Question

So I’m new to LDAP, and I’m having trouble finding a solid resource.

I’m able to make the connection, but I’m a little lost as to how to get a list of users from a specific group. Could someone help get me started getting a list of users from a specific group?

Answer 1

Assuming you’re talking about Active Directory as your LDAP store, and if you’re on .NET 3.5 and up, you should check out the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement (S.DS.AM) namespace. Read all about it here:

• Managing Directory Security Principals in the .NET Framework 3.5
• MSDN docs on System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement

Basically, you can define a domain context and easily find users and/or groups in AD:

// set up domain context
using (PrincipalContext ctx = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
   // find the group in question
   GroupPrincipal group = GroupPrincipal.FindByIdentity(ctx, "YourGroupNameHere");

   // if found....
   if (group != null)
   {
      // iterate over members
      foreach (Principal p in group.GetMembers())
      {
          Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", p.StructuralObjectClass, p.DisplayName);
          // do whatever you need to do to those members
      }
   }

}

The new S.DS.AM makes it really easy to play around with users and groups in AD!