domain's EngRes domain local group. As new domains come online, they only have to add their Engineers Global group to the Engineers Universal group, and the Engineers Universal group to the domain local group that they have assigned permissions for the shared resources to.

Recommended Sequence of Groups

The recommended usage of groups is as follows:

• Make accounts members of global groups.
• Make global groups members of domain local groups.
• Assign resource access permissions to the domain local groups.

In some cases it is helpful to make global groups members of universal groups and then to make the universal groups members of domain local groups. This is necessary only when a universal group is needed—that is, when a group will have members from multiple domains and will need access to resources in multiple domains.

This sequence is known as AGUDLP, which stands for Accounts, Global, Universal, domain local, and Permissions. This is the sequence that you will use when you have multiple domains or are planning to have multiple domains in the future. If you are going to have only a single domain, the recommended sequence is AGDLP, which stands for Accounts, Global, Domain Local, and Permissions.

Here's the hierarchy, then: Suppose we have three domains (Trainers, Writers, and Consultants), and there is a global group in each domain that holds all the finance mangers in that domain (Trainers/G-FinanceManagers, Writers/G-FinanceManagers, and Consultants/G-FinanceManagers). We could make the U-FinanceManagers universal group with these three global groups as members, and then place the universal group on the member list of a domain local group in each of the domains to give the finance managers access to the resources the domain local group provides. Finally, we could add U-FinanceManagers to the member list of the DL-FinanceResources domain local group in each domain.

You might wonder why we don't grant access to the resources directly to the universal group. We could, of course, but our assumption is that the domain local groups would exist already, to give access to the resource to groups within the local domain.

This hierarchy of groups allows very simple handling of new employees. When a new finance manager joins any of the companies, the local administrator needs only to make the finance manager's user account a member of the G-FinanceManagers global group in the new user's local domain, and that user will immediately be able to access the resources needed.

Default Groups

In the previous chapter we discussed the various default users that are created on a Windows Server 2003 server. In addition to these user accounts, a number of default groups are created. There are different groups created, depending on whether the server is a member server or a domain controller.

These groups are preconfigured with a specific set of permissions that determine what access the users they contain are granted for a variety of resources.

Default Groups on Member Servers

A number of default groups are created on Windows Server 2003 member servers. They are managed via the Local users and Groups snap-in that was discussed in the previous chapter. They are listed here:

• Administrators—Members of this group have full control over the server. They can access all resources, create users and groups, and assign permissions for the resources to other users. If in a domain, the Domain Admins group is automatically made a member of this group, allowing all administrators in the domain full control access to this server.
• Backup Operators—Members of this group can perform backups and restores of the files on the server, even if they have not been specifically granted access to those files. However, they cannot change the security settings on the files.
• DHCP Administrators—Members of this group have full control over the DHCP service. They cannot access any resources not associated with DHCP without being granted additional rights. This group is present only if the DHCP role has been added to the server.
• DHCP Users—Members of this group can view the configuration of the DHCP server service. However, they cannot change the configuration. This group is present only if the DHCP role has been added to the server.
• Guests—Members of this group have limited access to the server. The Guest account is a member of this group.
• HelpServicesGroup—This group can be used to grant permissions to application support accounts. The default member of this group is the account used for the Remote Assistance feature.
• Network Configuration Operators—Members of this group have full control over the TCP/IP configuration.
• Performance Monitor Users—Members of this group can monitor the Performance Counters on the server, either locally or remotely. They cannot configure the performance counters.
• Performance Log Users—Members of this group can manage the configuration of the performance Counters on the server, either locally or remotely.
• Power Users—This group can be used to create and modify users and groups. They can also delete users and groups, but only those that they created. In addition, they can add users to the Power Users, Users and Guests groups, but can remove only those that they have added. They can also share resources, but can manage only those that they have created.
• Print Operators—Members of this group can manage printers and print queues.
• Remote Desktop Users—Members of this group can remotely log on to the server.
• Replicator—Members of this group are used to logon to the replicator service. This is more of a service account and not a user account.
• Terminal Server Users—This group contains the accounts of users who are currently logged on to the server remotely via Terminal Services. The default permissions assigned to this group should be sufficient for most applications.
• Users—Members of this group can perform common tasks on the server. If in a domain, the Domain Users group is automatically made a member of this group, allowing all users in the domain access to this server.
• WINS Users—Members of this group can view the configuration of the WINS server service. However, they cannot change the configuration. This group is present only if the WINS role has been added to the server.

