Objects in AD can be traced using two methods.

• 1. The DSquery command line tool
• 2. The Find dialogue box in ADUC console

DSquery is a directory service search command-line tool. It can be used with appropriate parameters to search objects in Active Directory.

The following are a list of various parameters that can be used with Dsquery and their purpose.

• DSquery user – To find a user

• DSquery contact –To find a contact

• DSquery group – To find a group

• DSquery computer – To find a computer

• DSquery OU – To find an OU

• DSquery site – To find a site

• DSquery subnet – To find a subnet

• DSquery server – To find a server

• DSquery partition – To find partition objects

• DSquery quota – To find quota specifications

• DSquery – To find any object using a generic LDAP query.

The figure above shows the resultant set for a Dsquery to locate OUs.

Alternatively you can also use the Find dialogue box from ADUC.

Listed below are the steps you can follow to use Find dialogue box.

• Start ->Administrative tools ->Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC)

• In ADUC console tree right click the container object in which the search should be made

• choose Find from the shortcut menu

• The Find dialog box appears with in which you should choose the object type to be searched and the container on which the search should be carried

Find dialogue box

• You can use the advanced tab to streamline the search

• Clicking on the advanced tab will pop a dialogue box as shown below

Find dialogue box(advanced)

• choose the attribute to search in the field list box

• Use the conditions drop down list box to refine your search

• Value for the conditional search can be given in the value box

• Use the add button to add more conditions on the search

• Finally click find ->the search results will be displayed from which you can identify the object.