CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellactive-directory
ADScript
ADScript

Reputation: 21

Problem getting script accept groupname with blanks combined with dashes in Powershell

So I am writing some code doing import/export of AD-users in powershell and I ran into a really annoying problem. I am trying to get all members from a distribution group in AD, but it seems like Powershell (as I have written it) will not accept the group name "System Users - Department".

If I run Get-ADGroup 'System Users' ... it works

If I run Get-ADGroup 'System-Users' ... it works

If I run Get-AdGroup 'System Users - Department' it does not work and throws an "Cannot find an object with identity" exception error in return.

The easiest way would just be to change the name of the group, but I can't since it is used in a bunch of other configurations, that I do not control. So I need to find a way to let Powershell read and accept that group name.

Any ideas?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 676

Answers (1)

stackprotector
stackprotector

Reputation: 13452

Get-ADGroup expects the following 4 different types of identities:

  • A distinguished name
  • A GUID (objectGUID)
  • A security identifier (objectSid)
  • A security accounts manager account name (sAMAccountName)

As System Users - Department contains spaces, it can only be interpreted as a distinguished name, but a relative one and thus it may not be unique and it is dangerous to use it this way. I recommend using the sAMAccountName instead. Look it up for your group and use that to identify your group. You will have less trouble with special characters which leads to another possible explanation:

The displayName of a group may contain unicode characters. Are you sure which "minus"-looking character you use inside the display name of your group? Here are 4 different characters in one line to see the difference: - − – — (read more). When looking for the displayName, you have to know exactly which of those signs has been used to create the name. Otherwise you will not be able to match it in a string comparison. For typographical correctness, your displayName would contain an n-dash as it is surrounded by spaces. And it might do so, if it was copied from Word for example, but you will not get this sign by just pressing "minus" on your keyboard. This might be a reason for your problem, too.

Upvotes: 2

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