AD Certificate Services and PKI Basics Explained | Joshua Moses | Cybertrace Foundation

PKI quietly underpins modern authentication, and misconfigured templates are one of the most reliable paths into a domain. Here is the defensive version: build it right, then audit it properly. Joshua Moses | Cybertrace Foundation | Windows Server 2025 and Active Directory | Video 21 of 32 WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS VIDEO • What PKI provides, and where Active Directory relies on certificates • AD Certificate Services roles: the CA hierarchy, root versus issuing CAs • Certificate templates, enrollment, and autoenrollment through Group Policy • Common uses: smart cards, LDAPS, code signing, and machine authentication • Certificate lifecycle: issuance, renewal, and revocation with CRLs and OCSP • The AD CS attack surface at an awareness level, framed defensively • Hardening enrollment and auditing template permissions • When to run internal PKI versus consuming certificates from elsewhere HANDS-ON LAB EXERCISE Stand up a two-tier CA in the lab and issue an LDAPS certificate to your DC. WHO THIS VIDEO IS FOR Built for aspiring system administrators, help desk technicians moving up, IT pros inheriting a Windows domain they did not build, and anyone studying for a Microsoft certification who wants the concepts to actually click rather than be memorized. ABOUT THE SERIES This is video 21 of the Windows Server 2025 and Active Directory course from Joshua Moses | Cybertrace Foundation. Every video teaches at an intermediate level while staying understandable to someone with limited technology experience, follows one running fictional company from start to finish, and ends with a hands-on lab you build yourself in an isolated environment. This 32-part series takes you from never having touched a server operating system to designing, securing, and troubleshooting a production Active Directory environment. Subscribe so you catch each one, and leave a comment if something here needs a deeper explanation. Course Lab Guides: Windows Server 2025 and Active Directory https://github.com/joshuanmoses/Cyber...