Default Groups in Active Directory

There are several default groups created in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory. Because these are domainwide groups, they are managed via the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC, in the Builtin and the Users containers. The groups are listed here:

• Enterprise Admins—This group is present only in the root domain in the forest. Members of this group have full control over the forest. They can access all resources, create users and groups, and assign permissions for the resources to other users. This account is added to the membership of the local Administrators group of every workstation or member server that joins any domain in the forest.
• Schema Admins—This group is present only in the root domain in the forest. Members of this group have full control over the Active Directory schema.
• Domain Admins—Members of this group have full control over the domain. They can access all resources, create users and groups, and assign permissions for the resources to other users. This account is added to the membership of the local Administrators group of every workstation or member server that joins the domain.
• Domain Users—This group contains every user in the domain. This account is added to the membership of the local Users group of every workstation or member server that joins the domain.
• Domain Guests—Members of this group have limited access to the server. The Guest account is a member of this group.
• Domain Controllers—This group contains the computer accounts of all domain controllers in the domain.
• Domain Computers—This group contains the computer accounts of all workstations and servers added to the domain.
• DNSAdmins—Members of this group have full control over the DNS service. They cannot access any resources not associated with DNS without being granted additional rights.
• DNSUpdateProxy Users—Members of this group can perform DNS updates for other clients. Typically the DHCP servers are members of this group.
• Account Operators—This group can be used to create, modify, and delete users, groups, and computer accounts, except for those in the domain controllers OU. They also cannot add or remove members to the Domain Admins group.
• Backup Operators—Members of this group can perform backups and restores of the files in the domain, even if they have not been specifically granted access to those files. However, they cannot change the security settings on the files.
• Cert Publishers—Members of this group have the capability to publish security certificates in Active Directory.
• Group Policy Creators—Members of this group can modify Group Policy.
• HelpServicesGroup—This group can be used to grant permissions to application support accounts. The default member of this group is the account used for the Remote Assistance feature.
• Incoming Forest Trust Builders—This group is present only in the root domain in the forest. Members of this group can create one-way incoming forest trusts, but only in the forest root domain.
• Pre–Windows 2000 Compatible Access—This group has read access to all users and groups in the domain. The Everyone group is automatically added to this group. This group is to provide backward compatibility for computers running Windows NT 4.0.
• Print Operators—Members of this group can manage printers and print queues.
• RAS and IAS Servers—Members of this group are permitted access to the remote access properties of users in the Active Directory.
• Server Operators—This group can be used to manage domain controllers.
• Terminal Service License Servers—Members of this group distribute licenses to Terminal Services users.

When assigning users to the default groups, make sure that you understand exactly what access they are being given. It is usually not a good idea to assign or remove specific rights to or from a default group. It is better to create a new group and add the custom rights to it.

System Groups

The last set of default groups are System Groups. System Groups are automatically created by the operating system, but unlike the other default groups, you cannot change or manage them. In most cases, the membership of a system group is changed dynamically by the operating system. They are listed here:

• Anonymous Logon—This group is used to represent any users or services that access a computer over the network without a username or password. Unlike in Windows NT, the Anonymous Logon group is not a member of the Everyone group.
• Everyone—This group is used to represent all users or services, including those from other domains. You can grant permissions to the Everyone group, but it's not a good idea for anything other than read-only, because the Anonymous Logon group can become a member of the everyone group.
• Network—This group is used to represent all users accessing a specific resource over the network. The user is added to this group automatically.
• Interactive—This group is used to represent all users logged on locally to a computer. The user is added to this group automatically.

Creating and Modifying Groups by Using the Active Directory Users and Computers Console

• Objective:
• Create and modify groups by using the Active Directory Users and Computers console

To create a group with Active Directory Users and Computers, first select the domain or OU where you want the group object to reside. Generally you should place the group objects inside OUs because you will most likely delegate responsibility for all the objects in an OU to a subadministrator. In our sample company, it has been agreed that any global group that has members from outside the domain will be created at the users' level. Also, global groups will be created at the level in the hierarchy above all the objects in the groups' member list. So the DL-FinanceResources domain local group is created at the users' level, as is G-FinanceManagers. The G-PhoenixEngineers group would be created at the Phoenix OU level.

