Since you're on .NET 3.5 and up, you should check out the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
(S.DS.AM) namespace. Read all about it here:
- Managing Directory Security Principals in the .NET Framework 3.5
- MSDN docs on System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
Basically, you can define a domain context and easily find users and/or groups in AD:
// set up domain context
using (PrincipalContext ctx = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
// find a user
UserPrincipal user = UserPrincipal.FindByIdentity(ctx, "SomeUserName");
if(user != null)
{
// do something here....
}
}
The new S.DS.AM makes it really easy to play around with users and groups in AD!
The UserPrincipal
object has quite a selection of properties you can access directly - if you need others, you can even extend your UserPrincipal
as needed!
Update: if the various properties that FindByIdentity
searches by aren't enough for you, use a PrincipalSearcher
with a "query-by-example" principal to do your searching:
// create your domain context
using (PrincipalContext ctx = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
// define a "query-by-example" principal - here, we search for a UserPrincipal
// and with the first name (GivenName) of "Bruce" and a last name (Surname) of "Miller"
UserPrincipal qbeUser = new UserPrincipal(ctx);
qbeUser.GivenName = "Bruce";
qbeUser.Surname = "Miller";
// of course, you can set **ANY** of the UserPrincipal properties here
// create your principal searcher passing in the QBE principal
PrincipalSearcher srch = new PrincipalSearcher(qbeUser);
// find all matches
foreach(var found in srch.FindAll())
{
// do whatever here - "found" is of type "Principal" - it could be user, group, computer.....
}
}