Active Directory Cookbook

4.17. Moving an Object to a Different OU or Container

Problem

You want to move an object to a different container or OU.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open ADSI Edit.

2. If an entry for the naming context you want to browse is not already displayed, do the following:

   1. Right-click on ADSI Edit in the right pane and click Connect to.

   2. Fill in the information for the naming context, container, or OU containing the object. Click on the Advanced button if you need to enter alternate credentials.

3. In the left pane, browse to the container, or OU that contains the object you want to modify. Once you’ve found the object, right-click on it and select Move.

4. Browse to the new parent of the object, select it, and click OK.

Using a command-line interface

> dsmove "<ObjectDN>" -newparent "<NewParentDN>"

Using VBScript

' This code moves an object from one location to another in the same domain.
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strNewParentDN = "LDAP://<NewParentDN>"
strObjectDN    = "LDAP://cn=jsmith,<OldParentDN>"
strObjectRDN   = "cn=jsmith"
' ------ END CONFIGURATION ---------

set objCont = GetObject(strNewParentDN)
objCont.MoveHere strObjectDN, strObjectRDN

Discussion

Using a graphical user interface

If the parent container of the object you want to move has a lot of objects in it, you may want to add a new connection entry for the DN of the object you want to move. This may save you time searching through the list of objects in the container. You can do this by right clicking ADSI Edit and selecting ...