In Step by Step 3.1 we'll create groups with domain local, Global, and Universal scope.

We have accomplished our task. Any member of the G-FinanceManagers global group will have the correct access to the \\MARS\Finance share.

Identifying and Modifying the Scope of a Group

• Objective:
• Identify and modify the scope of a group

Now you know that the scope of a group object in a domain can be domain local, Global, or Universal. (On a member server, standalone server, or workstation, local groups can also exist.) So how can you tell the scope of a group object?

The first thing to know is that it won't help you to look at the icons in the details pane of Active Directory Users and Computers. The icons used to denote group objects of all scopes are the same. However, the Type column in the details pane does indicate both the group scope and the group type. Refer to Figure 3.4 to confirm this.

Perhaps you have a global group, and you have realized that it would be useful to add accounts from another domain to the member list. That's not possible with a global group, but it is with a universal group. If you change the scope to universal, you can add members from domains in different parts of the enterprise and retain the domain local memberships the existing group has.

If the domain functionality level of your domain is Windows 2000 mixed or Windows Server 2003 interim, you cannot change a group's scope. Universal groups are not available at that domain functionality level, and you cannot change a group's scope from domain local to global, or vice versa.

If the domain functionality level is Windows 2000 native or Windows Server 2003, you can change a group's scope, but only if the group is not a member of another group and has no group members that would be illegal for groups of the new scope.

Here are some examples:

• You want to change the scope of a group from Global to Universal—This is not allowed if the group is a member of another global group.
• You want to change the scope of a group from domain local to Universal—This is not allowed if the group has another domain local group as one of its members.
• You want to change the scope of a group from Universal to Global—This is not allowed if the group has another universal group as one of its members.
• You want to change the scope of a group from Universal to domain local—This is allowed under all conditions.

To change a group's scope with Active Directory Users and Computers, first you have to select the group and look at its properties. Click the option button beside the new scope and click OK to change the scope. If you have followed group naming conventions that indicate the scope of the group, you will probably want to rename the group to show the new scope.

To determine the scope of a group object from the command line, you can use dsget. This command shows the description of a group, whether its type is security, and its scope:

dsget group <dn> [-desc] [-secgrp] [-scope]

To change a group's scope from the command line, you can use dsmod. Its syntax in this case is very simple; you just type the following:

dsmod group <dn> -scope <L, G, or U>

You must be a member of Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, or Account Operators, or you have to have been delegated the appropriate authority to change the scope of a group by either method.

Managing Group Membership

• Objective:
• Manage group membership

You can make an account a member of a group in two ways:

• Start with the properties of the account and change the list of groups of which the account is a member.
• Start with the properties of the group object and change the member list of the group.

There are several methods for changing the group membership, both from Active Directory Users and Computers and from the command line.

In Active Directory Users and Computers, you can use the Member Of tab of the account to see the list of groups the account belongs to, or you can use the Members tab of the group to see the list of members.

Let's look at the Member Of method first. Choose the properties of a user, group, or computer object in Active Directory Users and Computers, and then click the Member Of tab. A list of group objects is displayed. Click Add and use the Object Picker to locate the group or groups you want the account to be a member of. Click OK, and the Member Of list is updated, as shown in Figure 3.7.

Another way to use Active Directory Users and Computers to add accounts to a group is to select multiple accounts and then choose File, Properties, and click the Member Of tab. With the Object Picker, find the group whose member list you want to add the accounts to, select it, and select OK. Alternatively, you can right-click the objects and choose Add to a Group from the shortcut menu.

Now let's try starting from the group object. Display its properties and choose Members. Use the Object Picker again, but this time the goal is to find the accounts that should be added to the member list of the group. Select the objects and click Add.

A third method (but not recommended) is to select the accounts you want to add to a group's member list and then drag them to the group object. Dropping the accounts on the group object adds them to the member list. This method is not recommended because it is too easy to drop the accounts on the wrong group object.

There are two ways to allocate users to groups. You can either open the Membership property of a group and add users to it, or you can open the Member Of property of a user and select the groups to which that user will belong. Step by Step 3.2 shows you how to make a user a member of a group.

