Active Directory Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell

Article
10/31/2012

Windows PowerShell™ is a task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration. This reference topic for the information technology (IT) professional introduces the 76 Windows PowerShell cmdlets that you can use to manage and administer the Active Directory® directory service and Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).

What does the Active Directory module do?

The Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2008 R2 is a Windows PowerShell module (named Active Directory) that consolidates a group of cmdlets. You can use these cmdlets to manage your Active Directory domains, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) configuration sets, and Active Directory Database Mounting Tool instances in a single, self-contained package.

Tip

For more information about getting started with the Active Directory Windows PowerShell module, see Active Directory Administration with Windows PowerShell.

In the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server operating system, the Windows Server® 2003 operating system, and Windows Server 2008, administrators used a variety of command-line tools and Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins to connect to their Active Directory domains and AD LDS configuration sets to monitor and manage them. The Active Directory module in Windows Server 2008 R2 now provides a centralized experience for administering your directory service instances.

Active Directory module provider

Administrators can use the Active Directory module provider to easily navigate and access data that is stored in Active Directory domains, AD LDS instances and configuration sets, and Active Directory Database Mounting Tool instances. The Active Directory module provider exposes the Active Directory database through a hierarchical navigation system, which is very similar to the file system. For example, while you are using the Active Directory module, you can use the following commands to navigate through your directory:

cd
dir
remove
.
..

You can use the Active Directory module provider to map Active Directory domains, AD LDS instances, and Active Directory Database Mounting Tool instances to specific provider drives. When the Active Directory module is first loaded, a default Active Directory drive (AD:) is mounted. To connect to that drive, run the cd AD: command. To connect a new provider drive to an Active Directory domain, an AD LDS server, or an Active Directory Database Mounting Tool instance, use the following cmdlet:

New-PSDrive -Name <name of the drive> -PSProvider ActiveDirectory -Root "<DN of the partition/NC>" –Server <server or domain name (NetBIOS/FQDN)[:port number]> -Credential <domain name>\<username>

Parameter	Description
-Name <name of the drive>	Specifies the name of the drive that is being added.
-PSProvider ActiveDirectory	The name of the provider, in this case, ActiveDirectory.
-Root "<DN of the partition/NC>"	Specifies the internal root or path of the provider.
–Server <server or domain name (NetBIOS/FQDN)[:port number]>	Specifies the server that hosts your Active Directory domain or an AD LDS instance.
-Credential <domain name>\<username>	Specifies the credentials that you must have to connect to the Active Directory domain or the AD LDS server.

Active Directory module cmdlets

You can use the Active Directory module cmdlets to perform various administrative, configuration, and diagnostic tasks in your AD DS and AD LDS environments. In this release of Windows Server 2008 R2, you can use the Active Directory module to manage existing Active Directory user and computer accounts, groups, organizational units (OUs), domains and forests, domain controllers, and password policies, or you can create new ones.

The following table lists all the cmdlets that are available in this release of the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2008 R2.

