Research Computing and Data Services

Information Technology Services at Dartmouth College

How do I manage (add/remove members) my lab’s Active Directory group?

From a Windows computer only. If you do not have a Windows PC available to you, please contact us directly. Methods are dependent on the version of Windows you own.

Method 1

  1. Start Windows File Explorer.
  2. In the left frame, there is an entry for Network – click it.
  3. That will put a Network tab at the top of the window – click it.
  4. That will reveal a Search Active Directory button – press it.
  5. That will pop up a Find Users, Contacts, and Groups window: type in the group name where it says Name and press “Find Now”.
  6. The group will appear in the search results – double click it and inspect away (or manage if your identity allows it for the group).
Note: If you do not have Network discovery turned on you will get warnings about devices and computers not being
visible but that doesn’t matter for this.

Method 2

STEP 1

Windows 10 & 8: Install Active Directory Users and Computers

To administer an AD group, you must to install the Active Directory Users and Computers application. This tools are not installed by default, but here’s how to get them.

Note: You can install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 only on the full release of Windows Professional or Windows Enterprise. Otherwise you will receive a “This update does not qualify for your computer.” message when you try to install it.

  1. Download and install one of the following depending on your version of Windows:
  2. Right-click the Start button and choose “Control Panel“. (Note: In some configurations, you may be able to skip to step 9.)
  3. Select “Programs“.
  4. From the “Programs and Features” section, select “Turn Windows features on or off“.
  5. Scroll down and expand the “Remote Server Administration Tools” section.
  6. Expand “Role Administration Tools“.
  7. Expand “AD DS and AD LDS Tools“.
  8. Ensure that “AD DS Tools” is checked, then select “OK“.
  9. You should have an option for “Administrative Tools” on the Start menu. From there, select any of the Active Directory tools.

STEP 2

Manage your AD group

To open Active Directory Users and Computers
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type dsa.msc, and then click OK.

Find your group:

  1. In the left-hand side panel, expand “kiewit.dartmouth.edu”
  2. Expand “Research”
  3. Expand “Groups”
  4. In the right-hand side panel, double-click on your group’s name (e.g. “rc-RCstaff”)
  5. In the “group-name Properties” window that opens, select the “Members” tab
  6. Use the “Add…” and “Remove” buttons to add/remove members of the group
  7. When adding, the easiest way is to put the new member’s NetID(s) in the “Enter object name to select”
  8. Then click the “Check Names” button
  9. If you do not see the full name appear, completing the NetID, and underlined, then the NetID was not found in Active Directory, check the “spelling” of the NetID.

Please contact us directly for further assistance.