Run quser.exe and return a proper PowerShell Object. I discussed this on my blog to enhance a StackOverflow answer. I thought I'd make this into a PowerShell module for ease of use and distribution.

1. Install QuserObject: Install-Module QuserObject.
2. Import QuserObject: Import-Module QuserObject.
3. Start QuserObject: Get-Quser or Get-LoggedOnUsers.

The quser.exe program displays information about users logged on to the system. The quser.exe program is already available on your Windows desktop and server OSs.

Considerations have been made to keep things language agnostic.

Running quser.exe from the Command Prompt or PowerShell will give you the following output:

PS > quser.exe

 USERNAME              SESSIONNAME        ID  STATE   IDLE TIME  LOGON TIME
>vertigoray            console             1  Active       3:11  7/26/2018 7:29 PM

This is useful information, but in order to use it programmatically, you will need to parse that stdout.

That's where the QuserObject module comes in. The parsing has already been done for you:

PS > Get-Quser

Server           : localhost
Username         : vertigoray
IsCurrentSession : True
Sessionname      : console
Id               : 1
State            : Active
IdleTime         : 03:11:00
LogonTime        : 7/26/2018 7:29:00 PM

This output is a [PSObject], and can be used programmatically. Here's an example that shows you the types of each returned property:

PS > Get-Quser | %{ $_.PSObject.Properties | %{ "{0,16}: [{1,-15}] {2}" -f $_.Name, $_.Value.GetType().FullName, $_.Value } }

          Server: [System.String  ] localhost
        Username: [System.String  ] vertigoray
IsCurrentSession: [System.Boolean ] True
     Sessionname: [System.String  ] console
              Id: [System.Int32   ] 1
           State: [System.String  ] Active
        IdleTime: [System.TimeSpan] 03:11:00
       LogonTime: [System.DateTime] 7/26/2018 7:29:00 PM

For your convenience, I've created a Get-LoggedOnUsers alias for Get-Quser.

PS > Get-Alias | ?{ $_.Source -eq 'QuserObject' } | select Name,ResolvedCommand,CommandType,Source

Name              ResolvedCommand CommandType Source
----              --------------- ----------- ------
Get-LoggedOnUsers Get-Quser             Alias QuserObject

• Type: [string[]]
• Default: localhost

The server to be queried. Default is current.

See the Quick Example, IdleStartTime Example, Target a Server, Target Multiple Servers, and Pipeline Multiple Servers examples.

• Type: [switch]

By default, IdleTime is returned as a [timespan] making it consistent with the way quser.exe gives the idle time. Setting this switch will return IdleTime as [datetime] of when idleness started.

See the IdleStartTime Example example.

Assume quser.exe returns an idle time of 3+04:05, and the [datetime] when you run Get-Quser is: 8/1/2018 12:01:00 PM. The return IdleTime property will be different depending on whether or not this parameter is set:

• Parameter Not Set: [System.TimeSpan] '3.04:05:00'
• Parameter Is Set: [System.DateTime] '07/29/2018 07:56:00'

• Type: [string]
• Default: ``

Optional username, sessionname, or sessionid to pass on to quser.exe.

• Type: [PSObject]

The AD computer object of the server(s) to be queried.

See the AD Computer and AD Computers with Different Property examples.

• Type: [string]
• Default: Name

When working with an AD computer object, you can specify which AD property to target as the Server. Default is Name, but you might want to change it to something like DNSHostName. Just be sure the property you set is included in the results of the Get-ADComputer command.

See the AD Computers with Different Property example.

• Type: [PSObject]

The only available function of this module (Get-Quser; aka Get-LoggedOnUsers) returns a [PSObject]. Here's a description of all of the returned properties and their types.

• Server: [System.String]
  • This is the target server. By default, localhost will be targetted.
• Username: [System.String]
  • The username of the user logged in.
• Sessionname: [System.String]
  • The session name of the user logged in.
• Id: [System.Int32]
  • The session ID of the user logged in.
• State: [System.String]
  • The state of the session; should be Active or Disc (Disconnectted).
• IdleTime: [System.TimeSpan]
  • The amount of time the user
  • Variation: [System.DateTime]. If IdleStartTime is set.
• LogonTime: [System.DateTime]
  • The date and time of when the user logged in.

This will return the quser.exe results for the current computer (aka localhost).

Get-Quser

This will return the quser.exe results for the current computer (aka localhost). The returned IdleTime property will be a [datetime] of when idleness started.

Get-Quser -IdleStartTime

This will return the quser.exe results for ThisServer.

Get-Quser -ServerName 'ThisServer'

This will return the quser.exe results for ThisServer and ThatServer.

Get-Quser -ServerName 'ThisServer', 'ThatServer'

This will return the quser.exe results for ThisServer and ThatServer.

@('ThisServer', 'ThatServer') | Get-Quser

This will return the quser.exe results for ThisServer. The value is piped from a Get-ADComputer query.

Get-ADComputer 'ThisServer' | Get-Quser

This will return the quser.exe results for computers in the supplied OU. This value is piped from a Get-ADComputer query and using the AD computer DNSHostName property instead of the default Name property.

Get-ADComputer -Filter * -SearchBase 'OU=Computers,DC=ad,DC=example,DC=com' | Get-Quser -Property 'DNSHostName'