The input object cannot be bound to any parameters error?

Question

I have a script that when I run locally on my domain controller it works fine without issues (using Import-Module ActiveDirectory locally instead of a remote PSSession). However, when I run it remotely it fails with the following error:

The input object cannot be bound to any parameters for the command either because
the command does not take pipeline input or the input and its properties do not
match any of the parameters that take pipeline input.
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (CN=Test User ...,DC=domain,DC=com:PSObject) [Get-ADUser], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InputObjectNotBound,Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.Commands.GetADUser
    + PSComputerName        : van-dc03.vand1.oppy.com

The code I am running is:

$ADSession = New-PSsession -ComputerName ourdcserver -Credential $(Get-Credential)
Invoke-Command -Command {
    Import-Module ActiveDirectory,AdSync -Cmdlet Get-ADUser, Search-ADAccount
} -Session $ADSession
Import-PSSession -Session $ADSession -AllowClobber -Module ActiveDirectory

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -AccountInactive -SearchBase "OU=test,DC=our,DC=domain,DC=com" -Timespan 30.00:00:00 |
    Where-Object { $_.Enabled -eq $true } |
    Get-ADUser -Properties Name, sAMAccountName, WhenCreated, lastLogonTimestamp |
    Select Name, sAMAccountName, WhenCreated,
        @{n="LastLogonTimeStamp";e={[DateTime]::FromFileTime($_.LastLogonTimestamp)}} |
    Sort-Object LastLogonTimeStamp |
    Export-CSV $CurrentWorkfile -NoTypeInformation -Encoding ASCII

I found a similar thread on this Technet forums thread however I am not very familiar with PowerShell. Anyone able to give me a hand re-writing this code (or an example) so that the piping works?

Try separating all the new line entries with a backtick ` followed by the command starting at next line. I think if you'll keep your Search-ADAccount query in one line in editor, it'd work! — Am_I_Helpful
The line breaks are fine in this example. No need for backticks. — Manuel Batsching

Manuel Batsching Manuel Batsching · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-11T08:18:02

The implicit remoting, that you are using in your script is a tricky thing. The cmdlets you are importing with the ActiveDirectory module from the remote session feel as if they are local, but they really are not. They run remotely and the objects they return will go through a process of serialisation and deserialisation, when they are send from the remote session to your local session.

That means the objects you are receiving from your implicitly remote Search-ADAccount are slightly different then the ones, that you would get, if you run the command locally. Pipe a local command and its implicitly remote version to Get-Member and compare the result, you will see what I mean. Just as an example you will find the property PSComputer with any object that is returned from a remote session (even if implicit).

The error that you get says, that Get-ADUser cannot handle the input object from the pipeline, because it cannot figure out to which parameter it should be bound. The likely reason is, that after being send back and forth between sessions the object cannot be cast to anything that Get-ADUser would understand.

Now what you can do is to avoid implicit remoting. Put your ActiveDirectory cmdlets in a script block and return only what you need to process locally.

$ADSession = New-PSsession -ComputerName ourdcserver -Credential $(Get-Credential)
$scriptBlock = {
    param( $SearchBase )
    Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -AccountInactive -SearchBase $SearchBase -Timespan 30.00:00:00 |
        Where-Object { $_.Enabled -eq $true } |
        Get-ADUser -Properties Name, sAMAccountName, WhenCreated, lastLogonTimestamp |
        Select Name, sAMAccountName, WhenCreated,
            @{n="LastLogonTimeStamp";e={[DateTime]::FromFileTime($_.LastLogonTimestamp)}} |
        Sort-Object LastLogonTimeStamp
}

Invoke-Command -Session $ADSession -ScriptBlock $scriptBlock -ArgumentList "OU=test,DC=our,DC=domain,DC=com"  |
    Select-Object Name,sAMAccountName,WhenCreated,LastLogonTimeStamp | 
    Export-CSV $CurrentWorkfile -NoTypeInformation -Encoding ASCII

The input object cannot be bound to any parameters error?

1 Answers