Basic Workstation Management In The CS-GENERAL Domain

This document is written mostly for the benefit of the CSCF Research Group and all OU references are tailored to them.

If you have just taken a Workstation PC and made it a member of the CS-GENERAL domain (see: JoiningTheCS-GeneralDomain), you may now have to place the computer in an appropriate Organizational Unit (OU). You might also need to examine the GPOs which apply to the new (or any) computer and its users. Here are some basic steps.

Access To OU Tools For CS-GENERAL Domain

• Use an RDP client to connect to najas.cs (CSCF AD Management Server)
  • rdesktop on Solaris X Windows
  • "Remote Desktop Connection" in a Windows XP Accessories/Communications.
  • An RDP equiped thin client terminal such as a Neoware Eon.
• Logon with your Domain Administrator (-adm) account into CS-GENERAL.
• Activate the "Active Directory Users and Computers" programme in the Administrative Tools programs group.

Locate Workstations In The Domain Hierarchy

In Active Directory Users and Computers:

• Check to ensure that you are connected to the cs.uwaterloo.ca domain (CS-GENERAL).
  • This is represented near the top the left panel of the Users and Computers tool above all other domain groups and OUs.
  • Right click on the domain name to change the domain connection.
• All CS-GENERAL Workstations are placed, by default, in the OU CS\Workstations under the cs.uwaterloo.ca when they are made members of the domain.
• There is a sub OU under Workstations called Research especially created for the Research Group.
  • Workstations to be managed by the Research Group are to be placed in this OU.
  • All GPO's developed by or for the Research Group should be applied on this OU or any sub-OUs.

Moving New Computers Into the Research OU

In Active Directory Users and Computers:

• In the CS\Workstations OU, hi-light the computer icons representing machines to be moved to Research.
• Once all computers are selected, right-click the mouse and select the Move... option.
• In the Move browser, browse to the CS\Workstations\Research OU (currently a sub-OU of Workstation) or subsequest sub-container and click OK.

This should move all selected computers in to the Research OU.

Viewing Applied GPOs To The Research and Other OUs.

• Activate the Group Policy Management Tool in Administrative Tools.
• In the left panel browse to the Research OU (CS\Workstations\Research)
  • Select the Group Policy Inheritance tab in the right panel
  • This lists all GPOs applied to the Research OU and from which containers they are inherited.