• On the Domain Controller server, create the directory C:\TestRemoteMailbox.
  
  
• Download the scripts MailBox.vbs and WSHControl.vbs.
  
  
• Copy the script Mailbox.vbs to the directory C:\TestRemoteMailbox.
  
  
• Note: Mailbox.vbs is a script that creates MailBoxes in Microsoft Exchange.
  
  
• Copy the script WSHControl.vbs to your application directory.
  
  Note: WSHControl.vbs is a script that invokes the MailBox.vbs script on a remote machine (Domain Controller).
  
  
• From your application, call and start WSHControl.vbs.

''' <summary>
''' Method that calls and starts a WSHControl.vbs
''' </summary>
''' <param name="userAlias"></param>
Public Sub GenerateMailBox(ByVal userAlias As String)
Dim mailargs As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
mailargs.Append("WSHControl.vbs")
mailargs.Append(" ")
mailargs.Append(userAlias)
Dim sInfo As ProcessStartInfo = New ProcessStartInfo("Wscript.exe",mailargs.ToString())sInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
Process.Start(sInfo)
End Sub

10. Create a user account.

''' <summary>
''' Method that creates a new user account
''' </summary>
''' <param name="employeeID"></param>
''' <param name="name"></param>
''' <param name="login"></param>
''' <param name="email"></param>
''' <param name="group"></param>
Public Sub CreateNewUser(ByVal employeeID As String, ByVal name As String, ByVal login As String, ByVal email As String, ByVal group As String)
Dim catalog As Catalog = New Catalog()
Dim de As DirectoryEntry = ADHelper.GetDirectoryEntry()
''' 1. Create user account
Dim users As DirectoryEntries = de.Children
Dim newuser As DirectoryEntry = users.Add("CN=" & login, "user")
''' 2. Set properties
SetProperty(newuser,"employeeID", employeeID)
SetProperty(newuser,"givenname", name)
SetProperty(newuser,"SAMAccountName", login)
SetProperty(newuser,"userPrincipalName", login)
SetProperty(newuser,"mail", email)
newuser.CommitChanges()
''' 3. Set password
SetPassword(newuser.Path)
newuser.CommitChanges()
''' 4. Enable account
EnableAccount(newuser)
''' 5. Add user account to groups
AddUserToGroup(de,newuser,group)
''' 6. Create a mailbox in Microsoft Exchange
GenerateMailBox(login)
newuser.Close()
de.Close()
End Sub

11. Disable a user account.

''' <summary>
''' Method that disables a user account in the AD and hides user's email from Exchange address lists.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="EmployeeID"></param>
Public Sub DisableAccount(ByVal EmployeeID As String)
Dim de As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry()
Dim ds As DirectorySearcher = New DirectorySearcher(de)
ds.Filter = "(&(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=user)(employeeID=" & EmployeeID & "))"
ds.SearchScope = SearchScope.Subtree
Dim results As SearchResult = ds.FindOne()
If Not results Is Nothing Then
Dim dey As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry(results.Path)
Dim val As Integer = CInt(dey.Properties("userAccountControl").Value)
dey.Properties("userAccountControl").Value = val Or &H0002
dey.Properties("msExchHideFromAddressLists").Value = "TRUE"
dey.CommitChanges()
dey.Close()
End If
de.Close()
End Sub

12. Update user account.

''' <summary>
''' Method that updates user's properties
''' </summary>
''' <param name="employeeID"></param>
''' <param name="department"></param>
''' <param name="title"></param>
''' <param name="company"></param>
Public Sub ModifyUser(ByVal employeeID As String, ByVal department As String, ByVal title As String, ByVal company As String)
Dim de As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry()
Dim ds As DirectorySearcher = New DirectorySearcher(de)
ds.Filter = "(&(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=user)(employeeID=" & employeeID & "))"
ds.SearchScope = SearchScope.Subtree
Dim results As SearchResult = ds.FindOne()
If Not results Is Nothing Then
Dim dey As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry(results.Path)
SetProperty(dey, "department", department)
SetProperty(dey, "title", title)
SetProperty(dey, "company", company)
dey.CommitChanges()
dey.Close()
End If
de.Close()
End Sub

13. Validate if a string has a correct email pattern.

''' <summary>
''' Method that validates if a string has an email pattern.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="mail"></param>
''' <returns></returns>
Public Function IsEmail(ByVal mail As String) As Boolean
Dim mailPattern As Regex = New Regex("\w+([-+.]\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*")
Return mailPattern.IsMatch(mail)
End Function

14. Extract a user alias from an email account.

''' <summary>
''' Method to extract the alias from an email account.
''' dada una cuenta de correo electrónico
''' </summary>
''' <param name="mailAddress"></param>
''' <returns></returns>
Public Function GetAlias(ByVal mailAddress As String) As String
If IsEmail(mailAddress) Then
Return mailAddress.Substring(0,mailAddress.IndexOf("@"))
Else
Return " "
End If
End Function

15. Format dates to AD date format (AAAAMMDDMMSSSS.0Z).

''' <summary>
''' Method that formats a date in the required format
''' needed (AAAAMMDDMMSSSS.0Z) to compare dates in AD.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="date"></param>
''' <returns>Date in valid format for AD</returns>
Public Function ToADDateString(ByVal date_Renamed As DateTime) As String
Dim year As String = date_Renamed.Year.ToString()
Dim month As Integer = date_Renamed.Month
Dim day As Integer = date_Renamed.Day
Dim sb As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
sb.Append(year)
If month <10 Then
sb.Append("0")
End If
sb.Append(month.ToString())
If day <10 Then
sb.Append("0")
End If
sb.Append(day.ToString())
sb.Append("000000.0Z")
Return sb.ToString()
End Function

16. Search users.

When you use Directory Services, you can accomplish many interesting tasks such as searching and filtering users. The DirectorySearcher object allows you to query the AD. The following sample code queries the AD to search all the user accounts that were modified from a given date. The results are stored in a DataTable, so you can easily databind them.

''' <summary>
''' Method that returns a DataTable with a list of users modified from a given date.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="fromdate"></param>
Public Function GetModifiedUsers(ByVal fromdate As DateTime) As DataTable
Dim dt As DataTable = New DataTable()
dt.Columns.Add("EmployeeID")
dt.Columns.Add("Name")
dt.Columns.Add("Email")
Dim de As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry()
Dim ds As DirectorySearcher = New DirectorySearcher(de)
Dim filter As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
filter.Append("(&(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=user)(whenChanged>=")filter.Append(date.ToADDateString())
filter.Append("))")
ds.Filter=filter.ToString()
ds.SearchScope = SearchScope.Subtree
Dim results As SearchResultCollection= ds.FindAll()
For Each result As SearchResult In results
Dim dr As DataRow = dt.NewRow()
Dim dey As DirectoryEntry = GetDirectoryEntry(result.Path)
dr("EmployeeID") = dey.Properties("employeeID").Value
dr("Name") = dey.Properties("givenname").Value
dr("Email") = dey.Properties("mail").Value
dt.Rows.Add(dr)
dey.Close()
Next result
de.Close()
Return dt
End Function

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS CONVERTED FROM C# TO VB.NET USING A CONVERSION TOOL. ORIGINAL ARTICLE CAN BE FOUND ON C# CORNER (WWW.C-SHARPCORNER.COM).