Cmdlet	Description
Add-ADComputerServiceAccount	Adds one or more service accounts to an Active Directory computer.
Add-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy	Adds users, computers, and groups to the Allowed List or the Denied List of the read-only domain controller (RODC) Password Replication Policy (PRP).
Add-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicySubject	Applies a fine-grained password policy to one more users and groups.
Add-ADGroupMember	Adds one or more members to an Active Directory group.
Add-ADPrincipalGroupMembership	Adds a member to one or more Active Directory groups.
Clear-ADAccountExpiration	Clears the expiration date for an Active Directory account.
Disable-ADAccount	Disables an Active Directory account.
Disable-ADOptionalFeature	Disables an Active Directory optional feature.
Enable-ADAccount	Enables an Active Directory account.
Enable-ADOptionalFeature	Enables an Active Directory optional feature.
Get-ADAccountAuthorizationGroup	Gets the Active Directory security groups that contain an account.
Get-ADAccountResultantPasswordReplicationPolicy	Gets the resultant password replication policy for an Active Directory account.
Get-ADComputer	Gets one or more Active Directory computers.
Get-ADComputerServiceAccount	Gets the service accounts that are hosted by an Active Directory computer.
Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy	Gets the default password policy for an Active Directory domain.
Get-ADDomain	Gets an Active Directory domain.
Get-ADDomainController	Gets one or more Active Directory domain controllers, based on discoverable services criteria, search parameters, or by providing a domain controller identifier, such as the NetBIOS name.
Get-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy	Gets the members of the Allowed List or the Denied List of the RODC PRP.
Get-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicyUsage	Gets the resultant password policy of the specified ADAccount on the specified RODC.
Get-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy	Gets one or more Active Directory fine-grained password policies.
Get-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicySubject	Gets the users and groups to which a fine-grained password policy is applied.
Get-ADForest	Gets an Active Directory forest.
Get-ADGroup	Gets one or more Active Directory groups.
Get-ADGroupMember	Gets the members of an Active Directory group.
Get-ADObject	Gets one or more Active Directory objects.
Get-ADOptionalFeature	Gets one or more Active Directory optional features.
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit	Gets one or more Active Directory OUs.
Get-ADPrincipalGroupMembership	Gets the Active Directory groups that have a specified user, computer, or group.
Get-ADRootDSE	Gets the root of a domain controller information tree.
Get-ADServiceAccount	Gets one or more Active Directory service accounts.
Get-ADUser	Gets one or more Active Directory users.
Get-ADUserResultantPasswordPolicy	Gets the resultant password policy for a user.
Install-ADServiceAccount	Installs an Active Directory service account on a computer.
Move-ADDirectoryServer	Moves a domain controller in AD DS to a new site.
Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole	Moves operation master (also known as flexible single master operations or FSMO) roles to an Active Directory domain controller.
Move-ADObject	Moves an Active Directory object or a container of objects to a different container or domain.
New-ADComputer	Creates a new Active Directory computer.
New-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy	Creates a new Active Directory fine-grained password policy.
New-ADGroup	Creates an Active Directory group.
New-ADObject	Creates an Active Directory object.
New-ADOrganizationalUnit	Creates a new Active Directory OU.
New-ADServiceAccount	Creates a new Active Directory service account.
New-ADUser	Creates a new Active Directory user.
Remove-ADComputer	Removes an Active Directory computer.
Remove-ADComputerServiceAccount	Removes one or more service accounts from a computer.
Remove-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy	Removes users, computers, and groups from the Allowed List or the Denied List of the RODC PRP.
Remove-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy	Removes an Active Directory fine-grained password policy.
Remove-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicySubject	Removes one or more users from a fine-grained password policy.
Remove-ADGroup	Removes an Active Directory group.
Remove-ADGroupMember	Removes one or more members from an Active Directory group.
Remove-ADObject	Removes an Active Directory object.
Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit	Removes an Active Directory OU.
Remove-ADPrincipalGroupMembership	Removes a member from one or more Active Directory groups.
Remove-ADServiceAccount	Removes an Active Directory service account.
Remove-ADUser	Removes an Active Directory user.
Rename-ADObject	Changes the name of an Active Directory object.
Reset-ADServiceAccountPassword	Resets the service account password for a computer.
Restore-ADObject	Restores an Active Directory object.
Search-ADAccount	Gets Active Directory user, computer, and service accounts.
Set-ADAccountControl	Modifies user account control (UAC) values for an Active Directory account.
Set-ADAccountExpiration	Sets the expiration date for an Active Directory account.
Set-ADAccountPassword	Modifies the password of an Active Directory account.
Set-ADComputer	Modifies an Active Directory computer.
Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy	Modifies the default password policy for an Active Directory domain.
Set-ADDomain	Modifies an Active Directory domain.
Set-ADDomainMode	Sets the domain functional level for an Active Directory domain.
Set-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy	Modifies an Active Directory fine-grained password policy.
Set-ADForest	Modifies an Active Directory forest.
Set-ADForestMode	Sets the forest mode for an Active Directory forest.
Set-ADGroup	Modifies an Active Directory group.
Set-ADObject	Modifies an Active Directory object.
Set-ADOrganizationalUnit	Modifies an Active Directory OU.
Set-ADServiceAccount	Modifies an Active Directory service account.
Set-ADUser	Modifies an Active Directory user.
Uninstall-ADServiceAccount	Uninstalls an Active Directory service account from a computer.
Unlock-ADAccount	Unlocks an Active Directory account.

Note

To list all the cmdlets that are available in the Active Directory module, use the Get-Command -AD cmdlet.

For more information about—or for the syntax for—any of the Active Directory module cmdlets, use the Get-Help <cmdlet name> cmdlet, where <cmdlet name> is the name of the cmdlet that you want to research. For more detailed information, you can run any of the following cmdlets:

Get-Help <cmdlet name> -Detailed
Get-Help <cmdlet name> -Full
Get-Help <cmdlet name> -Detailed
Get-Help <cmdlet name> -Examples

More information

For more information about the Active Directory module cmdlets, see the following:

Share via

Active Directory Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell

What does the Active Directory module do?

Active Directory module provider

Active Directory module cmdlets

More information

Additional resources