c# - Is the directorysearcher object capped at 5000 even if pagesize is set to greater

Question

Is the directorysearcher findall results method capped at 5000 results even if pagesize is set to greater. It really seems to be, because no matter what I get exactly 5000 results. This is C#

Answer 1

First of all, it's a server-side setting which limits the maximum number of entries returned in a single search. Default is 1'000.

Secondly, if you really need to enumerate more than this limit of 1'000 entries, you should look into paged searches. Quite simply, set the DirectorySearcher.PageSize entry to a value (less than that system limit), e.g. 500, and you'll get your results in pages of 500 entries.

There's no limit on how many entries you'll get in total - you can simply enumerate the DirectorySearcher.FindAll() collection and you should be able to handle any number of entries that way. The AD server will just simply batch up your results in pages of 500 - once you've enumerated one page, the next one will be delivered.

Marc