One thing that I use PowerShell for on a daily basis is to query active directory for basic information regarding the users and the workstations that I support.

This is a great tool for retrieving some basic information about your users and computers, such as what organizational unit they belong to, their Domain Controller, or their enablement status.

These are very simple commands that utilize the ‘Get-Command’ in Active Directory

For example, if I have a computer that I would like to query, I will simply utilize the command below:

Get-ADComputer computername

If you run this get-command, you should get a result that shows something similar:

Now let’s look at the same type of command for a user account by using the command below:

Get-ADUser username

If you run this get command, you should get a result that shows something similar:

The get-command is a very useful tool for active directory that can also be used to retrieve information about AD Groups, Group Members, and various other properties from active directory. You can explore all of the options available for the get command by typing Get- into the script pane or by selecting view and selecting “show Command Add-on”. From there you can review all of the Get-Commands at your disposal.