VB.net creating new AD user account using UserPrincipalEx? - vb.net

Question

I'm having a heck of a time trying to add fields like department and title.
I'm using this to create a user account:
Dim ctx As New PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "domain.name.pvt", "OU=Users,DC=global,DC=pvt")
Dim usr As UserPrincipal = New UserPrincipal(ctx)
I have no problem creating the account but can't add simple things like Department and Title. I read about using extensions but its in C++ and have no clue on how to do it.
Any help would be great!!! Thanks!

Answer 1

If you're on .NET 3.5 and up, you should check out the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement (S.DS.AM) namespace. Read all about it here:
Managing Directory Security Principals in the .NET Framework 3.5
MSDN docs on System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
To extend the UserPrincipal class, you don't need much - something like this will suffice (I wrote this in C# originally and just converted it to VB.NET on the 'net - I hope there's no issues with the VB.NET code!)
Imports System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
Namespace ADExtended
<DirectoryRdnPrefix("CN")> _
<DirectoryObjectClass("Person")> _
Public Class UserPrincipalEx
Inherits UserPrincipal
' Inplement the constructor using the base class constructor.
Public Sub New(context As PrincipalContext)
MyBase.New(context)
End Sub
' Implement the constructor with initialization parameters.
Public Sub New(context As PrincipalContext, samAccountName As String, password As String, enabled As Boolean)
MyBase.New(context, samAccountName, password, enabled)
End Sub
' Create the "Department" property.
<DirectoryProperty("department")> _
Public Property Department() As String
Get
If ExtensionGet("department").Length <> 1 Then
Return String.Empty
End If
Return DirectCast(ExtensionGet("department")(0), String)
End Get
Set
ExtensionSet("department", value)
End Set
End Property
' Create the "Title" property.
<DirectoryProperty("title")> _
Public Property Title() As String
Get
If ExtensionGet("title").Length <> 1 Then
Return String.Empty
End If
Return DirectCast(ExtensionGet("title")(0), String)
End Get
Set
ExtensionSet("title", value)
End Set
End Property
' Implement the overloaded search method FindByIdentity.
Public Shared Shadows Function FindByIdentity(context As PrincipalContext, identityValue As String) As UserPrincipalEx
Return DirectCast(FindByIdentityWithType(context, GetType(UserPrincipalEx), identityValue), UserPrincipalEx)
End Function
' Implement the overloaded search method FindByIdentity.
Public Shared Shadows Function FindByIdentity(context As PrincipalContext, identityType As IdentityType, identityValue As String) As UserPrincipalEx
Return DirectCast(FindByIdentityWithType(context, GetType(UserPrincipalEx), identityType, identityValue), UserPrincipalEx)
End Function
End Class
End Namespace
Now, you just use the UserPrincipalEx class:
Dim ctx As New PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "domain.name.pvt", "OU=Users,DC=global,DC=pvt")
Dim usr As UserPrincipalEx = New UserPrincipalEx(ctx)
usr.Title = "......."
usr.Department = "......."
The new S.DS.AM makes it really easy to play around with users and groups in AD!