IgNiTeD SoUL

Problem

You want to enable or disable a user account.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the ADUC snap-in.
2. In the left pane, right-click on the domain and select Find.
3. Select the appropriate domain beside In.
4. Type the name of the user beside Name and click Find Now.
5. In the Search Results window, right-click on the user and select Enable Account to enable or Disable Account to disable.
6. Click OK.

Using a command-line interface

To enable a user, use the following command:

        > dsmod user <UserDN> -disabled no

To disable a user, use the following command:

        > dsmod user <UserDN> -disabled yes

Using VBScript

        ' This code will enable or disable a user.
        ' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
        ' Set to FALSE to disable account or TRUE to enable account
        strDisableAccount = FALSE
        strUserDN = "<UserDN>" ' e.g. cn=jsmith,cn=Users,dc=rallencorp,dc=com
        ' ------ END CONFIGURATION --------

        set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & strUserDN)
        if objUser.AccountDisabled = TRUE then
           WScript.Echo "Account for " & objUser.Get("cn") & " currently disabled"
           if strDisableAccount = FALSE then
              objUser.AccountDisabled = strDisableAccount
              objUser.SetInfo
              WScript.Echo "Account enabled"
           end if
        else
           WScript.Echo "Account currently enabled"
           if strDisableAccount = TRUE then
              objUser.AccountDisabled = strDisableAccount
              objUser.SetInfo
              WScript.Echo "Account disabled"
           end if
        end if

Discussion

Account status is used to control whether a user is allowed to log on or not. When an account is disabled, the user is not allowed to log on to her workstation with the account or to access AD controlled resources.

There is an IADsUser:: AccountDisabled property that allows you to determine and change the status. Set the method FALSE to enable the account or trUE to disable.