Active Directory Domain Discovery Checklist

2024-01-17

During an AD DS migration or health checks, system engineers and auditors always need a checklist to keep up with what should be discovered. This checklist is a working checklist, one that has been created here for peer review and peer additions. This checklist should try and take into account all the high-level items one needs to look for during an AD DS discovery/audit. This checklist is not meant to be a step-by-step guide but a high-level overview to keep track of what needs to be discovered.

For a checklist on Active Directory Domain Deployment check out:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/40225.active-directory-domain-deployment-checklist.aspx

For a checklist on Active Directory Domain Migrations check out:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/43908.active-directory-migration-checklist.aspx

Forest(s) Discovery
- All child domains
- All trust
- Stale or broken trust
- Forest Functional Level
- Domains/Sites/DCs/GCs/Exchange/Other
- Forest Features
- Tombstone lifetime
- SID filter info
Domain(s) Discovery
- All trust
- Stale or broken trust
- Forest Functional Level
- Domains/Sites/DC/GC/Exchange/Other
- Forest Features
- Tombstone lifetime
- SID filter info
Logical Structure
- Domain hierarchy
- OU structure
  - Empty OUs
  - Have default ACLs been changed
- Sites and Services
  - Summary
  - Site names
  - Physical Locations
  - DCs in each site
  - Subnets
  - Missing Subnets
  - Site connections
  - Site links
  - Replication Interval
  - GPOs applied to sites
  - Site mirroring between domains and other domains/forest
Domain Controller Configurations
- IP addresses
- Names
- Disk space report
- Server up time
- Physical Locations
- Journal Wrap (if FRS)
- Is DFS used in the environment
- Schema Extensions
- Azure connections
Network and Infrastructure
- DNS
  - AD integrated zones
    - Forest replicated zones
    - Domain replicated zones
  - Conditional forwarding
  - Domain level auditing
  - Pull DNS zone for prosperity
- Networking
  - Physical site list
  - Subnets at each site
  - Site link speed and utilization level (how saturated is the link)
  - Network Topology
  - Firewall locations
  - VLAN restrictions
  - Router ACLs
- DHCP -
  - Authorized DHCP server discovery
  - AD requirements
  - High availability aspects
  - IPAM
- Other Infrastructure Services
  - WINS server discovery
    - Is WINS active
    - Are there application or service requirements
  - Exchange server discovery
  - SCCM server discovery
  - WSUS
  - AD CS
  - AD FS
  - Other
- Time services
- Identity Management
Directory Objects
- Naming
  - Administrator accounts
  - Privileged administrator accounts
  - User accounts
  - Service accounts
  - Application accounts
  - Workstation single sign-on accounts
  - Groups
- Attributes
  - Attribute usage
    - Administrator accounts
    - Privileged administrator accounts
    - User accounts
    - Service accounts
    - Application accounts
    - Workstation single sign-on accounts
    - Groups
    - Computer accounts
Security
- Security Patch report
  - What is the patching process
  - What patches are missing
- Vulnerability scan
- RODC implementations
- Is ATA implemented
- Is LAPS implemented
- Application control policies
- RPC ephemeral ports
- Firewalls
  - Perimeter firewalls
  - Hypervisor firewalls
  - Firewall policies
  - Physical security
- Are authentication policies and authentication policy silos implemented
- Anti-virus solution
- Auditing
Applications in the environment
- Team manager per App
- Application owner per App
- Tier or SLA (how critical is the app)
- Special requirements
- Down time procedures
- Authentication method
  - Local
  - Active Directory
    - Services accounts
  - Other
Users
- All
  - Detailed information
  - Initial count
  - Ongoing count for growth projections
- Disabled
  - Count
- Password no expire
  - Count
- Token size report
- Locked users
- Dial-in enabled
- Delegation
- Password not required
- Password must change
- Services accounts (accounts running as a service on computers in domain)
Computers
- Detailed report - plus the following
  - With OS attribute populated
  - Without OS attribute populated
  - Are cluster accounts documented
  - Information pulled from SCCM or scripts
    - Workstation OS version
    - Workstation patch level
    - Outlook version
    - Office version
    - Drive mappings not defined by GPO
- Total computer objects
- Disabled
- Grouped by function
  - Workstations
    - Initial count
    - Ongoing count for growth projections
    - Stale
    - Disabled
  - Servers
    - Initial count
    - Ongoing count for growth projections
    - Stale
    - Disabled
Contacts
- Count
- Logical location
Groups
- Initial count
- Ongoing count for growth projections
- Empty
- Similar
- Nested
- Global groups
- Global distribution groups
- Domain local security
- Domain local distribution
- Admin built-in groups
  - Enterprise Admin
  - Schema Admins
  - Domain Admins
  - DNS Admins
  - Administrators
  - Account Operators
  - Cert Publishers
  - Backup Operators
  - Print Operators
  - Server Operators
  - - Membership details
    - Membership counts
Group Policy
- Backup all GPOs
- Not linked
- Empty
- Disabled
- No Settings
- Passwords in Group Policy
- Scripts/applications in GPOs
  - Bat files
  - Exe files
  - VBScripts
  - KixScripts
  - PowerShell scripts
  - Images in GPOs
- Default Domain Policy - Standard or modified?
- Default Domain Controllers - Standard or modified?
- Who can join computers to the domain
Sysvol/Netlogon (What items are stored in Sysvol/Netlogon)
- Bat files
- Exe files
- VBScripts
- KixScripts
- PowerShell scripts
- Images
- Shortcuts
- RDP
- REG
- SCR
- ICO
- INI
- DLL
- MSI
- TXT
- Cer

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Active Directory Domain Discovery Checklist

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