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sca-ad-and-gpo

Teaches Active Directory user management and Group Policy administration on a Windows domain.

2|Updated Jun 1, 2026
Search Tags:#powershell#active directory#group policy#gpo#windows server#domain join#sysadmin training
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/jay-steenbergen/MSSAMentorAgent --skill sca-ad-and-gpo-jay-steenbergen
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: sca-ad-and-gpo
Source: https://github.com/jay-steenbergen/MSSAMentorAgent/tree/main/.github/skills/tracks/server-cloud-admin/sca-ad-and-gpo
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/jay-steenbergen/MSSAMentorAgent --skill sca-ad-and-gpo-jay-steenbergen

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? New system administrators often know Active Directory theory but have never actually created domain users, joined a workstation, or written a Group Policy Object themselves. This Skill guides a learner through real AD administration on a live mssa.lab domain so they finish with working users, groups, a domain-joined workstation, and two verified GPOs. ## Core Features & Use Cases - PowerShell-based AD administration: Create 10 domain users and two security groups in the correct OUs using the ActiveDirectory module (New-ADUser, New-ADGroup, Add-ADGroupMember). - Domain join workflow: Join a Windows 10/11 workstation to the domain with Add-Computer, landing the computer object in a GPO-targetable OU. - Group Policy authoring and verification: Build a password policy GPO and a drive-map GPO with security filtering and item-level targeting, then prove they applied using gpupdate /force, gpresult /r, and the Group Policy operational event log. - Use Case: An MSSA learner on the Server & Cloud Administration track completes project #4 by signing into a domain-joined workstation as a domain user and watching a mapped drive appear automatically. ## Quick Start Ask the mentor to start the sca-ad-and-gpo project and walk you through creating domain users and your first Group Policy Object on the mssa.lab domain.

Frequently Asked Questions about sca-ad-and-gpo

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I create Active Directory users with PowerShell?▼

Use the New-ADUser cmdlet from the ActiveDirectory module, specifying -SamAccountName, -UserPrincipalName, -Path for the target OU, -AccountPassword as a secure string, and -Enabled $true. Verify results with Get-ADUser filtered against the target OU's search base.

How do I join a Windows workstation to a domain with PowerShell?▼

Use Add-Computer with -DomainName, -Credential, and -OUPath to place the computer object in a specific OU, then restart. The workstation's DNS must point at the domain controller first, or domain resolution will fail.

Why is my GPO password policy not applying to an OU?▼

Password policy settings only take effect when configured in the Default Domain Policy linked at the domain root; linking them to an OU has no effect. For per-group password policies, use Fine-Grained Password Policies instead of GPOs.

How do I check which Group Policy Objects applied to a user?▼

Run gpresult /r on the workstation for a summary of applied and filtered GPOs, or gpresult /h for a full HTML report. For failures, inspect the Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy/Operational event log for errors and warnings.

What is the difference between GPO security filtering and item-level targeting?▼

Security filtering controls which users or groups the entire GPO applies to, replacing the default Authenticated Users scope. Item-level targeting applies individual settings inside a GPO only when conditions like group membership or OS version match.

Why does a mapped drive GPO not appear after logon?▼

Check gpresult /r to confirm the GPO applied; if filtered out, review security filtering and group membership, which requires a fresh logon to update tokens. If the GPO applied but the drive is missing, verify share permissions by accessing the UNC path directly.

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