The System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory namespace is used to automate Active Directory management tasks. System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory is not used to access data that resides within Active Directory or any other directory service. The System.DirectoryServices namespace should be used for this purpose.

The System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory namespace is intended for use by application developers who are familiar with .NET Framework programming using Visual Basic .NET or C#. Knowledge of directory services programming is also helpful.

System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory is part of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and is supported on any operating system that Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 is compatible with.

Many of the classes, methods, and properties in the System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory namespace use the LinkDemand code access security option. This means that the code access security demand only occurs during just-in- time compilation and that the demand is performed only on the calling assembly and not up the entire call stack. Because of this, callers should not pass objects created from this namespace at runtime to untrusted code.

 Classes

	Class	Description
	ActiveDirectoryInterSiteTransport	The ActiveDirectoryInterSiteTransport class represents an inter-site transport object.
	ActiveDirectoryObjectExistsException	The ActiveDirectoryObjectExistsException class exception is thrown when an Active Directory Domain Services object is created and that object already exists in the underlying directory store.
	ActiveDirectoryObjectNotFoundException	The ActiveDirectoryObjectNotFoundException class exception is thrown when a requested object is not found in the underlying directory store.
	ActiveDirectoryOperationException	The ActiveDirectoryOperationException class exception is thrown when an underlying directory operation fails.
	ActiveDirectoryPartition	The ActiveDirectoryPartition class is an abstract class that represents a directory partition in a domain.
	ActiveDirectoryReplicationMetadata	The ActiveDirectoryReplicationMetadata class contains replication information for a set of Active Directory Domain Services attributes.
	ActiveDirectoryRoleCollection	The ActiveDirectoryRoleCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ActiveDirectoryRole objects.
	ActiveDirectorySchedule	The ActiveDirectorySchedule class represents the weekly schedule for an Active Directory Domain Services replication.
	ActiveDirectorySchema	The ActiveDirectorySchema class represents the schema partition for a particular domain.
	ActiveDirectorySchemaClass	The ActiveDirectorySchemaClass class represents a schema class definition that is contained in the schema partition.
	ActiveDirectorySchemaClassCollection	The ActiveDirectorySchemaClassCollection class is a read/write collection that contains ActiveDirectorySchemaClass objects.
	ActiveDirectorySchemaProperty	The ActiveDirectorySchemaProperty class represents a schema property definition that is contained in the schema partition.
	ActiveDirectorySchemaPropertyCollection	The ActiveDirectorySchemaPropertyCollection class is a read/write collection that contains ActiveDirectorySchemaProperty objects.
	ActiveDirectoryServerDownException	The ActiveDirectoryServerDownException class exception is thrown when a server is unavailable to respond to a service request.
	ActiveDirectorySite	The ActiveDirectorySite class defines a set of domain controllers that are well-connected in terms of speed and cost. A site object consists of a set of one or more IP subnets.
	ActiveDirectorySiteCollection	The ActiveDirectorySiteCollection class is a read/write collection that contains ActiveDirectorySite objects.
	ActiveDirectorySiteLink	The ActiveDirectorySiteLink class represents a set of two or more sites that can be scheduled, for replication, to communicate at uniform cost and through a particular transport.
	ActiveDirectorySiteLinkBridge	The ActiveDirectorySiteLinkBridge class represents a set of site links that communicate through a transport.
	ActiveDirectorySiteLinkCollection	The ActiveDirectorySiteLinkCollection class is a read/write collection that contains ActiveDirectorySiteLink objects.
	ActiveDirectorySubnet	The ActiveDirectorySubnet class represents a subnet in a Forest.
	ActiveDirectorySubnetCollection	The ActiveDirectorySubnetCollection class is a read/write collection that contains ActiveDirectorySubnet objects.
	AdamInstance	The AdamInstance class represents an AD LDS instance server.
	AdamInstanceCollection	The AdamInstanceCollection class is a read-only collection that contains AdamInstance objects.
	AdamRoleCollection	The AdamRoleCollection class is a read-only collection that contains AdamRole items.
	ApplicationPartition	The ApplicationPartition class represents an application partition for a particular domain.
	ApplicationPartitionCollection	The ApplicationPartitionCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ApplicationPartition objects.
	AttributeMetadata	The AttributeMetadata class is used to contain replication metadata for an Active Directory Domain Services attribute.
	AttributeMetadataCollection	A read-only collection that contains ApplicationPartition objects.
