IFMEMBER - CMD

Overview

The IFMEMBER command in Windows CMD is used to determine if the current user is a member of one or more specified Windows groups. This command is particularly useful in scripts where actions are contingent upon the user’s group membership, such as deploying software, applying group-specific policies, or granting access to specific resources.

Syntax

IFMEMBER [groupname1] [groupname2] [...groupnameN]
  • groupname1...groupnameN: Specify one or more groups to check membership against. These names must correspond exactly to the user group names defined in Windows.

Options/Flags

IFMEMBER does not have additional flags or options. It simply checks if the logged-in user belongs to the listed groups and returns an errorlevel based on the outcome:

  • Errorlevel 0: Not a member of any specified groups.
  • Errorlevel 1: Member of one or more specified groups.

Examples

  • Check Membership of Single Group:

    IFMEMBER Administrators
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO User is an Administrator

    This checks if the user belongs to the ‘Administrators’ group, and if they do, prints a confirmation message.

  • Checking Membership of Multiple Groups:

    IFMEMBER Administrators Users
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO User belongs to Administrators or Users

    This example shows how to check if a user is a member of either the ‘Administrators’ or the ‘Users’ groups.

Common Issues

  • Group Name Mismatch: The most common error with IFMEMBER involves incorrect group names. Ensure group names are spelled and formatted correctly as per the system’s group settings.
  • Script Execution Permissions: IFMEMBER might fail if the script lacks sufficient permissions to check group membership. Ensure the script is run with appropriate administrative privileges.

Integration

IFMEMBER can be effectively combined with other CMD commands for conditional execution in scripts. Here is an example of a script that uses IFMEMBER with conditional logic:

IFMEMBER Developers
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
    ECHO User validated as Developer.
    CALL deploy_dev_tools.cmd
) ELSE (
    ECHO Access denied.
)

This script checks if the user is part of the ‘Developers’ group and, if true, runs another script to deploy tools needed by developers.

  • NET USER / NET LOCALGROUP: These commands can be used to manage users and groups, which is useful to know before using IFMEMBER.
  • WHOAMI /groups: Displays the user’s group memberships, which can be useful for troubleshooting group-related issues with IFMEMBER.

For further reading and more detailed information about user and group management in Windows CMD, visit the official Microsoft documentation on Windows commands.