Rem: Using the ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration

I recently learned that Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) is adding support for Terminal Services Profile settings in Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003. Can you provide more information or a sample script?

You bet! As you point out, Win.NET Server includes a new ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration that you can use to script a user's Terminal Services Profile settings. The component consists of one DLL, tsuserex.dll, that resides in the %systemroot%system32 folder. The ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration lets you manage all the settings on the Terminal Services Profile, Remote Control, Sessions, and Environment property pages in the Active Directory Users and Computers user's Properties dialog box.

You use the ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration just as you use ADSI to manage other Active Directory (AD) user attributes, with one exception: The properties that the Terminal Services User component exposes don't map to individual AD attributes. Instead, the ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration stores all the Terminal Services settings in one binary attribute named userParameters. So, although you can use the extension to configure and read a user's Terminal Services settings, you can't delegate administrative control over individual settings.

Web Table 1 (http://www.winscriptingsolutions.com/26365, InstantDoc ID 26365) lists the Terminal Services component properties, and Listing 4 and Listing 5 show how to use the component to configure and read a user's Terminal Services Profile settings, respectively. To use the code in these two listings, you must be running a beta or release candidate (RC) version of Win.NET Server, and you must have AD installed. In addition, you must run the scripts on the domain controller (DC) or another Win.NET Server machine and modify the user path passed to GetObject to match a valid user account in your Win.NET Server domain.

The ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration is available only in Win.NET Server; because Win.NET Server is an unreleased OS, this information is subject to change. Unfortunately, I don't know whether Microsoft plans to make the component available for Windows XP and Windows 2000. To learn more about the ADSI Extension for Terminal Services User Configuration, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/termserv/tsovr_8qwe.asp.