Joining Mac OS X Lion to Active Directory Domains

sudo dsconfigad -computer ComputerName -username DomainAdmin -password Pa11word

 

 

Joining Mac OS X Lion to Active Directory Domains

posted Feb 15, 2012 12:20 PM by Jeffrey Fronius Step by step guide to joining Mac OS X Lion to Active Directory using the graphical interface.

1) Open up "System Preferences" and select "Users & Groups"

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2) From "Users & Groups" select "Login Options" and click "Join..."

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3) Click "Open Directory Utility"

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4) Double click "Active Directory" to open up the Active Directory tool.

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5) Fill in your domain's DNS name.  By default, the "Computer ID" will be the same as your computer's hostname.  You can customize home locations (auto populated from the Active Directory Home Directory attribute).  "Create mobile account at login" will create a local home and local account on the computer, which is tied to the network account.  If you do not, the user will store their local home on their AD home directory.

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6) If you have any Active Directory user groups which you would like to have administrative access to the system, you can add them here (for example, if you have a help desk or desktop technician group).

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7) Finally, punch in your Active Directory join credentials.  You can specify a specific OU, or your system will go into the "Computers" default container.



Now, you can log off or reboot.  Your computer should bind to Active Directory and can login with network usernames.  It tends to take about 30 seconds or so at the login window before network connections are available.