How can you find a user in active directory from C#?

Question

I\'m trying to figure out how to search AD from C# similarly to how \"Find Users, Contacts, and Groups\" works in the Active Directory Users and Computers tool. I have a str

Answer 1

You need to build the search string based on how you're looking for the user.

using (var adFolderObject = new DirectoryEntry())
{
     using(var adSearcherObject = new DirectorySearcher(adFolderObject))
     {
          adSearcherObject.SearchScope = SearchScope.Subtree;
          adSearcherObject.Filter = "(&(objectClass=person)(" + userType + "=" + userName + "))";

          return adSearcherObject.FindOne();
     }
}

userType should either be sAMAccountName or CN depending on how the username is formatted.

ex:
firstname.lastname (or flastname) will usually be the sAMAccountName
FirstName LastName will usually be the CN