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

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