Managing Password Policy in Active Directory

Effective password policy management is essential for securing user accounts and protecting sensitive data within an Active Directory (AD) environment. A well-configured password policy enforces strong authentication practices, mitigates security risks, and ensures compliance with organizational and regulatory standards.

In this exercise, you configure group policy items related to password policies. This includes configuring the domain password policy, creating a stricter password policy for the Domain Admins group, and enabling the Active Directory Recycle Bin.

Configure Domain Password Policy

In this task, you configure the domain password policy.

In TAILWIND-DC1, from the Tools menu of the Server Manager console, open the Group Policy Management console.
In the Group Policy Management console, expand the tailwindtraders.internal forest, the Domains folder, and the tailwindtraders.internal domain.
Right-click Default Domain Policy and click Edit.



In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Account Policies\Password Policy.
Double click the Minimum password length policy item.
Change the minimum number of characters to 14.
Click Ok, and then close the Group Policy Management Editor window.
Close the Group Policy Management console.

Configure Fine-Grained Password Policy

In this task, you configure a fine-grained password policy and apply it to the Domain Admins group.

From the Tools menu of the Server Manager console, open Active Directory Administrative Center.
Under Overview, Click Tailwindtraders (local).
In the tailwindtraders (local) pane, open the System container.
In the System container, open the Password Settings Container.


Right-click the Password Settings Container, click New, and then click Password Settings.
In the Name field, type Domain Admin Password Policy.
Set the Precedence field to 1.
Set minimum password length to 16.
Click OK.

Enable Active Directory Recycle Bin

In this task, you enable the Active Directory Recycle Bin.

From the Tools menu of the Server Manager console, open Active Directory Administrative Center.
Click Tailwindtraders (local) in the left pane.
In the right pane, select Enable Recycle Bin.
Click OK to dismiss the warning.
Click OK to dismiss the warning about replication latency




Managing password policy in Active Directory enhances security by enforcing strong authentication practices and protecting against unauthorized access. By configuring default and fine-grained policies, securing accounts, and maintaining compliance, administrators can safeguard the domain environment.