3 August 2004
Create a Local Windows User Account [C#/.NET]
Posted by Mikhail Esteves under: Tips; Windows .
Using the Windows net command, it’s easy to create local Windows User Accounts. The syntax for the net command is:
net user [username] [password] /ADD
The following C# function takes in three parameters — username, password and home directory.
using System.Diagnostics;public void CreateLocalUser(string username, string password, string homedir) { if (!Directory.Exists(homedir)) Directory.CreateDirectory(homedir);Process MyProc = new Process(); MyProc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = @"C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32"; MyProc.StartInfo.FileName = "net.exe"; MyProc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false; MyProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true; MyProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true; MyProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true; MyProc.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;MyProc.StartInfo.Arguments = @" user " + username + @" " + password + @" /ADD /ACTIVE:YES " + @"/EXPIRES:NEVER /FULLNAME:" + username + @" /HOMEDIR:""" + homedir + @""" /PASSWORDCHG:NO /PASSWORDREQ:YES";MyProc.Start(); MyProc.WaitForExit(); MyProc.Close(); }
It assumes a few settings for the user and creates a local User account. You can alter the settings to anything you want. Try “net help user” in your DOS prompt for what each of the switches mean/do.
8 Comments so far...
M N Zaman Says:
14 December 2004 at 8:14 pm.
how to set flag using net user command that password never expires?
Mikhail Says:
15 December 2004 at 1:25 pm.
Hi Zaman: Type “net help user” in the command prompt to see a detailed listing of available options.
NA Says:
14 January 2005 at 12:52 am.
A suggestion: Use System.Environment.SystemDirectory instead of hard-coding the system directory path
Dan Says:
25 May 2006 at 11:55 pm.
Seems like a hack to use another process. Why not just do it yourself?
Like this:
public static void CreateLocalUser(string username, string password, string description)
{
DirectoryEntry AD = new DirectoryEntry(“WinNT://” + Environment.MachineName + “,computer”);
DirectoryEntry NewUser = AD.Children.Add(username, “user”);
NewUser.Invoke(“SetPassword”, new object[] { password });
NewUser.Invoke(“Put”, new object[] { “Description”, description });
NewUser.CommitChanges();
}
Just my 2 cents. Other than that, it’s perfectly functional as long as net.exe exists and your Windows directory is “C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32”, which isn’t always the case.
dtp Says:
24 January 2007 at 2:55 am.
Also windows paths in C# need to have the backslashes escaped as in C:\WINNT\…
Mark Lambert Says:
30 November 2007 at 3:27 pm.
or you can use
using System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement;
then it is even more straight forward.
PrincipalContext pc = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Machine);
System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement.UserPrincipal u = new UserPrincipal(pc);
u.SetPassword(password);
u.Name = username;
u.Description = description;
u.UserCannotChangePassword = true;
u.PasswordNeverExpires = true;
u.Save();
Peter Says:
23 January 2008 at 5:53 am.
Looks like the System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement namespace is only available in .Net 3.5.
Dan’s CreateLocalUser method looks like pretty good option for non .Net 3.5 users.
MD Says:
10 February 2008 at 6:48 am.
Brilliant Mark, absolutely brilliant. Using System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement really simplifies the process. Thanks for the code… I just had to put quotes on the username, description and password.
