Creating New User and Computer Accounts

[Netwrix-Team]

You can create new user accounts in Active Directory using the New-ADUser cmdlet. This guide covers single account creation, bulk creation, and importing from CSV files.

Getting the Syntax

To get the full syntax for the cmdlet:

Get-Command New-ADUser –Syntax

Creating a Simple User Account

The easiest way to create a user account:

New-ADUser B.Johnson

Default Properties

Accounts created this way have the following default properties:

• Account is created in the “Users” container
• Account is disabled
• Account is a member of Domain Users group
• No password is set
• User must reset the password at the first logon

Creating a Usable Account

To make a new account that’s actually usable, you need to:

1. Enable it using Enable-ADAccount cmdlet
2. Give it a password using Set-ADAccountPassword cmdlet

Example: Creating a Complete User Account

Let’s create a new account with these attributes:

• Name: Jack Robinson
• Given Name: Jack
• Surname: Robinson
• Account Name: J.Robinson
• User Principal Name: J.Robinson@enterprise.com
• Path: “OU=Managers,DC=enterprise,DC=com”
• Password Input: Required
• Status: Enabled

New-ADUser -Name "Jack Robinson" -GivenName "Jack" -Surname "Robinson" `
  -SamAccountName "J.Robinson" `
  -UserPrincipalName "J.Robinson@enterprise.com" `
  -Path "OU=Managers,DC=enterprise,DC=com" `
  -AccountPassword(Read-Host -AsSecureString "Input Password") `
  -Enabled $true

Note: The Read-Host parameter will ask you to input a new password. The password must meet the length, complexity and history requirements of your domain security policy.

Creating Multiple Users in Bulk

Method 1: Using a Loop with Default Password

Create 10 similar users with a default password (P@ssw0rd), using ConvertTo-SecureString:

$path="OU=IT,DC=enterprise,DC=com"
$username="ITclassuser"
$count=1..10

foreach ($i in $count) {
  New-AdUser -Name $username$i -Path $path -Enabled $True `
    -ChangePasswordAtLogon $true `
    -AccountPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString "P@ssw0rd" -AsPlainText -force) `
    -passThru
}

Method 2: Interactive Number Input

To make the script more flexible, add prompts for username and count:

$path="OU=IT,DC=enterprise,DC=com"
$username=Read-Host "Enter name"
$n=Read-Host "Enter Number"
$count=1..$n

foreach ($i in $count) {
  New-AdUser -Name $username$i -Path $path -Enabled $True `
    -ChangePasswordAtLogon $true `
    -AccountPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString "P@ssw0rd" -AsPlainText -force) `
    -passThru
}

Importing Users from CSV File

This option is great when you have a list of users with predefined personal details.

CSV File Format

The CSV file must be in UTF8 encoding and contain these columns:

• firstname
• lastname
• username
• department
• password
• ou

Example CSV:

Import Script

#Enter a path to your import CSV file
$ADUsers = Import-csv C:\scripts\newusers.csv

foreach ($User in $ADUsers) {
  $Username = $User.username
  $Password = $User.password
  $Firstname = $User.firstname
  $Lastname = $User.lastname
  $Department = $User.department
  $OU = $User.ou

  #Check if the user account already exists in AD
  if (Get-ADUser -F {SamAccountName -eq $Username}) {
    #If user does exist, output a warning message
    Write-Warning "A user account $Username has already exist in Active Directory."
  }
  else {
    #If a user does not exist then create a new user account

    #Account will be created in the OU listed in the $OU variable;
    #don't forget to change the domain name in the "-UserPrincipalName" variable
    New-ADUser `
      -SamAccountName $Username `
      -UserPrincipalName "$Username@yourdomain.com" `
      -Name "$Firstname $Lastname" `
      -GivenName $Firstname `
      -Surname $Lastname `
      -Enabled $True `
      -ChangePasswordAtLogon $True `
      -DisplayName "$Lastname, $Firstname" `
      -Department $Department `
      -Path $OU `
      -AccountPassword (convertto-securestring $Password -AsPlainText -Force)
  }
}

Result

After script execution, the new users will appear in Active Directory:

Creating Computer Accounts

To create a computer object, use the New-ADComputer cmdlet.

Single Computer

Create a computer object with “WKS932” as its name:

New-ADComputer –Name "WKS932" –SamAccountName "WKS932"

Importing Computers from CSV

If you have a list of computers to import, save them to a CSV file with the heading “computer” and the list of computer names below it.

$File="C:\scripts\Computers.csv" # Specify the import CSV position
$Path="OU=Devices,DC=enterprise,DC=com" # Specify the path to the OU

Import-Csv -Path $File | ForEach-Object {
  New-ADComputer -Name $_.Computer -Path $Path -Enabled $True
}