Get-ADUser in PowerShell - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Get-ADUser command?

Consider the following PowerShell command to get a user named 'jdoe' from Active Directory:

Get-ADUser -Identity jdoe -Properties EmailAddress | Select-Object Name, EmailAddress

What will this command output if the user 'jdoe' exists and has the email '[e-mail]'?

PowerShell

Get-ADUser -Identity jdoe -Properties EmailAddress | Select-Object Name, EmailAddress

A

Name       EmailAddress
----       ------------
Error: Property 'EmailAddress' not found

B

Name       EmailAddress
----       ------------
jdoe       [e-mail]

C

EmailAddress
------------
[e-mail]

D

Name
----
jdoe

💡 Hint

The command uses Select-Object to show both Name and EmailAddress properties.

The command retrieves the user 'jdoe' including the EmailAddress property, then selects and displays both Name and EmailAddress. So the output shows both fields with their values.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which Get-ADUser command syntax correctly retrieves users with 'Manager' property?

You want to get all users and include their 'Manager' property in the output. Which of these commands is syntactically correct?

A Get-ADUser -Filter * -PropertiesManager

B Get-ADUser -Filter * -Property Manager

C Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties 'Manager'

D Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties Manager

💡 Hint

The parameter to include extra properties is '-Properties' followed by property names.

The correct parameter is '-Properties' (plural) followed by the property name without quotes. Option D uses correct syntax.

🔧 Debug

advanced

What error does this Get-ADUser command produce?

Analyze this command:

Get-ADUser -Filter {Name -eq 'jdoe' -and Enabled -eq $true} -Properties EmailAddress | Select Name, EmailAddress

What error will PowerShell show when running this?

A Get-ADUser : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '-and'.

B Get-ADUser : The term 'Enabled' is not recognized as a cmdlet.

C No error, command runs successfully.

D Get-ADUser : Property 'EmailAddress' does not exist.

💡 Hint

The filter syntax uses script block {} but Get-ADUser expects a string filter.

Get-ADUser expects the -Filter parameter as a string, not a script block. Using {} causes PowerShell to misinterpret the filter and throw a positional parameter error.

🚀 Application

advanced

How many users will this command return?

What is the number of users returned by this command?

Get-ADUser -Filter "Enabled -eq $false" -Properties LastLogonDate | Where-Object { $_.LastLogonDate -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-90) }

Assuming the Active Directory has 1000 users, 200 are disabled, and 50 of those disabled have last logon date older than 90 days.

PowerShell

Get-ADUser -Filter "Enabled -eq $false" -Properties LastLogonDate | Where-Object { $_.LastLogonDate -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-90) }

A 1000

B 200

C 50

D 0

💡 Hint

The command filters disabled users, then filters those with last logon older than 90 days.

The command first gets 200 disabled users, then filters those with LastLogonDate older than 90 days, which is 50 users.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

What is the value of variable $userCount after running this script?

Given this PowerShell script:

$users = Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties Department | Where-Object { $_.Department -eq 'Sales' }
$userCount = $users.Count

If Active Directory has 500 users, 120 of which have Department set to 'Sales', what is the value of $userCount?

A 120

B 500

C 0

D null

💡 Hint

Count property returns the number of items in the collection.

The script filters users with Department 'Sales' and stores them in $users. $userCount is the number of those users, which is 120.

Practice

1. What does the Get-ADUser cmdlet do in PowerShell?

easy

A. Creates a new Active Directory user

B. Retrieves information about Active Directory users

C. Deletes an Active Directory user

D. Modifies an Active Directory user's password

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the purpose of Get-ADUser

   The cmdlet is designed to fetch or retrieve user information from Active Directory.

2. Step 2: Compare with other cmdlets

   Creating, deleting, or modifying users are done by other cmdlets like New-ADUser or Set-ADUser, not Get-ADUser.

