Active Directory domain client tool
Join a domain
sudo adcli join [domain.com]
Join with specific credentials
sudo adcli join -U [administrator] [domain.com]
Info about a domain
adcli info [domain.com]
Test connection to domain controller
adcli testjoin
adcli command [options] [domain]
adcli is a command-line tool for performing actions on an Active Directory domain. It can join Linux machines to AD domains, manage computer accounts, and query domain information without requiring Samba.
The tool uses standard Kerberos and LDAP protocols to communicate with domain controllers, making it lightweight and suitable for automated deployments.
join
Join the local machine to the domain
preset-computer
Pre-create a computer account in the domain
reset-computer
Reset the computer account password
delete-computer
Delete a computer account from the domain
update
Update machine account attributes
testjoin
Test if machine is joined to domain
info
Display domain information
-U user
Administrator username for joining
-D domain
Domain to join
-O ou
Organizational unit for computer account
-H hostname
Override local hostname
--stdin-password
Read password from stdin
Requires appropriate permissions in AD to create computer accounts. Firewall rules must allow LDAP (389) and Kerberos (88) traffic. For full AD integration, combine with SSSD for user authentication.
adcli was developed by Stef Walter at Red Hat, first released around 2012. It was created to provide a lightweight alternative to Samba for AD domain joining, suitable for modern Linux enterprise deployments.