Help On impossible task

Admin feel free to remove if against rules

I have been given what seems to be an impossible task to design a web form that has 2 options on the first is to check a users Active directory account and confirm how long before its password expires and the second to reset password if needed (without then setting it to expire on next log on)

to add to the issue it needs to work when browsed to outside of the network and on linux

i have looked in to powershell and VB but suspect this to be an impossible task, if anyone wants a challange


thanks in advance

Web server running any server side programming language, bit of searching the internet for the relevant AD queries with the language, certainly not impossible but not something to be done from the client side. Also make sure it's secure.

Would be worth installing an AD / LDAP query tool just so you can familiarise yourself with the structure of the directory you're querying.

Certainly doesn't sound impossible. Have you coded C# before? This sounds like something that the .NET MVC scaffolding could help you create relatively quickly once you've found the active directory calls.

no never really done any coding, usually just find a script online and edit for where i need it

really am in to unexplored territory

As jimbouk said, it sounds like a perfect task for server-side scripting from a web-server hosted within your organisation. The server queries the AD then formats the results for display on a webpage. It's "relatively trivial", but needs good coding skills, an awareness of security (if one server is going to be serving webpages and querying the AD you need to mitigate any possible attack vectors), and some hardware configuration. it's definitely a job for a professional; too many potential pitfalls if you're "just having a go".

First thing I'd do would be to query why this is necessary; sounds a bit pointless to me. The second thing I'd do is get a good consultant in.

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Originally Posted by dturtill

no never really done any coding, usually just find a script online and edit for where i need it

really am in to unexplored territory

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Why on earth have you been given this assignment? Isn't the company concerned about security risks if the web application isn't written properly?