Add-ADGroupMember

Module:

ActiveDirectory

Adds one or more members to an Active Directory group.

Syntax

Add-ADGroupMember
   [-WhatIf]
   [-Confirm]
   [-AuthType <ADAuthType>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-Identity] <ADGroup>
   [-Members] <ADPrincipal[]>
   [-MemberTimeToLive <TimeSpan>]
   [-Partition <String>]
   [-PassThru]
   [-Server <String>]
   [-DisablePermissiveModify]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Add-ADGroupMember cmdlet adds one or more users, groups, service accounts, or computers as new members of an Active Directory group.

The Identity parameter specifies the Active Directory group that receives the new members. You can identify a group by its distinguished name, GUID, security identifier, or Security Account Manager (SAM) account name. You can also specify group object variable, such as $<localGroupObject>, or pass a group object through the pipeline to the Identity parameter. For example, you can use the Get-ADGroup cmdlet to get a group object and then pass the object through the pipeline to the Add-ADGroupMember cmdlet.

The Members parameter specifies the new members to add to a group. You can identify a new member by its distinguished name, GUID, security identifier, or SAM account name. You can also specify user, computer, and group object variables, such as $<localUserObject>. If you are specifying more than one new member, use a comma-separated list. You cannot pass user, computer, or group objects through the pipeline to this cmdlet. To add user, computer, or group objects to a group by using the pipeline, use the Add-ADPrincipalGroupMembership cmdlet.

For Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) environments, the Partition parameter must be specified except in the following two conditions:

• The cmdlet is run from an Active Directory provider drive.
• A default naming context or partition is defined for the AD LDS environment.
• To specify a default naming context for an AD LDS environment, set the msDS-defaultNamingContext property of the Active Directory directory service agent object (nTDSDSA) for the AD LDS instance.

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

Add-ADGroupMember -Identity SvcAccPSOGroup -Members SQL01, SQL02

This command adds the user accounts with the SAM account names SQL01 and SQL02 to the group SvcAccPSOGroup.

EXAMPLE 2

$params = @{
    Server = 'localhost:60000'
    SearchBase = 'OU=AccountDeptOU,DC=AppNC'
    Filter = "name -like 'AccountLeads'"
}
Get-ADGroup @params |
    Add-ADGroupMember -Members 'CN=PattiFuller,OU=AccountDeptOU,DC=AppNC'

This command gets a group from the organizational unit OU=AccountDeptOU,DC=AppNC in the AD LDS instance localhost:60000 that has the name AccountLeads, and then pipes it to Add-ADGroupMember, which then adds the user account with the distinguished name CN=PattiFuller,OU=AccountDeptOU,DC=AppNC to it.

EXAMPLE 3

$userParams = @{
    Identity = 'CN=Chew David,OU=UserAccounts,DC=NORTHAMERICA,DC=FABRIKAM,DC=COM'
    Server = 'northamerica.fabrikam.com'
}
$User = Get-ADUser @userParams
$groupParams = @{
    Identity = 'CN=AccountLeads,OU=UserAccounts,DC=EUROPE,DC=FABRIKAM,DC=COM'
    Server = 'europe.fabrikam.com'
}
$Group = Get-ADGroup @groupParams
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity $Group -Members $User -Server "europe.fabrikam.com"

This command adds the user CN=Chew David,OU=UserAccounts from the North America domain to the group CN=AccountLeads,OU=UserAccounts in the Europe domain.

Parameters

-AuthType

Specifies the authentication method to use. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

• Negotiate or 0
• Basic or 1

The default authentication method is Negotiate.

A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is required for the Basic authentication method.

Type:	ADAuthType
Accepted values:	Negotiate, Basic
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	cf
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Credential

Specifies the user account credentials to use to perform this task. The default credentials are the credentials of the currently logged on user unless the cmdlet is run from an Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell provider drive. If the cmdlet is run from such a provider drive, the account associated with the drive is the default.

To specify this parameter, you can type a user name, such as User1 or Domain01\User01 or you can specify a PSCredential object. If you specify a user name for this parameter, the cmdlet prompts for a password.

You can also create a PSCredential object by using a script or by using the Get-Credential cmdlet. You can then set the Credential parameter to the PSCredential object.

If the acting credentials do not have directory-level permission to perform the task, Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell returns a terminating error.

Type:	PSCredential
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-DisablePermissiveModify

Group membership updates use permissive modify by default. This suppresses an error when adding a member that is already member of the group. When this parameter is used, an error "The specified account name is already a member of the group" is returned.

