about_ActiveDirectory

TOPIC
    Active Directory Module Overview

SHORT DESCRIPTION
    The Active Directory module is a command line interface for managing
    Active Directory.

LONG DESCRIPTION
    The Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell is for IT
    Professionals who are administering and interfacing with Active
    Directory. The Active Directory module provides an efficient way to
    complete many administrative, configuration, and diagnostic tasks across
    Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and Active Directory
    Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) instances in their environments.
    The Active Directory module includes a set of Windows PowerShell cmdlets
    and a provider. The provider exposes the Active Directory database
    through a hierarchical navigation system, which is very similar to the
    file system. As with drives in a file system, such as C:, you can
    connect Windows PowerShell drives to Active Directory domains and AD
    LDS, as well as Active Directory snapshots.


  Coverage of Active Directory Module Cmdlets
    Create, Read, Update, and Delete actions are supported for Active
    Directory objects by cmdlets such as New-ADUser,
    Get-ADOrganizationalUnit, Set-ADComputer, and Remove-ADUser.

    Account and Password Policy Management are supported by cmdlets such as
    Enable-ADAccount, Unlock-ADAccount, New-ADServiceAccount,
    Set-ADAccountControl, and Remove-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy.

    Domain and Forest Management is supported by cmdlets such as
    Get-ADForest, Set-ADForest, Set-ADForestMode, Enable-ADOptionalFeature,
    Get-ADDomainController, and Get-ADDomain.


    Listing the Active Directory Module Cmdlets
    To get a list of all of the Active Directory module cmdlets, see
    get-command -module ActiveDirectory.


    Getting Started
    Getting started with the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell
    is as easy as clicking the Windows PowerShell icon in the task bar.

    Additionally, you can type any cmdlet from the Active Directory module in any
    Windows PowerShell prompt and the module will be imported automatically.

    Overview and Conceptual Topics
    The first two of these topics offer a high level overview of the Active
    Directory module and the Active Directory Provider.

    For a brief introduction to the Active Directory provider for Windows
    PowerShell, see ActiveDirectory.

    The following topics are conceptual support topics for the Active
    Directory module cmdlets.

    For an introduction to the -Identity parameter, which is used by the
    Active Directory module cmdlets to identify objects in the directory,
    see about_ActiveDirectory_Identity.

    For an introduction to the -Filter parameter which is used by Active
    Directory module cmdlets to search for objects in the directory, see
    about_ActiveDirectory_Filter.

    For an introduction to the .NET Framework-based object model implemented
    by the Active Directory module, see about_ActiveDirectory_ObjectModel.


SEE ALSO
    ActiveDirectory
    about_ActiveDirectory_Filter
    about_ActiveDirectory_Identity
    about_ActiveDirectory_ObjectModel