Finding UNIX-Enabled Accounts in Active Directory MMC
Published on 18 Jun 2008 · Filed in Information · 191 words (estimated 1 minutes to read)In UNIX/Linux integration scenarios, it’s useful to know which accounts have been UNIX-enabled, i.e., have had the UID number, NIS domain, login shell, and home directory attributes configured.
It’s certainly very possible to do this with command-line tools such as AdFind or DsQuery, but users may also find it useful to have a saved query available within the Active Directory Users & Computers console for easy reference.
The way to do this is define a custom query using this string:
(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=User)(uidNumber=*)
If you add just this text and nothing else in the “Find Custom Search” dialog box (the Advanced tab), then the console will automatically add ampersands and additional parentheses to turn it into a “proper” LDAP query that will show you any account that has a UID number configured. Certainly, additional fields like loginShell or unixHomeDirectory could be added as well, but this query will probably be sufficient for most instances.
I started not to publish this, but figured if I couldn’t remember the exact syntax then someone else might not be able to remember the syntax either. This one is as much for me as it is for others.