A Simple Command

The Net User command-line tool doesn't require the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit or the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Resource Kit and is simpler than the resource kits' Addusers tool. Net User doesn't require an import file, and you can run the utility in only one line. To create a new domain account, type or script the following command:

net user smith temppwd /add /fullname:"Bill Smith"/homedir:C:home /profilepath:\serveraprofiles$smith/scriptpath:logonscr.bat /domain

In this example, I've created an account called smith for the user Bill Smith. The account references Bill's home directory on a local drive. (The /homedir setting doesn't work with Uniform Naming Convention—UNC—paths as Addusers does.) His profile path points to a directory named smith under the profiles share on a server named servera. The /scriptpath option references the file logonscr.bat in the NETLOGON share of the domain controllers (DCs). By default, NT assumes that the specified logon script resides in the NETLOGON share. Each NT DC maintains the path C:winntsystem32replimportscripts as the NETLOGON share.

You can remove unneeded fields from the command. For example, when you create accounts on a member server or workstation, you can omit the /domain switch. (If you'd rather use a random password instead of using the password temppwd, you can use the -p switch with the Win2K resource kit's cusrmgr utility. Run this utility after you run Net User.) To view the syntax for Net User, at the command line, type

net help user | more