Active Directory Home Lab (VirtualBox)

A beginner-friendly home lab that teaches the fundamentals of Active Directory by building a real Windows Server Domain Controller, configuring DNS + routing, deploying DHCP, creating users/OUs with PowerShell, and joining a Windows 10 client to the domain.

VirtualBox • Server 2019 ISO • Windows 10 ISO

⬇️ Download Repo (ZIP) • ⬇️ Direct Download (Codeload)

What this lab is

This project simulates a real business network using VirtualBox:

A Windows Server 2019 VM becomes the Domain Controller (DC)
The DC provides Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and DNS
The DC uses two network adapters:
- Adapter 1 (NAT): internet access for the server
- Adapter 2 (Internal Network): isolated lab network for domain traffic
A Windows 10 VM is created and joined to the domain

What you’ll learn

What a Domain Controller is and why organizations use it
How DNS enables domain authentication and service discovery
How to create OUs, users, and admin groups
How RRAS (NAT) routes internal traffic to the internet
How DHCP assigns IP addresses automatically to clients
How to run beginner-friendly PowerShell scripts to bulk-create users

Tools & environments

Languages / Utilities

PowerShell (used for bulk user creation)

Environment

Windows Server 2019
Windows 10 (21H2)
Oracle VirtualBox

Lab overview

You’re building a “mini company network” on your computer:

Create a Server VM
Install Windows Server
Assign a static IP on the internal network
Install AD DS and promote to a Domain Controller
Create OUs + users (manual + PowerShell)
Configure RRAS/NAT
Install DHCP and create a scope
Create a Windows 10 client and join it to the domain

Network layout (simple diagram)

Why two adapters? NAT gives internet. Internal Network keeps the lab isolated and realistic.

        (Internet)
           |
      [NAT Adapter]
           |

Step-by-step walkthrough

1) Downloads

2) Create the Server VM

Create a new VM for Windows Server 2019.

3) Configure networking (NAT + Internal)

VM hardware settings

Tip: RAM and CPU can be increased based on your computer’s resources.

VirtualBox Network adapters

Adapter 1: NAT (internet access)
Adapter 2: Internal Network (private lab network)

4) Install Windows Server 2019 (Desktop Experience)

Start the VM:

Mount the Server 2019 ISO:

✅ Important: Select Desktop Experience (GUI).

Choose Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced):

After restart: don’t press keys—let it boot into Windows.

Set the local Administrator password:

Send Ctrl+Alt+Del via VirtualBox:

Log in:

5) Install VirtualBox Guest Additions

Devices → Insert Guest Additions CD Image:

Open This PC → CD Drive (D) VirtualBox Guest Additions:

Run the amd64 installer, then reboot the VM:

6) Assign a static IP to the Domain Controller

Open network settings → Change adapter options:

Rename adapters:

Ethernet (NAT) → Internet
Ethernet (Internal) → X_Internal_X

Set IPv4 on X_Internal_X:

Example lab settings:

IP: 172.16.0.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
DNS: 127.0.0.1

7) Install AD DS and promote to Domain Controller

Server Manager → Add roles and features:

Select Active Directory Domain Services:

Server Manager flag → Promote this server to a domain controller:

Create a new forest (example mydomain.com):

Set DSRM password and install:

Login format becomes DOMAIN\Administrator:

Create OU and user, then add to Domain Admins

Open Active Directory Users and Computers:

Create OU _ADMINS:

Create user inside _ADMINS:

Example naming:

a-firstinitiallastname (example: a-paraujo)

Set password options:

Add to Domain Admins:

Sign out and log in as the new domain user:

```

9) Configure RRAS (NAT)

Server Manager → Add roles → Remote Access:

Select Routing:

Tools → Routing and Remote Access:

Configure and enable:

Choose NAT:

Select Use this public interface to connect to the Internet → choose Internet → Next

If the box is grayed out, close the wizard and repeat the RRAS steps.

Green arrow confirms RRAS is running:

10) Install DHCP + Create a Scope

Server Manager → Add roles → DHCP Server → Install.

Tools → DHCP → create scope under IPv4.

Right click IPv4 → New Scope:

Example scope name:

Example scope range:

Start: 172.16.0.100
End: 172.16.0.200
Mask: 255.255.255.0

Lease duration explanation:

Router (Default Gateway): 172.16.0.1 → click Add → Finish.
Then Authorize the DHCP server and Refresh.

11) Create bulk users with PowerShell

Download the repo ZIP:

https://codeload.github.com/araujopedro0325-alt/ActiveDirectoryLab/zip/refs/heads/main

Open the extracted folder and edit names.txt (add first + last names), then save:

Run PowerShell ISE as Administrator:

Open 1_CREATE_USERS.ps1:

Execution Policy (Lab note)

For lab use only (don’t do this on a real production machine): powershell Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

Change directory to your extracted script folder (example): cd C:\Users<your-username>\Desktop\AD_PS-master

Run the script:

Verify _USERS OU is created and populated:

```

12) Create the Windows 10 Client VM

Create a new VM named Client 1 (Windows 10 64-bit):

Set network to Internal Network:

Mount Windows 10 ISO (not Server ISO):

Install steps:

Offline setup:

13) Join the Client to the Domain

Open System settings:

Rename this PC (advanced):

Change → rename Client 1 and join your domain (example mydomain.com):

When prompted, sign in with a domain user created earlier.

In this lab script, the password is set to Password1 for learning purposes.

While restarting, verify the DHCP lease (Scope → Address Leases):

Log in to the client using Other user and your domain credentials:

Success:

Scripts (click to view)

⚠️ If this README is inside the active-directory-lab-scripts folder, keep these links as-is. If your README is at the repo root, update the links to: ./active-directory-lab-scripts/scripts/

Scripts folder: Open here
Example script: Create Users

Tip: You can open any .ps1 file on GitHub and click Raw to download it.

Project structure

ActiveDirectoryLab/ ├── active-directory-lab-scripts/ │ ├── scripts/ │ ├── data/ │ └── docs/ └── README.md

Troubleshooting

1) Client can’t find the domain

Confirm Client NIC is Internal Network
Confirm Client DNS points to 172.16.0.1
Confirm DC internal adapter is set to 172.16.0.1/24

2) Client gets no IP

Confirm DHCP server is Authorized
Confirm scope is Active
Confirm client is on the same internal network

3) No internet

DC Adapter 1 must be NAT
RRAS must be configured with Internet as the public interface

Roadmap / Next steps

Add OUs: _WORKSTATIONS, _SERVERS
Add basic GPOs (password policy, mapped drive, wallpaper)
Add file server share + NTFS permissions
Add CSV-based user provisioning with PowerShell
Add a simple diagram image (draw.io) to replace the ASCII diagram

Disclaimer

This lab is for learning/testing in a controlled environment. Do not expose these VMs directly to the public internet.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 21 Commits
AD_PS-master/AD_PS-master		AD_PS-master/AD_PS-master
README.md		README.md

araujopedro0325-alt/ActiveDirectoryLab

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