Populate a Standard Distribution Group with members using a CSV file

Related to my previous post on creating groups from a csv file, I thought I would take this one stage further and also think about how you can populate the group with members.

In this case, I am keeping the csv file simple… a simple pairing of a group alias with a user alias:

Group,Name
Chess,JSmith
Chess,JJones
Computer,JSmith

…just like the last post…the key elements you will need to build into the script are as follows:

Read the pairs pertaining to the groups and members you want to create into an array ($Memsfile).  I use import-csv for this:

$Memsfile = import-csv -Path c:\mems.csv -OutVariable string

Build a ForEach Loop to process each row in the array and run it through the Add-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet. 

foreach ($Mem in $MemsFile)
{
    $this_name                       = $Mem.Name
    $this_DistributionGroup     = $Mem.DistributionGroup

# add mailbox to distribution group – assigning result to variable to avoid listing the new object
%{Invoke-Command -Session $Session1 {param ($this_name,$this_DistributionGroup) Add-DistributionGroupMember -Identity $this_DistributionGroup -Member $this_Name}-arg $this_name,$this_DistributionGroup} > $results

}

I hope this helps! Of course you can also use the same techniques and even csv file to remove distribution group members… just change Add-DistributionGroupMember to Remove-DistributionGroupMember.

Jonny

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