	ConfigurationSet	The ConfigurationSet class represents a configuration set for one or more AD LDS instances.
	DirectoryContext	The DirectoryContext class identifies a specific directory and the credentials that are used to access the directory.
	DirectoryServer	The DirectoryServer class is an abstract class that represents an Active Directory Domain Services server or AD LDS instance.
	DirectoryServerCollection	The DirectoryServerCollection class is a read/write collection that contains DirectoryServer objects.
	Domain	The Domain class represents an Active Directory domain.
	DomainCollection	The DomainCollection class is a read-only collection that contains Domain objects.
	DomainController	The DomainController class represents a domain controller in an Active Directory domain.
	DomainControllerCollection	The DomainControllerCollection class is a read-only collection that contains DomainController objects.
	Forest	The Forest class represents an Active Directory Domain Services forest.
	ForestTrustCollisionException	The ForestTrustCollisionException class exception is thrown when a trust collision occurs during a trust relationship management request.
	ForestTrustDomainInfoCollection	The ForestTrustDomainInfoCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ForestTrustDomainInformation objects.
	ForestTrustDomainInformation	The ForestTrustDomainInformation class contains information about a Domain object and is contained in a ForestTrustDomainInfoCollection object.
	ForestTrustRelationshipCollision	Represents a collision record resulting from a collision between forest trust records.
	ForestTrustRelationshipCollisionCollection	The ForestTrustRelationshipCollisionCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ForestTrustRelationshipCollision objects.
	ForestTrustRelationshipInformation	The ForestTrustRelationshipInformation class contains information about a trust relationship between two Forest objects.
	GlobalCatalog	The GlobalCatalog class represents a global catalog server. A global catalog server is a domain controller that hosts a replica of the global catalog.
	GlobalCatalogCollection	The GlobalCatalogCollection class is a read-only collection that contains GlobalCatalog objects.
	ReadOnlyActiveDirectorySchemaClassCollection	The ReadOnlyActiveDirectorySchemaClassCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ActiveDirectorySchemaClass objects.
	ReadOnlyActiveDirectorySchemaPropertyCollection	The ReadOnlyActiveDirectorySchemaPropertyCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ActiveDirectorySchemaProperty objects.
	ReadOnlyDirectoryServerCollection	The ReadOnlyDirectoryServerCollection class is a read-only collection that contains DirectoryServer objects.
	ReadOnlySiteCollection	The ReadOnlySiteCollection class is a read-only collection of ActiveDirectorySite objects.
	ReadOnlySiteLinkBridgeCollection	The ReadOnlySiteLinkBridgeCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ActiveDirectorySiteLinkBridge objects.
	ReadOnlySiteLinkCollection	The ReadOnlySiteLinkCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ActiveDirectorySiteLink objects.
	ReadOnlyStringCollection	The ReadOnlyStringCollection class is a read-only collection that contains String objects.
	ReplicationConnection	The ReplicationConnection class represents a replication connection.
	ReplicationConnectionCollection	The ReplicationConnectionCollection class is a read-only collection of ReplicationConnection objects.
	ReplicationCursor	The ReplicationCursor class represents a replication operation occurrence.
	ReplicationCursorCollection	The ReplicationCursorCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ReplicationCursor objects.
	ReplicationFailure	Contains information about a failed replication attempt.
	ReplicationFailureCollection	The ReplicationFailureCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ReplicationFailure objects.
	ReplicationNeighbor	The ReplicationNeighbor class contains information about a replication neighbor of an AdamInstance or DomainController object.
	ReplicationNeighborCollection	The ReplicationNeighborCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ReplicationNeighbor objects.
	ReplicationOperation	The ReplicationOperation class represents an Active Directory Domain Services replication operation.
	ReplicationOperationCollection	The ReplicationOperationCollection class is a read-only collection that contains ReplicationOperation objects.
	ReplicationOperationInformation	The ReplicationOperationInformation class contains information about an Active Directory Domain Services replication operation.
	SyncFromAllServersErrorInformation	Contains information about a SyncFromAllServersOperationException exception.
	SyncFromAllServersOperationException	The SyncFromAllServersOperationException exception is thrown when the request to synchronize from all servers fails.
	TopLevelName	Contains forest trust account information about a top-level domain in a Forest.
	TopLevelNameCollection	The TopLevelNameCollection class is a read-only collection that contains TopLevelName objects.
	TrustRelationshipInformation	The TrustRelationshipInformation class contains information for a trust relationship between a pair of Domain or Forest objects.
	TrustRelationshipInformationCollection	The TrustRelationshipInformationCollection class contains a collection of TrustRelationshipInformation objects.

