I'm running into a challenge with Active Directory. I'm trying to use the Split operator to break apart a string with multiple values, like "Val1,Val2,Val3", and then store them separately in a user's description attribute in Active Directory. However, I keep getting an error saying that the description attribute can only hold one value. It's confusing because when I use ADUC, it seems like I can set multiple values for that attribute. Here's the script I'm using:
```powershell
$userIdentity = "username"
$DescriptionString = "Val1,Val2,Val3"
$descriptionValues = $DescriptionString.Split(',') | ForEach-Object { $_.Trim() }
Set-ADUser -Identity $userIdentity -Replace @{description=$descriptionValues}
```
4 Answers
Another option would be to look into extending your AD schema to support custom attributes. This way, you could create attributes that suit your needs better, especially if you need multiple entries per user. Just keep in mind the long-term management of those attributes!
Instead of over-complicating things, why not just concatenate the values? You could do something like this:
```powershell
$combinedString = $descriptionValues -join ';'
Set-ADUser -Identity $userIdentity -Replace @{description=$combinedString}
```
That way, you're keeping it simple and can still store all the info without getting errors.
It looks like you're treating the description as an array, but it's not set up for that in AD. The `$DescriptionString` you have is a single flat string, and when you split it, you end up with an array that you can't save back to that attribute. The AD attribute definition indicates it's single-valued, so you should either use a different attribute type or concatenate those values.
You might face this limitation because the description attribute in Active Directory is generally treated as a single string, not a multi-value attribute. The Split operator just transforms the string into an array, but the directory won't accept it as multiple values. Rather than trying to force multiple entries into the description, consider whether you can use a different attribute that allows multiple values or simply concatenate the values into a single string before saving.
Yeah, I tested this in ADUC too. It lets you add multiple values, but when you save, I got an error about having too many values for the description. It's odd that ADUC allows it at all.
Exactly! The single-valued nature of the description attribute means it can only hold one value. You might want to look for a multi-valued attribute if you need more flexibility.