Active Directory & IT Support User Management Lab

A hands on IT Support lab built with Windows Server 2022, Active Directory Domain Services, DNS, Group Policy, file shares, security groups, permissions, and a domain-joined Windows 10 workstation.

The project simulates a small organization's Windows environment and the identity, access, authentication, file-sharing, and troubleshooting tasks commonly handled by an IT Support or Service Desk Technician.

Project Overview

The core of this project is a functional Active Directory and Windows environment used to perform realistic IT Support and user-management tasks.

A separate osTicket service-desk project was used to simulate the ticketing side of these support scenarios. The two projects are not technically integrated.

Instead, the completed osTicket system provides a realistic service-desk workflow around the technical work performed in the Active Directory lab.

The overall support lifecycle is:

User Request
     │
     ▼
osTicket Ticket
     │
     ▼
Technical Investigation
     │
     ▼
Active Directory / Windows Environment
     │
     ▼
Technical Resolution
     │
     ▼
Verification
     │
     ▼
Technician Response in osTicket
     │
     ▼
Ticket Closed

This approach gives the technical lab a complete support lifecycle similar to what a technician would experience in an enterprise environment.

What Was Built

The Active Directory lab includes:

Windows Server 2022 domain controller
Active Directory Domain Services
DNS for the Active Directory domain
Departmental Organizational Units
Domain user accounts
Security groups
Windows 10 domain joined workstation
Department file shares
NTFS and share permissions
Group Policy
Mapped network drives
User authentication and account administration

The environment was then used to investigate realistic support scenarios involving account management, authentication, authorization, file access, DNS, and network resources.

Lab Network

The virtual environment uses a VirtualBox Host Only network for communication between the domain controller and Windows client.

The domain controller also uses a NAT interface with the address "10.0.2.15" for external network connectivity.

The Windows client uses "192.168.56.10" as its DNS server so it can resolve the Active Directory domain and locate domain services.

Help Desk Tickets

Ten support scenarios were completed using the Active Directory lab environment. The separate osTicket project was used to simulate the service-desk submission, technician communication, and ticket closure stages. The tickets are;

The technical investigation and resolution for each scenario were performed in the Active Directory/Windows lab, while osTicket was used to represent the corresponding service desk workflow.

Service Desk Workflow

The technical work was completed and verified in the Active Directory environment before the corresponding service desk workflow was documented in osTicket.

For each ticket:
1. A simulated user submitted a support request through osTicket.
2. I investigated the reported problem using the completed lab environment.
3. The underlying cause was identified and resolved.
4. The technical result was verified.
5. I communicated the resolution through osTicket.
6. The ticket was closed.

This creates a realistic support lifecycle around the technical lab:

User → Ticket → Investigation → Resolution → Verification → Communication → Closure

Evidence Based Documentation

Screenshots are used throughout the documentation as evidence of the work performed.

The ticket pages combine:

Technical evidence from the Active Directory/Windows lab
osTicket ticket submission evidence
osTicket resolution and closure evidence

Project Outcome

The completed lab demonstrates practical experience with:

Windows Server administration
Active Directory Domain Services
DNS
User and security group management
Organizational Units
Authentication and account troubleshooting
Group Policy
File shares and permissions
Network-drive mapping
Access control troubleshooting
Windows client administration

The associated ticket simulations additionally demonstrate:

Service desk ticket handling
User communication
Resolution documentation
Ticket closure
Evidence based technical documentation

More importantly, the project demonstrates the complete support process: understanding a user's problem, investigating the underlying cause, applying an appropriate technical resolution, verifying the result, communicating the outcome, and closing the request.

Documentation Structure

The documentation is organized from the underlying Windows environment into the practical support scenarios:

Project Overview
Lab Architecture
Windows Server & Domain Controller
Active Directory Structure
Users & Security Groups
Windows 10 Domain Join
Department Shares & Permissions
Group Policy & Network Drive
Help Desk Tickets
Skills Demonstrated

The technical sections document the Active Directory lab, while the ticket pages demonstrate how those technical skills can be applied to realistic IT Support requests and documented through a service desk workflow.