Create a New Organizational Unit

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Membership in Account Operators , Domain Admins , or Enterprise Admins , or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

Creating a new organizational unit

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To create a new organizational unit using the Windows interface

  1. To open Active Directory Users and Computers, click Start , click Control Panel , double-click Administrative Tools , and then double-click Active Directory Users and Computers .

    To open Active Directory Users and Computers in Windows Server® 2012, click Start , type dsa.msc .

  2. In the console tree, right-click the domain name.

  3. Point to New , and then click Organizational Unit .

  4. Type the name of the organizational unit (OU).

Additional considerations

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • To add an OU, you can also click the domain or folder in which you want to add the OU, and then click the Create a new organizational unit in the current container icon on the toolbar.

  • You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    For more information, see Create a New Organizational Unit (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138390). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

Additional references

To create a new organizational unit using a command line

  1. To open a command prompt, click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .

    To open a command prompt in Windows Server 2012, click Start , type cmd , and then click OK .

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dsadd ou <OrganizationalUnitDN>
    
Parameter Description

<OrganizationalUnitDN>

Specifies the distinguished name of the OU to be added.

To view the complete syntax for this command, and for information about entering user account information, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

dsadd ou /? 

Additional considerations

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in AD DS, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    For more information, see Create a New Organizational Unit (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138390). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

Additional references