Adding Accounts to Groups with Command-Line Tools

• Objective:
• Create and modify groups by using automation

Naturally, a command-line tool is also available for this purpose—you can change the member list of a group with the dsmod group command. This command adds the accounts whose distinguished names follow –addmbr to the member list of the group specified:

dsmod group <groupdn> -addmbr <dn's of accounts to be added>

Note that dsmod group has two similar-looking parameters that can be used to alter the membership list of a group. As you can see from Table 3.2, -chmbr and -addmbr both change the membership list, but with quite different results.

Table 3.2. The chmbr and addmbr Commands

Parameter	Member List Before	Member List After
-addmbr John	Jack, Barbara, Gill, Catherine	Jack, Barbara, Gill, Catherine, John
-chmbr John	Jack, Barbara, Gill, Catherine	John

dsmod with the –addmbr parameter adds the account to the member list of the group, whereas the –chmbr parameter replaces the current member list with the accounts following –chmbr. And dsmod group with the –rmmbr parameter removes the accounts listed from the group's member list.

You're probably expecting to find that there is a command-line method for adding a member to a group using dsmod user. There isn't! In the Active Directory Users and Computers interface you cannot tell whether the group membership information is a property of the user object or the group object. But because dsmod allows only group membership changes with dsmod group, it is clear that the membership information belongs to the group object.

Finding Domain Groups in Which a User Is a Member

• Objective:
• Find domain groups in which a user is a member

If you want to know what groups a user belongs to, you can easily find out with Active Directory Users and Computers by looking at the properties of the user object and then selecting the Member Of tab. There you will see the groups the user belongs to.

There is a problem, however. What if the user is a member of group A, and group A is a member of group B? In that case, the user is effectively a member of group B, but that fact is not shown on the Member Of tab of the properties of the user object. In fact, there is no way within Active Directory Users and Computers to show the expanded member list. However, we can use dsget user to show this information.

To find all the groups the user belongs to, not counting those due to group nesting, use the following dsget command:

dsget user <dn> –memberof

To find all the groups the user belongs to, including those due to group nesting, use the following dsget command:

dsget user <dn> –memberof –expand

In Figure 3.10, you can see the output of these two commands for the same user.

Do you remember the discussion of piping earlier in this chapter? We can pipe the output of one command to another command, which will allow us to avoid having to know the distinguished name of an account in memberof queries. Look at Figure 3.11.

As you can see from the figure, it was sufficient to enter Bill* to select the one user whose group memberships are wanted.

Creating and Modifying Groups by Using Automation

• Objective:
• Create and modify groups by using automation

In Chapter 2, "Managing User and Computer Accounts," we described using ldifde to create and modify user accounts. ldifde can also be used to create and modify group accounts.

In Step by Step 3.3, we will list the group accounts in the KansasCity OU, modify the names to create new group accounts, and add user accounts to the group accounts.

A second method of creating groups via the command line is by using the dsadd command. We used dsadd in the previous chapter to create users, and the operation is very similar.

To learn about the use of the group subcommands for dsadd, enter the following at the command prompt:

dsadd group /?

dsadd group <GroupDN> [-secgrp {yes | no}] [-scope {l | g | u}]
        [-samid <SAMName>] [-desc <Description>] [-memberof <Group ...>]
        [-members <Member ...>] [{-s <Server> | -d <Domain>}] [-u <UserName>]
        [-p {<Password> | *}] [-q] [{-uc | -uco | -uci}]

The dsadd group command can take several parameters, including group scope, group type, members, and member of, but the only required parameter is the DN (distinguished name).

For example, to create a domain local security group named DL-Engineers in the Kansas City OU, you would enter the following command:

Dsadd group "CN=DL-Engineers,OU=Kansas City,DC=70-290,DC=local" –secgrp yes –scope l

Assigning Groups

In Windows Server 2003, you have the capability to assign a domain user as the manager of the group. This has the following advantages:

• Assigns a contact for the group—This gives the administrator a designated person to contact if there are any questions about the group membership.
• Delegation—This allows the administrator to designate a domain user to manage the additions and deletions to the group.

Delegating the management of a group allows the administrator to assign the process of maintaining the membership of a group to someone who will probably be more familiar with the changes needed to be made to the group. Usually someone like a department manager or a human resources person is responsible for managing certain groups. In Step by Step 3.4, we look at how to delegate the management of a group.

After the administrator has created a group and assigned permissions to it, it can then be handed off to someone else to maintain the membership list. This can greatly cut down on the administrator's workload in larger companies where there are a lot of groups to maintain.