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CSVDE (Comma Separated Value Directory Exchange) Command Line Utility

CSVDE is a command line utility that allows administrators to import and export, but not to modify or delete, entries into or from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) using LDAP(Light weight directory access protocol). You can see the help for this command line utility by typing csvde /? at a command prompt.

Syntax:csvde [-i] [-f FileName] [-s ServerName] [-c String1 String2] [-v] [-j Path] [-t PortNumber] [-d BaseDN] [-r LDAPFilter] [-p Scope] [-l LDAPAttributeList] [-o LDAPAttributeList] [-g] [-m] [-n] [-k] [-a UserDistinguishedName Password] [-b UserName Domain Password]

Importing
When an administrator wants to import entries from a file into the active directory, [-i] in above syntax indicates the import switch. The file you reference after the -f switch should be a comma separated value file.
The first line of the file defines the LDAP object class and attributes that you plan to import from the file.

Exporting
In Windows Server 2003 R2 or earlier, there was [-e] switch to the command to indicate an export operation. In Windows Server 2008 and later, export is assumed if the -i (import) switch is not part of the command. The most basic command of CSVDE to export a list of objects in Active Directory to a file named Explortobjects.txt on the C: drive is:

csvde -f c:\Exportobjects.txt
One could then open the Exportobjects.txt file and review the contents,  but this would would show a large number of objects and attributes. Practically, administrator may just want to export a specific set of information from directory. For example, if an administrator want just to export mail contact records from ABC OU of the XYZ.com domain to a file named ABCUsers.txt, the command syntax would be as below:

csvde -f c:\ABCContact.txt -d "ou=abc,dc=xyz,dc=com" -r "(objectClass=contact)"

Note: Basic command parameters are also listed in the Csvde Help in the TechNet Library.
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