Short definition: Active Directory OU delegation is granting scoped, task-specific permissions on Organizational Units (OUs) to security groups—without domain-wide admin rights—so teams can safely manage only what they must.
Why OU delegation matters now
Modern AD estates are bigger, more hybrid, and more frequently touched by non-admins than ever. Help desks need to reset passwords…
Auditing Nested Group Memberships: An Expert Guide
September 29, 2025
Auditing nested group memberships for security risks: the expert’s comparison guide
Reading time: ~14–18 min • Last updated: 2025-09-29
Nested groups are convenient, flexible, and dangerously opaque. This guide shows how to audit them properly in Active Directory and Microsoft Entra, with path-aware reporting, Windows event alerts, and Graph transitive queries.
…
A production-grade playbook for hybrid Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) inactive user account cleanup: signals, staged actions, reversibility, and governance—backed by copy‑paste runbooks.
On this page
Quick definition
Why the usual approach breaks
First principles
Production-ready technical core
Implications & trade-offs
Expert mental models
Misunderstandings &…
SID filtering in complex AD layouts: the one-bit boundary that decides what crosses your forest
September 9, 2025
Quick definition: SID filtering is a trust-side control that removes foreign SIDs—including values in SIDHistory—from a user’s authorization data as it traverses a trust. It prevents privilege escalation by honoring only the SIDs the trusting side expects.
Answer box (at a glance)
External/domain trusts: Quarantine=Yes by default → accept only SIDs from the directly trusted…
AD high-availability: RODCs and cross-site redundancy
September 5, 2025
Active Directory high availability
Design for the worst day: local logons at branch speed, safe failover by intent—not accident.
RODC
Sites & Services
Next Closest Site
Password Replication Policy
Definition (snippet-ready): AD high availability with RODCs and cross-site redundancy is the practice of placing read-only domain controllers in low-trust or connectivity-constrained sites and…
Transitioning AD schema versions safely: runbook & pitfalls
September 5, 2025
Active Directory
The schema is your forest’s data contract. When you raise its version—via adprep or app extensions—you change what can exist and how it behaves. This self-contained guide explains the why, the risks, and a precise runbook you can use in production.
Reading time: ~16–20 minutes
On this page
Why schema transitions matter now
What the schema actually is
First…
DNS delegation architectures for multi-forest environments
September 5, 2025
Architecture • DNS • Active Directory
If you run more than one Active Directory forest, DNS is the fabric that lets users, apps, and domain controllers in one forest reliably find resources in another. The right DNS delegation architecture makes cross-forest name resolution fast, secure, and predictable—even in hybrid cloud.
Guide + Comparison
Updated: 5 Sep 2025
Reading time: ~16–18…
Block windows app installation with elevated privileges using GPO
December 22, 2023
In an enterprise IT environment, controlling the permissions and actions of the Windows Installer is crucial for maintaining security and consistency. Allowing the Windows Installer to use elevated permissions during program installations can lead to unexpected changes and potential security vulnerabilities. In this article, we will guide system administrators through the process of creating a…
GPO to prevent regular users from changing MSI installation options
December 22, 2023
In a managed IT environment, ensuring the consistency and security of software installations is essential. Allowing regular users to change installation options during the installation of an MSI package can lead to configuration discrepancies and potential security risks. In this article, we will walk through the process of creating a Group Policy Object (GPO) to deny regular users the ability to…
GPO to prevent autoplay on non-volume devices
December 22, 2023
Autoplay is a feature in Windows that automatically executes a predefined action when a new device, such as a USB drive, camera, or phone, is connected to the system. While convenient, it can pose a security risk, particularly in an enterprise environment, as it can lead to the automatic execution of malicious software. This article provides a detailed guide for system administrators on creating a…
