Can't find AD user using the command get-aduser when the user is an object

Question

I have CSV file:

phone         username
--------      ---------
1               user1
2               user2

first I run:

$arr = import-csv "c:\names.csv"

so for example this is the output when I run:

 $arr[0].username 
user1

Now, my goal is to find this user in AD and when I run:

$user = get-aduser -filter {Name -eq $arr[0].username}

I received:

Get-ADUser : Error parsing query: 'Name -eq $arr[0].username' Error Message: 'Operator Not supported: ' at position: '1 4'. At line:1 char:19 + $user = get-aduser <<<< -filter {Name -eq $arr[0].username} + CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [Get-ADUser], ADFilterParsingException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Error parsing query: 'Name -eq $arr[0].username' Error Message: 'Operator Not supported: ' at position: '14'.,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser

But, when I run:

$user = get-aduser -filter {Name -eq "user1"}

it works fine.

how can I find the users using $arr[0].username ? what is the difference ? both of them strings: "user1" and $arr[0].username ...

Thanks, for your help

Answer 1

You can assign the username to a variable and use it in the query:

$name = $arr[0].username
$user = get-aduser -filter {Name -eq $name}

or use an expanded string instead of a script block:

$user = get-aduser -filter "Name -eq '$($arr[0].username)'"