Add local users with PowerShell

By
Jenz
– 2012-10-31Posted in: IT

Recently I needed a quick way to add local users to my Windows Servers running 2008 R2. Previously I have been using the “net” command for this, but I lacked some features. So, I took a look into PowerShell to find out what I could do. After some trial and error I finally got it to work as desired:

function create-account ([string]$accountName, [string]$accountDescription) {
$hostname = hostname
$comp = [adsi]“WinNT://$hostname”
$user = $comp.Create(“User”, $accountName)
$user.SetPassword(“change,password.10″)
$user.SetInfo()
$user.description = $accountDescription
$user.SetInfo()
$User.UserFlags[0] = $User.UserFlags[0] -bor 0×10000 #ADS_UF_DONT_EXPIRE_PASSWD flag is 0×10000
$user.SetInfo()

$objOU = [ADSI]“WinNT://$hostname/Administrators,group”
$objOU.add(“WinNT://$hostname/$accountName”)

$objOU = [ADSI]“WinNT://$hostname/Remote Desktop Users,group”
$objOU.add(“WinNT://$hostname/$accountName”)
}

create-account “testuser2″ “Some Description”

The above function adds a local user to Windows, and sets the following properties:

  • Added to local Administrator group
  • Added to local Remove Desktop Users group (enables the users to use Remote Desktop)
  • Set the password to Never Expire
Tip: You can run the above script in Windows PowerShell ISE (Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment) if you need to tweak it for your own needs. Then you get more readable feedback than in the PowerShell command prompt.

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