This parameter is available in Windows Server 2019 with the September 2020 Updates.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Identity

Specifies an Active Directory group object by providing one of the following values. The identifier in parentheses is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) display name for the attribute. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

• A distinguished name
• A GUID (objectGUID)
• A security identifier (objectSid)
• Security Accounts Manager account name (sAMAccountName)

The cmdlet searches the default naming context or partition to find the object. If two or more objects are found, the cmdlet returns a non-terminating error.

This parameter can also get this object through the pipeline or you can set this parameter to an object instance.

Type:	ADGroup
Position:	0
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Members

Specifies an array of user, group, and computer objects in a comma-separated list to add to a group. To identify each object, use one of the following property values. The identifier in parentheses is the LDAP display name. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

• Distinguished name
• GUID (objectGUID)
• Security identifier (objectSid)
• SAM account name (sAMAccountName)

You can also provide objects to this parameter directly.

The following examples show how to specify this parameter.

This example specifies a user and group to add by specifying the distinguished name and the SAM account name properties.

-Members "CN=SaraDavis,CN=employees,CN=Users,DC=contoso,DC=com", "saradavisreports"

This example specifies a user and a group object that are defined in the current Windows PowerShell session as input for the parameter.

-Members $userObject, $GroupObject

The objects specified for this parameter are processed as Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADPrincipal objects. Derived types, such as the following are also received by this parameter.

• Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADUser
• Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADComputer
• Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADServiceAccount
• Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADGroup

You cannot pass objects through the pipeline to this parameter.

Type:	ADPrincipal[]
Position:	1
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-MemberTimeToLive

Specifies a Time to Live (TTL) for the new group members.

Type:	TimeSpan
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Partition

Specifies the distinguished name of an Active Directory partition. The distinguished name must be one of the naming contexts on the current directory server. The cmdlet searches this partition to find the object defined by the Identity parameter.

In many cases, a default value is used for the Partition parameter if no value is specified. The rules for determining the default value are given below. Note that rules listed first are evaluated first and once a default value can be determined, no further rules are evaluated.

In Active Directory Domain Services environments, a default value for Partition is set in the following cases:

• If the Identity parameter is set to a distinguished name, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from this distinguished name.
• If running cmdlets from an Active Directory provider drive, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from the current path in the drive.
• If none of the previous cases apply, the default value of Partition is set to the default partition or naming context of the target domain.

In Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) environments, a default value for Partition is set in the following cases:

• If the Identity parameter is set to a distinguished name, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from this distinguished name.
• If running cmdlets from an Active Directory provider drive, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from the current path in the drive.
• If the target AD LDS instance has a default naming context, the default value of Partition is set to the default naming context. To specify a default naming context for an AD LDS environment, set the msDS-defaultNamingContext property of the Active Directory directory service agent (DSA) object (nTDSDSA) for the AD LDS instance.
• If none of the previous cases apply, the Partition parameter will not take any default value.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-PassThru

Returns an object representing the item with which you're working. By default, this cmdlet doesn't generate any output.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Server

Specifies the Active Directory Domain Services instance to connect to, by providing one of the following values for a corresponding domain name or directory server. The service may be any of the following: Active Directory Lightweight Domain Services, Active Directory Domain Services or Active Directory snapshot instance.

Specify the Active Directory Domain Services instance in one of the following ways:

Domain name values:

• Fully qualified domain name
• NetBIOS name

Directory server values:

• Fully qualified directory server name
• NetBIOS name
• Fully qualified directory server name and port

The default value for this parameter is determined by one of the following methods in the order that they are listed:

• By using the Server value from objects passed through the pipeline
• By using the server information associated with the Active Directory Domain Services Windows PowerShell provider drive, when the cmdlet runs in that drive
• By using the domain of the computer running Windows PowerShell

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet isn't run.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	wi
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Inputs

ADGroup

A group object is received by the Identity parameter.

Outputs

None or Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADGroup

Returns the modified group object when the PassThru parameter is specified. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Notes

• This cmdlet does not work with a read-only domain controller.
• This cmdlet does not work with an Active Directory snapshot.
• This cmdlet will allow you to add a group as a member of itself which could lead to unstable behavior.

Related Links

• Add-ADPrincipalGroupMembership
• Get-ADGroup
• Get-ADGroupMember
• Get-ADPrincipalGroupMembership
• Remove-ADGroupMember
• Remove-ADPrincipalGroupMembership