error when running Set-SPProfileLeader in PowerShell

Question

I want to manually set my organization's leader in SharePoint, using the following script from TechNet. I modified the script to have the correct user profile service application proxy ID, and the correct username.

$upaProxy = Get-SPServiceApplicationProxy 1232b6f7-b9ff-99ad-0cd0-fg1g67h981aq
Add-SPProfileLeader -ProfileServiceApplicationProxy $upaProxy -Name "contoso\janedow"

Seems simple enough, but when I run the script I get an error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: This turns out to have been a permissions issue. Once I logged in under an account with higher permissions, the script in my post ran successfully.

Answer 1

This turns out to have been a permissions issue. Once I logged in under an account with higher permissions, the script in my post ran successfully.

Edit: To clarify, the problem wasn't the level of SharePoint permissions, but rather network or Active Directory permissions.

Answer 2

LCountee, you wrote that you needed an account with higher permissions. What exact permissions are we talking about? I tried the same with a dedicated Farm Administrator account as well as with my Domain Administrator account that is member of Farm Administrators. I still get the object reference error/null reference exception for both the following commands:

Get-SPProfileLeader -ProfileServiceApplicationProxy $upap
Add-SPProfileLeader -ProfileServiceApplicationProxy $upap -Name domain\coleader

My $upap variable fully returns

Name                 Type                 Id
----                 ----                 --
Benutzerprofildie... Benutzerprofildie... 2106980f-ebff-4a58-82a3-15dc293d0372

where "Benutzerprofildienst-Anwendung(sproxy)" means "User Profile Application (Proxy)"

Any idea what could be wrong instead of the permissions?

Answer 3

Can you check this post for a detailed understanding?

http://www.harbar.net/archive/2011/07/06/329.aspx