System.DirectoryServices use And limitation

Question

In my application I need to fetch users email from Active Directory.

I came across the System.DirectoryServices namespace for accessing Active Directory. I have no idea on how it works. I have few questions.

Can I simply use this namespace and access AD with proper queries? Is there any pre-requisite like access to LDAP etc.

Please let me know how this actually works

FYI I use .net 4.0

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

Basically, you can define a domain context and easily find users and/or groups in AD:

// set up domain context
using (PrincipalContext ctx = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
   // find a user
   UserPrincipal user = UserPrincipal.FindByIdentity(ctx, "SomeUserName");

   if(user != null)
   {
      // do something here....      
   }

   // find the group in question
   GroupPrincipal group = GroupPrincipal.FindByIdentity(ctx, "YourGroupNameHere");

   // if found....
   if (group != null)
   {
       // iterate over members
       foreach (Principal p in group.GetMembers())
       {
          Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", p.StructuralObjectClass, p.DisplayName);
          // do whatever you need to do to those members
       }
    }
}

The new S.DS.AM makes it really easy to play around with users and groups in AD!