Vulnerable AD lab environment configured with users, weak passwords and breadcrumbs to help teach basic Active Directory pentesting techniques.

Usage

• Prereqs: An Ubuntu-like host with sudo access, sufficient disk (~200–300 GB) and RAM (enough for the VMs you plan to run). The script will attempt to install virtualbox, vagrant, and ansible via apt if missing.
• Run:

chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh

• The script creates vuln-credit-union-lab/, writes a Vagrantfile and an ansible/ layout, then brings up VMs sequentially (Domain Controller, File Server, multiple Windows 11 workstations, a Win7 legacy VM and a web server).

Sanity check performed

• You can run bash -n setup.sh to do a basic shell syntax check. I also corrected a mismatch so the generated Vagrantfile uses the same Windows 11 box that the script pre-checks (gusztavvargadr/windows-11).

New / Important behavior (updated)

• The script now supports several command-line flags to control behavior without changing the script contents:

  • --dry-run: preview the full flow without performing downloads, filesystem writes, package installs, or VM operations. This is a true no-op for side-effects and useful for validating the control flow.
  • --force: non-interactively overwrite an existing vuln-credit-union-lab/ directory when the script would otherwise prompt.
  • --yes: auto-answer interactive confirmations the script would normally prompt for.
  • --teardown: destroy the Vagrant VMs in the lab (prompts for confirmation unless --force is used).
  • --health-check: show vagrant status for the lab VMs (no changes).
  • --summary: print a concise summary table of expected VMs and addresses.

• Helper functions for logging and confirmations were moved earlier in the script so they are available during preflight checks. That fixed an error where ask_confirm and logging helpers could be called before being defined.

• The script no longer unconditionally aborts when vuln-credit-union-lab/ exists; it will prompt to delete/recreate, honor --force, and in --dry-run simply log the intended action without removing anything.

How to change how many computers are created The script currently generates 10 Windows 11 workstations. Because the script writes both the Vagrantfile and a static ansible/inventory, you must keep those two parts consistent when you change the count.

Two approaches:

• Quick manual edit (fast):

  • Edit setup.sh and change the Vagrant loop range from (1..10).each do |i| to (1..N).each do |i| where N is the desired count.
  • Update the ansible/inventory block written by the script so the win11workstations group lists only w11-01..w11-0N.

• Recommended (safer & repeatable): add a W11_COUNT variable and make the script generate both the Vagrantfile and inventory from that single value. Example (conceptual):

# Near the top of setup.sh
W11_COUNT=3

# Replace the static loop with a dynamic loop in the Vagrantfile heredoc
(1..W11_COUNT).each do |i|
	# generate w11 entries
end

# And generate inventory entries programmatically for w11-01..w11-$(printf '%02d' $W11_COUNT)

If you'd like, I can implement the W11_COUNT variable and update setup.sh so it automatically builds matching inventory — tell me the desired default and I'll patch and push it.

Safety notes

• This environment is intentionally insecure for training. Do not attach it to production or public networks.
• The script will prompt before overwriting vuln-credit-union-lab/ or you can pass --force to override. Use --dry-run to preview what would happen without any destructive or network actions.

Next steps I can take

• Parameterize setup.sh with W11_COUNT and make inventory generation match (I can implement this and push the change).
• Reduce default VM memory/cpu values for lower-resource hosts.

If you want a small default lab (3–4 VMs) I can update the script now — tell me the preferred VM count.