How to programmatically create Windows user accounts in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008?

Question

I am trying to create new local user accounts on a Windows 7 machine. I used the System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry class (as in here ), but it does not work.

Here is the code in the article:

static void Main(string[] args) { try { DirectoryEntry AD = new DirectoryEntry("WinNT://" + Environment.MachineName + ",computer"); DirectoryEntry NewUser = AD.Children.Add("TestUser1", "user"); NewUser.Invoke("SetPassword", new object[] {"#12345Abc"}); NewUser.Invoke("Put", new object[] {"Description", "Test User from .NET"}); NewUser.CommitChanges(); DirectoryEntry grp; grp = AD.Children.Find("Guests", "group"); if (grp != null) {grp.Invoke("Add", new object[] {NewUser.Path.ToString()});} Console.WriteLine("Account Created Successfully"); Console.ReadLine(); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine(ex.Message); Console.ReadLine(); } } 

When executing this line

DirectoryEntry NewUser = AD.Children.Add("TestUser1", "user");

I get

System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException with " {"Unknown error (0x80005000)"} "

as an exception message and -2147463168 as an error code.

I guess this is probably because the article is about Windows XP and below machines, and I focus on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.

Any help appreciated!

Update:
For some mysterious reason, I no longer see this System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException , but when making changes here newuser.CommitChanges() I get a " UnAuthorizedAccessException ". I tried to run the application as an administrator, but still did not work.

Update 2:
OK, after switching to the UserPrincipal class, I got the following code:

 public UserPrincipal CreateNewUser(string sUserName, string sPassword) { // first check that the user doesn't exist if (GetUser(sUserName) == null) { PrincipalContext oPrincipalContext = GetPrincipalContext(); UserPrincipal oUserPrincipal = new UserPrincipal(oPrincipalContext); oUserPrincipal.Name = sUserName; oUserPrincipal.SetPassword(sPassword); //User Log on Name //oUserPrincipal.UserPrincipalName = sUserName; oUserPrincipal.Save(); return oUserPrincipal; } // if it already exists, return the old user return GetUser(sUserName); } } 

This code works well when I run it as a console application - of course, it runs as an administrator, but when I deploy it as a Windows service, with a security account set to "LocalSystem", I get an InvlaidOperationException message "The main store does not support this property"

Thoughts?

Answer 1

OK, if you checked my last update, the following snippet worked:

 public UserPrincipal CreateNewUser(string sUserName, string sPassword) { // first check that the user doesn't exist if (GetUser(sUserName) == null) { PrincipalContext oPrincipalContext = GetPrincipalContext(); UserPrincipal oUserPrincipal = new UserPrincipal(oPrincipalContext); oUserPrincipal.Name = sUserName; oUserPrincipal.SetPassword(sPassword); //User Log on Name //oUserPrincipal.UserPrincipalName = sUserName; oUserPrincipal.Save(); return oUserPrincipal; } // if it already exists, return the old user return GetUser(sUserName); } } 

This worked as a console application, but failed because of security exceptions when deployed as a Windows service. The solution is to trust this assembly (the Windows Services assembly) to ensure .net security. This is done, now everything is cool!

Answer 2

You need to enter your CN = username, for example:

DirectoryEntry NewUser = AD.Children.Add("CN=TestUser1", "user");

Answer 3

Sir, I want to know more about the code. How can I contact you? Any social network? I'm working on the project. I am a technology student. My project is about the same as yours. If you could help me, that would be great.