Windows Server 2012 : Administering Active Directory using Windows PowerShell (part 2) - Finding Active Directory administration cmdlets

The Get-Command cmdlet, which is new in Windows PowerShell 3.0, can be helpful when you need to find cmdlets to perform some administration task on Active Directory. For example, typing Get-Command New-AD* lists all cmdlets used for creating new Active Directory objects. The output from running this command looks like this:

CommandType     Name                                               ModuleName
-----------     ----                                               ----------
Cmdlet          New-ADCentralAccessPolicy                          ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADCentralAccessRule                            ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADClaimTransformPolicy                         ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADClaimType                                    ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADComputer                                     ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADDCCloneConfigFile                            ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy                    ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADGroup                                        ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADObject                                       ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADOrganizationalUnit                           ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADReplicationSite                              ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADReplicationSiteLink                          ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADReplicationSiteLinkBridge                    ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADReplicationSubnet                            ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADResourceProperty                             ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADResourcePropertyList                         ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADServiceAccount                               ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          New-ADUser                                         ActiveDirectory

The function of each command is self-explanatory given the names of these commands. To see the syntax and usage examples for each command, use the Get-Help cmdlet.

As a second example of finding Active Directory administration cmdlets, typing Get-Command *ADAccount* displays all cmdlets used for managing Active Directory accounts. The output of this command is as follows:

CommandType     Name                                               ModuleName
-----------     ----                                               ----------
Cmdlet          Clear-ADAccountExpiration                          ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Disable-ADAccount                                  ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Enable-ADAccount                                   ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Get-ADAccountAuthorizationGroup                    ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Get-ADAccountResultantPasswordReplicationPolicy    ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Search-ADAccount                                   ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Set-ADAccountControl                               ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Set-ADAccountExpiration                            ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Set-ADAccountPassword                              ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet          Unlock-ADAccount                                   ActiveDirectory

Again, the names of these cmdlets provide clear insight into the actions they can perform, such as enabling, disabling, and unlocking accounts; setting passwords for accounts; setting and clearing the expiration date for an account; and so on.

Finally, the Get-Help cmdlet can be useful both for finding cmdlets and learning what you can do with them. For example, typing Get-Help *ADUser* displays some of the cmdlets used for managing Active Directory user accounts and describes what they do. The output of this command is as follows:

Name                              Category  Module             Synopsis
----                              --------  ------             --------
Get-ADUser                        Cmdlet    ActiveDirectory    Gets one or more Active
                                                               Directory users.
Get-ADUserResultantPasswordPolicy Cmdlet    ActiveDirectory    Gets the resultant
                                                               password policy for a  user
.
New-ADUser                        Cmdlet    ActiveDirectory    Creates a new Active
                                                               Directory user.
Remove-ADUser                     Cmdlet    ActiveDirectory    Removes an Active
                                                               Directory user.
Set-ADUser                        Cmdlet    ActiveDirectory    Modifies an Active
                                                               Directory user.

From the previous examples, you can see that typing Get-Help *ADAccount* will provide information about more cmdlets used for managing Active Directory user accounts.