New-ADUser and Set-ADUser in PowerShell - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Create and Update Active Directory Users with PowerShell

📖 Scenario: You are an IT administrator managing user accounts in an Active Directory (AD) environment. You need to create new user accounts and update their properties using PowerShell commands.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to create a new AD user with New-ADUser and update user properties with Set-ADUser using PowerShell.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a new AD user with specific properties using New-ADUser

Set a password for the new user

Enable the new user account

Update the user's office location using Set-ADUser

Display the updated user properties

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

IT administrators often need to automate user account creation and updates in Active Directory to save time and reduce errors.

💼 Career

Knowledge of New-ADUser and Set-ADUser commands is essential for system administrators managing Windows networks and Active Directory.

1

Create a new AD user with basic properties

Create a new AD user with the username jdoe, given name John, surname Doe, and user principal name [e-mail] using New-ADUser. Use the -AccountPassword parameter with a secure string password P@ssw0rd123 and set -Enabled to $false initially.

PowerShell

# Create a new AD user named jdoe with given name John and surname Doe
# Use New-ADUser with AccountPassword and Enabled parameters

Need a hint?

Use ConvertTo-SecureString to create a secure password string for -AccountPassword.

2

Enable the user account

Create a variable called $username and set it to jdoe. Then enable the user account by running Set-ADUser with the -Enabled $true parameter for the user with SamAccountName $username.

PowerShell

$password = ConvertTo-SecureString "P@ssw0rd123" -AsPlainText -Force
New-ADUser -Name "John Doe" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe" -SamAccountName "jdoe" -UserPrincipalName "[e-mail]" -AccountPassword $password -Enabled $false

# Create $username variable and enable the user account

Need a hint?

Use Set-ADUser -Identity $username -Enabled $true to enable the user.

3

Update the user's office location

Use Set-ADUser to update the office location of the user with SamAccountName $username to Headquarters. Use the -Office parameter.

PowerShell

$password = ConvertTo-SecureString "P@ssw0rd123" -AsPlainText -Force
New-ADUser -Name "John Doe" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe" -SamAccountName "jdoe" -UserPrincipalName "[e-mail]" -AccountPassword $password -Enabled $false

$username = "jdoe"
Set-ADUser -Identity $username -Enabled $true

# Update the office location to Headquarters

Need a hint?

Use Set-ADUser -Identity $username -Office "Headquarters" to update the office location.

4

Display the updated user properties

Use Get-ADUser with the -Identity $username parameter and -Properties Office to get the user details. Then print the user's name and office location using Write-Output in the format: User: John Doe, Office: Headquarters.

PowerShell

$password = ConvertTo-SecureString "P@ssw0rd123" -AsPlainText -Force
New-ADUser -Name "John Doe" -GivenName "John" -Surname "Doe" -SamAccountName "jdoe" -UserPrincipalName "[e-mail]" -AccountPassword $password -Enabled $false

$username = "jdoe"
Set-ADUser -Identity $username -Enabled $true
Set-ADUser -Identity $username -Office "Headquarters"

# Get user details and print name and office

Need a hint?

Use Get-ADUser -Identity $username -Properties Office to get the user, then print with Write-Output.