3. Final Answer:

   Retrieves information about Active Directory users -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Get-ADUser = Retrieve user info [OK]

Hint: Get-ADUser always fetches user info, not changes [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing Get-ADUser with New-ADUser
• Thinking it modifies user data
• Assuming it deletes users

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to get a user by their username using Get-ADUser?

easy

A. Get-ADUser -Identity "jdoe"

B. Get-ADUser -Name "jdoe"

C. Get-ADUser -UserName "jdoe"

D. Get-ADUser -User "jdoe"

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the correct parameter for a single user

   The -Identity parameter is used to specify a single user by username or distinguished name.

2. Step 2: Check other parameters

   Parameters like -Name, -UserName, or -User are not valid for Get-ADUser to specify a single user.

3. Final Answer:

   Get-ADUser -Identity "jdoe" -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   -Identity = single user [OK]

Hint: Use -Identity to specify one user by username [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using -Name instead of -Identity
• Trying -UserName which is invalid
• Confusing parameter names

3. What will this command output?

Get-ADUser -Filter 'Enabled -eq $true' -Properties EmailAddress | Select-Object Name, EmailAddress

medium

A. List of disabled users with their names and email addresses

B. List of all users with only their names

C. List of enabled users with their names and email addresses

D. Error because EmailAddress is not a valid property

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the filter condition

   The filter Enabled -eq $true selects only users who are enabled (active).

2. Step 2: Check properties and output

   The command requests the EmailAddress property and selects to display Name and EmailAddress for each user.

3. Final Answer:

   List of enabled users with their names and email addresses -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Filter enabled + EmailAddress shown = List of enabled users with their names and email addresses [OK]

Hint: Filter enabled users and add -Properties for extra fields [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Forgetting to add -Properties EmailAddress
• Assuming it lists disabled users
• Thinking EmailAddress is invalid property

4. You run this command but get an error:

Get-ADUser -Filter "Name -like '*Smith'" -Properties Email

What is the likely cause?

medium

A. The property 'Email' does not exist; it should be 'EmailAddress'

B. The filter syntax is incorrect; should use single quotes inside double quotes

C. Get-ADUser cannot filter by Name

D. Missing -Identity parameter

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the property name

   The correct property for user email is EmailAddress, not Email.

2. Step 2: Validate filter and parameters

   The filter syntax is valid and filtering by Name is allowed. The -Identity parameter is not required when using -Filter.

3. Final Answer:

   The property 'Email' does not exist; it should be 'EmailAddress' -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Wrong property name causes error [OK]

Hint: Use correct property names like EmailAddress, not Email [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using wrong property names
• Misunderstanding filter syntax
• Thinking -Identity is mandatory with -Filter

5. You want to list all users in the 'Sales' department with their names and phone numbers. Which command will do this correctly?

hard

A. Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department -like Sales' | Select Name, PhoneNumber

B. Get-ADUser -Identity 'Sales' -Properties Phone | Select Name, Phone

C. Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department = Sales' -Properties PhoneNumber | Select-Object Name, PhoneNumber

D. Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department -eq "Sales"' -Properties TelephoneNumber | Select-Object Name, TelephoneNumber

Solution

1. Step 1: Use correct filter syntax for department

   The filter Department -eq "Sales" correctly matches users in Sales department.

2. Step 2: Include correct property and select output

   Use -Properties TelephoneNumber to get phone numbers, then select Name and TelephoneNumber for output.

3. Step 3: Check other options for errors

   Get-ADUser -Identity 'Sales' -Properties Phone | Select Name, Phone uses -Identity incorrectly and wrong property names. Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department -like Sales' | Select Name, PhoneNumber has wrong filter syntax and property names. Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department = Sales' -Properties PhoneNumber | Select-Object Name, PhoneNumber uses '=' instead of '-eq' and wrong property names.

4. Final Answer:

   Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department -eq "Sales"' -Properties TelephoneNumber | Select-Object Name, TelephoneNumber -> Option D

5. Quick Check:

   Filter with -eq + correct property = Get-ADUser -Filter 'Department -eq "Sales"' -Properties TelephoneNumber | Select-Object Name, TelephoneNumber [OK]

Hint: Use -Filter with -eq and add -Properties for extra fields [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using wrong filter operators like '='
• Wrong property names like Phone instead of TelephoneNumber
• Misusing -Identity for filtering