I've been trying to use the `-Members` parameter with the `add-adgroupmember` command in a PowerShell script, but I keep running into issues. While it's clear from the documentation that you can pass multiple DN/Samaccountnames, I can only get it to work in a CLI environment. In my script, I'm attempting to do something like this:
`$adgroup | add-adgroupmember -Members $members`
Unfortunately, I'm getting errors, and it looks like the `$members` variable is being treated as a **Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADPrincipal**, which isn't what I expected. Typically, I've added users one by one, but I really want to optimize and batch this process. Can anyone share their experiences or tips on how to make this work?
By the way, I did manage to piece it together eventually after some trial and error - thanks to feedback in the comments! Here's the working version:
```powershell
#adds all users in users.csv to a group
$groupName = "groupname"
$usersCsv = Import-Csv -Path users.csv
$members = @()
foreach ($upn in $usersCsv.userprincipalname) {
$members += Get-ADUser -Filter "userprincipalname -eq '$upn'"
}
Get-ADGroup -Filter "Name -eq '$groupName'" | Add-ADGroupMember -Members $members
```
5 Answers
I use a CSV that has `samaccountname` as one of the headers and the usernames below it. Check out this snippet:
```powershell
$groupName = "group name here"
Import-CSV "c:tempadduserstogroup.csv" |
Foreach {
$user = Get-ADUser -Identity $_.samaccountname
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity $groupName -Members $user
}
```
I hit this snag when I first started with PowerShell too. Try running your group through a for-each loop like this:
```powershell
$adgroup | %{Add-ADGroupMember $_ -Members $members}
```
For some reason, it requires that in a loop to function correctly.
It sounds like you might need to check what's actually in your `$members` variable. Try running `Get-help -full -name add-adgroupmember` to see more about the `-member` property. It's generally a good idea to ensure you're working with valid AD objects.
You should definitely validate what’s in `$members`. If it's not the right object type, the command won’t work properly.
I usually just create a list of AD objects directly from `Get-ADUser`. How exactly are you filling up your `$members` variable? It might help to simplify it to a string array of identities for better compatibility.
What exactly is the type of `$members`? You should always check with `Get-Member` to ensure you're passing the right objects to `add-adgroupmember`. It might require a specific format or type.
If you're doing it that way, just be cautious. You’re technically adding users one by one, which kind of defeats the purpose of batch processing.