Enter a user name and password credentials for a domain user that is authorized to join computers to the Active Directory domain.

The Computer ID field should match the name of the entry that was previously created on the domain controller.

In the configuration dialog, enter the names of your Active Directory domain, as well as the Mac computer.

In the list of directory plug-ins, select Active Directory and click the pen button at the bottom left to configure the plug-in.

Launch the Directory Utility and unlock it as a local administrator, if necessary.

Please note that the Directory Utility, which previously used to be located in /Applications/Utilities/ can now be found in /System/Library/CoreServices/. The Mac can be configured from the command line interface using the dsconfigad command, but for most purposes it is generally easier to use the Directory Utility graphical user interface that is integrated into Mac OS. The computer’s description can be added by opening its properties (right-click). The new entry for the Mac computer should now be displayed in list of registered domain computers. In the New Object – Computer dialog window, enter a name for the Mac computer, make it a member of the desired group and click OK.

Select the domain that the Mac should join to, right-click Computers and click New → Computer.

In the domain controller’s Server Manager, navigate to Roles → Active Directory Domain Services → Active Directory Users and Computers.

The first step is to create a computer account on the Active Directory domain controller: Along with the many other useful updates and improvements it is $30 well spent. Anyone wishing to integrate a Mac with an existing Windows based network is highly encouraged to upgrade to 10.6.5. Fortunately, the process has been greatly improved in Snow Leopard, the latest version of Mac OS X. Mac OS 10.5 consistently resisted most attempts to bind to Windows domain controllers with all kinds of errors and connection problems. This article describes how to join Snow Leopard to a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain. Reference Joining Mac OS 10.6.5 to Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain

Apple os x server windows integration