Edit

Share via

Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit

  • Reference
Module:
ActiveDirectory

Removes an Active Directory organizational unit.

Syntax

Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit
      [-WhatIf]
      [-Confirm]
      [-AuthType <ADAuthType>]
      [-Credential <PSCredential>]
      [-Identity] <ADOrganizationalUnit>
      [-Partition <String>]
      [-Recursive]
      [-Server <String>]
      [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit cmdlet removes an Active Directory organizational unit (OU).

The Identity parameter specifies the organizational unit to remove. You can identify an organizational unit by its distinguished name or GUID. You can also set the parameter to an organizational unit object variable, such as $<localOrganizationUnitObject> or you can pass an object through the pipeline to the Identity parameter. For example, you can use the Get-ADOrganizationalUnit cmdlet to retrieve the object and then pass the object through the pipeline to the Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit cmdlet.

If the object you want to remove has child objects, you must specify the Recursive parameter.

If the ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion property of the organizational unit object is set to true, the cmdlet returns a terminating error.

For AD LDS environments, the Partition parameter must be specified except in the following two conditions:

  • The cmdlet is run from an Active Directory provider drive.
  • A default naming context or partition is defined for the AD LDS environment. To specify a default naming context for an AD LDS environment, set the msDS-defaultNamingContext property of the Active Directory directory service agent object (nTDSDSA) for the AD LDS instance.

Examples

Example 1: Remove an OU and its children

PS C:\> Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit -Identity "OU=Accounting,DC=FABRIKAM,DC=COM" -Recursive
Are you sure you want to remove the item and all its children? 
Performing recursive remove on Target: 'OU=Accounting,DC=Fabrikam,DC=com'. 
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help
(default is "Y"):y

This command removes an OU and all of its children. If the OU is protected from deletion, then the OU and its children are not deleted. If the OU is not protected but any of the children are, then the OU and its children are deleted.

Example 2: Remove on OU by its GUID

PS C:\> Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit -Identity "1b228aa5-2c14-48b8-ad8a-2685dc22e055" -Confirm:$False

This command removes an OU that is specified by its objectGUID and suppresses the confirmation prompt.

Example 3: Remove a specified OU

PS C:\> Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit -Identity "OU=Accounting,DC=FABRIKAM,DC=COM"
Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action? 
Performing operation "Remove" on Target "OU=Accounting,DC=Fabrikam,DC=com".
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help
(default is "Y"):y

This command removes the Accounting OU.

Example 4: Remove an OU from an AD LDS instance

PS C:\> Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit -Identity "OU=Managed,DC=AppNC" -Server "FABRIKAM-SRV1:60000" -Confirm:$False

This command removes an OU from an AD LDS instance.

Parameters

-AuthType

Specifies the authentication method to use. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

  • Negotiate or 0
  • Basic or 1

The default authentication method is Negotiate.

A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is required for the Basic authentication method.

Type:ADAuthType
Accepted values:Negotiate, Basic
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:cf
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Credential

Specifies the user account credentials to use to perform this task. The default credentials are the credentials of the currently logged on user unless the cmdlet is run from an Active Directory PowerShell provider drive. If the cmdlet is run from such a provider drive, the account associated with the drive is the default.

To specify this parameter, you can type a user name, such as User1 or Domain01\User01 or you can specify a PSCredential object. If you specify a user name for this parameter, the cmdlet prompts for a password.

You can also create a PSCredential object by using a script or by using the Get-Credential cmdlet. You can then set the Credential parameter to the PSCredential object.

If the acting credentials do not have directory-level permission to perform the task, Active Directory PowerShell returns a terminating error.

Type:PSCredential
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Identity

Specifies an Active Directory group object by providing one of the following values. The identifier in parentheses is the LDAP display name for the attribute. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

-A distinguished name -A GUID (objectGUID)

The cmdlet searches the default naming context or partition to find the object. If two or more objects are found, the cmdlet returns a non-terminating error.

This parameter can also get this object through the pipeline or you can set this parameter to an object instance.

Type:ADOrganizationalUnit
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Partition

Specifies the distinguished name of an Active Directory partition. The distinguished name must be one of the naming contexts on the current directory server. The cmdlet searches this partition to find the object defined by the Identity parameter.

In many cases, a default value is used for the Identity parameter if no value is specified. The rules for determining the default value are given below. Note that rules listed first are evaluated first and once a default value can be determined, no further rules are evaluated.

In Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) environments, a default value for Partition is set in the following cases:

  • If the Identity parameter is set to a distinguished name, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from this distinguished name.
  • If running cmdlets from an Active Directory provider drive, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from the current path in the drive.
  • If none of the previous cases apply, the default value of Partition is set to the default partition or naming context of the target domain.

In Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) environments, a default value for Partition is set in the following cases:

  • If the Identity parameter is set to a distinguished name, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from this distinguished name.
  • If running cmdlets from an Active Directory provider drive, the default value of Partition is automatically generated from the current path in the drive.
  • If the target AD LDS instance has a default naming context, the default value of Partition is set to the default naming context. To specify a default naming context for an AD LDS environment, set the msDS-defaultNamingContext property of the Active Directory directory service agent object (nTDSDSA) for the AD LDS instance.
  • If none of the previous cases apply, the Partition parameter does not take any default value.
Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Recursive

Indicates that this cmdlet removes the OU and any child items it contains. You must specify this parameter to remove an OU that is not empty.

Note: Specifying this parameter removes all child objects of an OU that are marked with ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Server

Specifies the AD DS instance to connect to, by providing one of the following values for a corresponding domain name or directory server. The service may be any of the following: AD LDS, AD DS, or Active Directory snapshot instance.

Specify the AD DS instance in one of the following ways:

Domain name values:

  • Fully qualified domain name
  • NetBIOS name

Directory server values:

  • Fully qualified directory server name
  • NetBIOS name
  • Fully qualified directory server name and port

The default value for this parameter is determined by one of the following methods in the order that they are listed:

  • By using the Server value from objects passed through the pipeline
  • By using the server information associated with the AD DS Windows PowerShell provider drive, when the cmdlet runs in that drive
  • By using the domain of the computer running Windows PowerShell
Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:wi
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

Inputs

None or Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADOrganizationalUnit

An ADOrganizationalUnit object is received by the Identity parameter.

Outputs

None

Notes

  • This cmdlet does not work with an Active Directory snapshot.
  • This cmdlet does not work with a read-only domain controller.
  • By default, this cmdlet has the Confirm parameter set, which prompts you to confirm before a removal of the specified object type can occur. To bypass prompting for confirmation before removal, you can specify -Confirm:$False when using this cmdlet.