Free ad query tool

This list contains a wide range of Active Directory documentation tools and hopefully, one of them will match your needs. Some of the tools on this list are free to use, while most of the others offer free trial periods. Try out a few of the tools for free to help you decide which is best for you. Do you already have a preferred Active Directory documentation tool? Do you use any of the tools on this list? Leave a message in the Comments section below and share your experience with the community.

Active Directory uses Kerberos authentication. This allows encryption options. Active directory hardening refers to measures that improve the security of Active Directory implementations — particularly the domain controllers.

Top tips for this process include regular checks on the validity of objects such as user accounts, groups, and devices. Remove accounts or groups that are no longer used and delete references to devices that no longer exist.

You should also limit access to AD domain controllers and reduce the number of user accounts that have elevated privileges. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Comparitech uses cookies. More info. Menu Close. We are reader supported and may receive a commission when you make purchases using the links on our site.

Active Directory can be difficult to organize and you will need to document the system for many reasons during its service life. Find out which tools can help you document Active Directory. Stephen Cooper. IT Glue Cloud-based password manager and documentation management system. Available as a command-line utility or with a GUI interface. Active Directory Report Builder An AD report query builder that displays results within the app and allows data to be exported.

Managing Active Directory The only way to keep on top of the complicated relationships between users, devices, and the Active Directory implementation structure is to document it all. See also: Best AD Management Software Active Directory data security Writing out how the domain controllers are organized and listing the permissions contained in them creates a second source of the Active Directory data.

Active Directory auditing As a centralized access rights manager, Active Directory is very important to data security standards compliance.

What should you look for in Active Directory documentation tools? We reviewed the market for Active Directory documentation software and analyzed the options based on the following criteria: Secure storage for AD documentation with credential needed for access A query tool for exploring entries in Active Directory Utilities that enable you to assess account structures A system that highlights abandoned accounts Measures to analyze user group effectiveness An assessment period, such as a free trial Good value that is provided by a complete set if tools marketed at a reasonable price.

Pros: Supports automatic Active Directory sync via LDAP Can run access audits to easily identify internal changes made during a period of time Supports compliance reporting to identify weak passwords and force changes base on policy Users generate their own encryption key, securing their cloud data from third parties, including Passportal.

Pros: Works well in MSP environments as well as in mid-size organizations Offers a robust library of templates to get started quickly Manages documentation as well as credentials.

Cons: Has a steeper learning curve than similar tools. Pros: Provides a clear look into permission and file structures through automatic mapping and visualizations Preconfigured reports make it easy to demonstrate compliance Any compliance issues are outlined after the scan and paired with remediation actions Sysadmins can customize access rights and control in Windows and other applications.

Cons: SolarWinds Access Rights Manager is an in-depth platform designed for sysadmin which may take time to fully learn. Pros: Monitors configuration changes and can be configured to alert contacts to new changes Multi-tenant features make it a good choice for MSPs Integrates easily into Active Directory. Cons: The cloud version lacks some features found on the on-premise version such as reporting or custom branding Enterprise pricing is based on device, rather than number of technicians.

ManageEngine also produces a number of free Active Directory utilities. Cjwdev produces a few Active Directory tools that any systems administrator would find useful. The developer is a former sysadmin who started developing tools for himself and then decided to share them with the world. AD Tidy enables you to check on the status of user accounts and objects listed in your domain controller. Accounts that show no activity can be removed.

It is also possible to reset the passwords of accounts to strings of random characters. This small utility offers a better interface to your domain controllers than the native Active Directory front-end. Searches can be saved in order to be re-executed with ease. You can switch between domains and even hop between organizational units, as well as display the records from the domain controllers to search timestamps in order to identify inactivity.

Two utilities built into the tool give you extra checks on the continued existence of an object. These are a DNS lookup and a Ping test. The tool is available in free and paid versions. The free version has all of the features of the paid edition except for the ability to reverse actions and the availability of automation rules, which create automatic clean up actions. Both editions run on any Windows version above XP.

Cjwdev has a modular approach to Active Directory management. There are actually several tools for AD available form this developer. There is also a utility, called AD Photo Edit , which inserts images into AD records, so you can associate a picture of a user with each account. The Group Manager helps you manage the allocation of members to groups in Active Directory. AD Account Reset Tool enables users or administrators to reset passwords. The AD Permissions Reporter is a great little tool for querying the permissions available on objects in your Active Directory domain.

Specifically, this reporter will list the permissions granted on documents within your system. The paid version is available in a command line version to enable searches of the object permissions to be integrated into scripts. Specops specializes in password verification and fortification tools.

This utility strengthens security by helping you to design a password policy, which includes requirements to renew passwords and the enforcement of password compositions that are harder to guess or crack. The utility operates on Active Directory entries. The tool will search through your domain controllers, identifying accounts with weak passwords. The tool will also identify inactive user accounts. The results of this scan are a series of reports, which will identify accounts that represent security weaknesses.

However, this tool is quick and easy to follow so it will prove an essential utility for your system security. Recovery Manager for Active Directory is a comprehensive backup system to protect your authentication system.

This tool will run on Windows Server versions from and Windows Vista and later. The recovery manager will back up your Active Directory databases and restore them. The location of the backup can be anywhere that is contactable over the network, including on the Cloud. You can also backup Azure Active Directory. So, you can have either or both your AD server and your backup server on premises or in the Cloud. Backup transfers can be scheduled for quiet hours. This is a paid tool, but you can get a day free trial.

There is also a version of Recovery Manager for Active Directory that specializes in global implementations. BeyondTrust produces a large number of system security monitoring tools including several for managing Active Directory and others for monitoring system access through reading and manipulating Active Directory.

Of these tools, you should particularly look at PowerBroker Auditor if you are following data security standards and need to demonstrate compliance. The tool keeps an eye on your AD domain controllers and raises an alert when any changes are made. Planning for migration? Free Active Directory Tools. AD Query Tool. Learn More. CSV Generator. Last Logon Reporter.

Terminal Session Manager. AD Replication Manager. The reports are exportable to csv files and some useful display features include:. Specops Password Auditor will only read information from Active Directory, it will not make any changes. Official Site and Download: specopssoft.

They have pre-built reports that allow you to quickly run a report without much effort and output information that your looking for fairly quickly. Ad FastReporter utilizes a built-in Local database so there is no overhead or stress on your AD infrastructure when running reports and storing them.

AD Photo Editor from Albusbit. This program really does have a quite a few features that should Cost something, but in all reality is FREE! We definitely like the value in this AD tool! This is great all-in-one tool for managing AD Users and Accounts from a centralized location and gives you the ability to manage multi-domain environments as well!

We recently reviewed Symalogic AD Report builder here and wanted to add this software on this post as well, as they have a FREE Version that gives you some great features to use without having to upgrade to the full version.

To see a Full list of their Features, have a look at the link below — We'll highlight the features of their Free Versions here:. Blacklisted Passwords. Password Policy relative strength. Stale inactive admin accounts. Compliance rating.