An error is received indicating that a computer could not be joined to the domain when an Assistant (NETIQKB19369)

The above error message is a result of a default policy defined in Active Directory to increase security. By default, Microsoft Windows 2000 grants the 'Add workstations to domain' privilege to the 'Authenticated Users' group. When this privilege is enabled, authenticated users can bypass the access control list (ACL) check for up to a predefined maximum value. To prevent misuse, the maximum number of machine accounts any authenticated user can join is 10 by default.

In order to resolve the above described problem Microsoft has documented 3 methods in the following Knowledge Base article:

Domain Users Cannot Join Workstation or Server to a Domain: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;251335

To resolve this problem, use the appropriate method.

Method 1: Pre-Create the User's Computer Account

Method 2: Grant the "Create Computer Objects" and "Delete Computer Objects" Access Control Entries (ACEs) to the User

1. From the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, click Advanced Features on the View menu so that the Security tab is exposed when you click Properties.
2. Right-click the Computers container, and then click Properties.
3. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
4. On the Permissions tab, click Authenticated Users, and then click View/Edit. NOTE: If the Authenticated Users group is not listed, click Add and add it to the list of permission entries.
5. Make sure the This object and all child objects option is displayed in the Apply onto box.
6. From the Permissions box, click to select the Allow check box next to the Create Computer Objects and Delete Computer Objects ACEs, and then click OK.

Method 3: Override the Default Limit of the Number of Computers an Authenticated User Can Join to a Domain

You can override the default limit, using either of the following methods:

• Use the Ldp (Ldp.exe) tool included in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit.
• Use an Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI) script to increase or decrease the value of the Active Directory ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota attribute. To do this:
  
  1. Install the Windows 2000 Support tools if they have not already been installed.
  2. To install these tools, run Setup.exe from the Support\Tools folder on the Windows 2000 Server or the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM.
  3. Run Adsiedit.msc as an administrator of the domain.
  4. Expand the Domain NC node. This node contains an object that begins with "DC=" and reflects the correct domain name. Right-click this object, and then click Properties.
  5. In the Select which properties to view box, click Both.
  6. In the Select a property to view box, click ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota.
  7. In the Edit Attribute box, type a number. This number represents the number of workstations that you want users to be able to maintain concurrently.
  8. Click Set, and then click OK