Today Microsoft launched a brand new Applied Skill Credential related to Active Directory Domain Services Administration.
Here’s a video of me talking about it:
An applied skill is a hands on test where you perform a set of real world tasks based on a couple of scenarios.
The ability to administer Active Directory is a foundational skill required by and utilized on a daily basis by millions of organizations around the world. Even organizations that use Azure and Office 365 often have their identities synchronized to Entra from an on-premises Active Directory domain or forest.
Taking this 60 minute long free practical exam gives you a credential that’s useful if you are new to the industry and want to demonstrate that you have proficiency in Active Directory administration, it may also be useful if you’re in the market for a new role and want a quick signifier of competence for common AD administration tasks.
Here are some of the skills that might be examined in the Active Directory Administrator modern credential:
- Deploy domain controllers
- Transfer a FSMO role
- Raise the functional level of a domain or forest
- Create a new site and map it to a subnet
- Move domain controllers between sites
- Create a user account
- Perform bulk management tasks for user accounts
- Manage disabled users
- Reset user passwords
- Implement a group Managed Service Account (gMSA)
- Create groups
- Add users to groups, including privileged groups and Protected Users group
- Create and manage organizational units
- Recover items from the AD DS recycle bin
- Create and configure Group Policy Objects (GPOs) in AD DS
- Create and link a GPO
- Configure Group Policy settings
- Configure Group Policy scope and processing order
- Manage security in AD DS
- Delegate permissions in AD DS
- Configure the domain password policy
- Configure and apply a Fined Grained Password Policy
- Configure auditing, including advanced audit policy
- Configure user rights assignment by using group policy
We think that this will be useful to:
- People new to the industry who want to validate their Active Directory admin skills.
- Employers who want to validate that someone is ready to move into a role that includes Active Directory administrators.
- Teachers at institutions where Windows Server Administration is part of the curriculum who want students to pass an assessment that gives them a verified credential from Microsoft.
We have a Microsoft Learn learning path that allows you to revise over all the objectives above by completing training modules. The last module includes a self paced lab where you perform exercises similar to the tasks you need to complete the practical examination. The module includes instructions showing you how to setting up your own lab environment using Eval versions of Windows Server and how to configure Hyper-V on Windows 10 or 11 and a NAT network to host the lab.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/paths/administer-active-directory-domain-services/
Finally here’s the link to the Active Directory Administration applied credential that you can take yourself for free.
https://aka.ms/ADDSAppliedSkillTest
