ASP.NET LDAP SearchResults Properties returning Byte Array

Question

I am using DirectorySearcher to try and get a list of users in AD to sync them with my App and have copied code from various SO sources, however I am not getting any property values. I'm using the following code:

        DirectorySearcher search = new DirectorySearcher();
        SearchResultCollection results = null;
        string sDefaultOU = "LDAP://...";
        DirectoryEntry de = new DirectoryEntry(sDefaultOU);
        string userName = "DonaldDuck";
        search = new DirectorySearcher
        {
            SearchRoot = de,
            PropertiesToLoad = { "displayname", "sAMAccountName"}, 
            Filter = "(sAMAccountName=" + userName + ")"    
        };
        results = search.FindAll();

        foreach (SearchResult result in results)
        {
            String name; 
            if (result.Properties["sAMAccountName"].Count > 0)
            {
                name = result.Properties["sAMAccountName"][0].ToString();
            }    
        }

However, instead of name being equal to to "DonaldDuck", it will be "Byte[10]" or Byte[x] where x is the length.

Can anyone see what I am doing wrong.

If I add a filter it returns one user, so I am pretty sure the code is working in terms of searching

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 07 '17 at 23:42

Apparently this issue has been faced by others: LDAP DirectoryEntry SearchResult returns data differently in Windows 8 than Win7

AD is using LDAPv3 encoding the values using UTF8, the solution mentioned in the link above might work for you:

if (result.Properties["sAMAccountName"][0].GetType().IsArray)
{
    name = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString((byte[])result.Properties["sAMAccountName"][0]);
}
else
{
    name = result.Properties["sAMAccountName"][0].ToString();
}

Absolutely Great. I didn't spot this anywhere, thank you – grayson Mar 07 '17 at 23:53 — grayson, Mar 07 '17 at 23:53

Alan · Answer 2 · 2017-03-08T00:00:42.350

instead of

foreach (SearchResult result in results)
    {
        String name; 
        if (result.Properties["sAMAccountName"].Count > 0)
        {
            name = result.Properties["sAMAccountName"][0].ToString();
        }    
    }

try

foreach (SearchResult result in results)
    {
        String name; 
        if (result.Properties["sAMAccountName"].Count > 0)
        {
            var thisDE=result.GetDirectoryEntry();
            name = thisDE.Properties["sAMAccountName"].Value.ToString();
        }    
    }

EDIT: Example I use this helper method to search my domain (when userDomainAndName="DOMAIN\UserName") but you should be able to tweak it for what you want.

 public static DirectoryEntry GetUserDirectoryEntryFromCurrentDomain(string userDomainAndName)
    {
        var Split = userDomainAndName.Split(@"\\".ToCharArray());

        var DomainNetBiosNAme = Split[0];
        var UserName = Split[1];

        var QueryString = $"(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(sAMAccountName={UserName}))";

        DirectoryEntry rootDSE = GetDirectoryObject(
            "LDAP://" + DomainNetBiosNAme + "/rootDSE");

        string domain = "LDAP://" + (string)rootDSE.Properties[
            "defaultNamingContext"][0];

        var Searcher = new DirectorySearcher(new DirectoryEntry(domain), QueryString);
        var Result = Searcher.FindOne();

        var tReturn = Result.GetDirectoryEntry();
        return tReturn; 

    }

then to get my users PrimarySMTP address (for example)..

var TheUsersDirectoryEntry=GetUserDirectoryEntryFromCurrentDomain(userDomainAndName);
var TheUsersPrimarySMTP=TheUsersDirectoryEntry.Properties["mail"].Value.ToString();

Thanks. I tried this before but I am getting "Exception Details: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: Unknown error (0x8000500c)" when it tries to get name. — grayson, Mar 07 '17 at 23:32
8000500c is usually a permission denied and/or incorrect LDAP path error.. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1722398/error-0x80005000-and-directoryservices Just a quick question though, why are you trying to get the sAMAccountName back if you already know it? Please see my edit - I will add my working helper method and usage example.. — Alan, Mar 07 '17 at 23:39
Thanks for all your help. In practice, I would use a more specific OU and not add a Filter. This was just to limit the response so I had "good" data to debug — grayson, Mar 07 '17 at 23:54
One of my favourite mantras when i am training up rookies in my job is 'Test Your Test' by which I mean never assume that your quick test method is going to be right. Its why I favour a 'toolbox approach' of creating libraries of code that are tested and 'known good'. I presume you have it working now, glad to be of help. (oh and i just spotted a typo in my example method, i'll go fix that now) — Alan, Mar 07 '17 at 23:59

ASP.NET LDAP SearchResults Properties returning Byte Array

2 Answers2