about_ActiveDirectory

SHORT DESCRIPTION

The Active Directory module is a command line interface for managing Active Directory.

LONG DESCRIPTION

The Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell is for IT Professionals who are administering and interfacing with Active Directory. The Active Directory module provides an efficient way to complete many administrative, configuration, and diagnostic tasks across Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) instances in their environments. The Active Directory module includes a set of Windows PowerShell cmdlets and a provider. The provider exposes the Active Directory database through a hierarchical navigation system, which is very similar to the file system. As with drives in a file system, such as C:, you can connect Windows PowerShell drives to Active Directory domains and AD LDS, as well as Active Directory snapshots.

Coverage of Active Directory Module Cmdlets

Create, Read, Update, and Delete actions are supported for Active Directory objects by cmdlets such as New-ADUser, Get-ADOrganizationalUnit, Set-ADComputer, and Remove-ADUser.

Account and Password Policy Management are supported by cmdlets such as Enable-ADAccount, Unlock-ADAccount, New-ADServiceAccount, Set-ADAccountControl, and Remove-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy.

Domain and Forest Management is supported by cmdlets such as Get-ADForest, Set-ADForest, Set-ADForestMode, Enable-ADOptionalFeature, Get-ADDomainController, and Get-ADDomain.

Listing the Active Directory Module Cmdlets

To get a list of all of the Active Directory module cmdlets, run

Get-Command -Module ActiveDirectory

Getting Started

Getting started with the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell is as easy as clicking the following shortcut:

Run the following command in any Windows PowerShell prompt to import the Active Directory module:

Import-Module ActiveDirectory

Overview and Conceptual Topics

The first two of these topics offer a high level overview of the Active Directory module and the Active Directory Provider.

• For a brief introduction to the Active Directory provider for Windows PowerShell, see ActiveDirectory.
• The following topics are conceptual support topics for the Active Directory module cmdlets.
  • For an introduction to the Identity parameter, which is used by the Active Directory module cmdlets to identify objects in the directory, see about_ActiveDirectory_Identity.
  • For an introduction to the Filter parameter which is used by Active Directory module cmdlets to search for objects in the directory, see about_ActiveDirectory_Filter.
  • For an introduction to the .NET Framework-based object model implemented by the Active Directory module, see about_ActiveDirectory_ObjectModel.