 Delegates

	Delegate	Description
	SyncUpdateCallback	Receives event notifications during a replica synchronization.

 Enumerations

	Enumeration	Description
	ActiveDirectoryRole	Identifies specific roles within a domain.
	ActiveDirectorySiteOptions	Specifies the bit identifiers for the ActiveDirectorySite object site options.
	ActiveDirectorySyntax	Specifies the data representation (syntax) type of a ActiveDirectorySchemaProperty object.
	ActiveDirectoryTransportType	Identifies the transport type of a replication connection.
	AdamRole	Indicates specific roles of a AdamInstance object.
	DirectoryContextType	Specifies the context type for an DirectoryContext object.
	DomainCollisionOptions	Specifies additional information about a forest trust collision when the CollisionType property value is Domain.
	DomainMode	Indicates the mode that a domain is operating in.
	ForestMode	Indicates the mode in which a Forest is operating.
	ForestTrustCollisionType	Specifies the collision type of a ForestTrustRelationshipCollision object.
	ForestTrustDomainStatus	Indicates the status of a forest trust relationship.
	HourOfDay	Indicates the hour of the day.
	LocatorOptions	Specifies search flags for finding a domain controller in a domain.
	MinuteOfHour	Indicates the 15-minute intervals within an hour.
	NotificationStatus	Represents the notification status of a replication connection.
	PropertyTypes	Specifies the property types to select when calling the ActiveDirectorySchema..::.FindAllProperties(PropertyTypes) method.
	ReplicationNeighbor..::.ReplicationNeighborOptions	Specifies the options for a ReplicationNeighbor object.
	ReplicationOperationType	Indicates a specific type of replication operation.
	ReplicationSecurityLevel	Specifies the Active Directory Lightweight Directory (AD LDS) Services replication authentication mode.
	ReplicationSpan	Determines the span of a replication connection.
	SchemaClassType	Specifies the class type of an ActiveDirectorySchemaClass object.
	SyncFromAllServersErrorCategory	Contains information about a SyncFromAllServersOperationException.
	SyncFromAllServersEvent	Used in the SyncUpdateCallback delegate to specify the type of synchronization event.
	SyncFromAllServersOptions	Specifies additional options when performing a synchronization.
	TopLevelNameCollisionOptions	Specifies additional information about a forest trust collision when the CollisionType property value is TopLevelName.
	TopLevelNameStatus	Indicates the forest trust account status of a top-level domain in a forest.
	TrustDirection	Indicates the direction of a trust.
	TrustType	Indicates the type of a TrustRelationshipInformation object.

 See Also

Reference

System.DirectoryServices