Events
May 19, 6 PM - May 23, 12 AM
Calling all developers, creators, and AI innovators to join us in Seattle @Microsoft Build May 19-22.
Register todayThis browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) provides the means for client applications of directory services to use one set of interfaces to communicate with any namespace that provides an ADSI implementation. ADSI clients use the well-defined Active Directory Service Interfaces in place of the network-specific API calls to gain simpler access to the services for a namespace.
Active Directory Service Interfaces conform to the Component Object Model (COM) and support standard COM features.
ADSI supplies interfaces that are compliant with Automation for name-bound controllers like Java, Microsoft Visual Basic development system, and Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript). ADSI can also provide an interface that can optimize performance for interfaces that are not compliant with Automation, to use with language environments like C and C++.
ADSI also provides the non-automation interfaces, IDirectoryObject and IDirectorySearch, to support directory object management and queries.
In addition, ADSI supplies its own OLE DB provider, so that any client already using OLE DB, including those using ActiveX Data Objects, can query directory services directly.
Web applications using Active Server Pages also can program access to directory services through ADSI.
ADSI clients can programmatically discover all the ADSI providers at a site and use the same interfaces to communicate with each namespace. As additional providers are installed, the ADSI clients can communicate, without recompiling, with the new namespaces as well.
This programming guide describes how ADSI works and provides information for performing specific tasks in ADSI. The following topics are discussed:
Events
May 19, 6 PM - May 23, 12 AM
Calling all developers, creators, and AI innovators to join us in Seattle @Microsoft Build May 19-22.
Register todayTraining
Certification
Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate - Certifications
Demonstrate the features of Microsoft Entra ID to modernize identity solutions, implement hybrid solutions, and implement identity governance.
Documentation
Accessing and Manipulating Data with ADSI - Win32 apps
All objects have properties.
About Active Directory Service Interfaces - Win32 apps
Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) abstracts the capabilities of directory services from different network providers in a distributed computing environment to present a single set of directory service interfaces for managing network resources.
Active Directory Service Interfaces Quick-start Tutorials - Win32 apps
The Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Quick-start Tutorials are a series of ADSI samples and supporting documentation designed to familiarize you with the programming models used to access Active Directory.