AD DS BPA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you do not see your question in the FQA list below, click here to contact the AD DS BPA product team.

Q. How can I install and run AD DS BPA?
A. AD DS BPA is installed automatically when the AD DS server role is installed on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system and that computer becomes a domain controller. This includes both writable domain controllers and Read-only domain controllers (RODCs). No other preparations are required. You can run AD DS BPA scans by using either the Server Manager graphical user interface (GUI) or cmdlets in the Windows PowerShell command-line interface. For more information, see Running and Filtering Scans in Best Practices Analyzer(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=134007).

Q. What value does AD DS BPA provide to your AD DS environment?
A. AD DS BPA identifies the root cause of AD DS misconfiguration issues and provides corrective and actionable guidance on how to fix these issues.

Q. Is AD DS BPA available only on Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers? 
A. Yes, you can run AD DS BPA scans only on Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers. AD DS BPA will validate the configuration settings of your AD DS forest as long as you have at least one  Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller in your forest.

Q. Does AD DS BPA collect data only from Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers or it can collect data from Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 domain controllers?
A. AD DS BPA will collect and validate Active Directory configuration data from the local Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller in the Active Directory forest (in other words, the domain controller on which you are running the AD DS BPA scan). AD DS BPA will not collect and validate Active Directory configuration data from any other Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2003 domain controllers in this forest. AD DS BPA will collect and validate DNS configuration data from the local Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller in the Active Directory forest or from any other Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2003 domain controllers in this forest.

Q. Is the set of scenarios that the AD DS BPA contains in Windows Server 2008 R2 final?
A. The AD DS BPA team will be releasing additional AD DS BPA scenarios periodically through Windows Update.

Q. What is the process of adding new scenarios to AD DS BPA?

A. The AD DS BPA product team will prioritize the proposed scenarios based on the provided details. If the AD DS BPA product team cannot determine the priority of a proposed scenario, the person who proposed the scenario might be contacted for additional information. There are no guarantees that a proposed scenario will be included in the AD DS BPA update. Once a scenario is approved to be included in AD DS BPA, it will be marked as "completed in the AD DS BPA scenario database and the person who proposed it will be notified via email.

Q. Does AD DS BPA provide a mechanism for customers to add/modify the rules?

A. No. AD DS BPA functionality cannot be customized by users. If a certain AD DS BPA rule does not apply to your AD DS environment, you can exclude this rule from the AD DS BPA scan.   

Q. Does AD DS BPA provide theability to scan multiple domain controllers and consolidate the results?

A. AD DS BPA can only be targeted to run on a  single Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller. AD DS BPA functionality does not include a mechanism for automatically running scans on multiple domain controllers. But you can create a script for the AD DS BPA scans to run on several  individual Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers and then consolidate the results at a shared location. You can also use Windows Scheduling to schedule AD DS BPA scans to run on different Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controllers. 

Q. How I can propose new scenarios to be added to the AD DS BPA functionality?

A. You can submit a new scenario request through the Feedback page. You must be a registered Connect site user and a member of this AD DS BPA program. 

Q. How can I provide suggestions to improve the AD DS BPA user interface (UI)?  
A. You can use the same Feedback page to provide comments or suggestions on the AD DS BPA UI.  You can also submit your suggestions through the Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) Blog.