How to search Active Directory objects for specific attributes using "dsquery". (4303457)

This article describes how to search Active Directory  and identify objects with  illegal characters like "?" or "#"  that may cause problems during directory synchronization such as:

"Error 0xe1000005. Internal DSA error"

The below example demonstrates how to identify objects causing DSA errors  when some illegal  characters such as "?" or "#" are  encountered in the proxyAddresses attribute. However the same approach can be taken with any other attribute name.

Example:

On the windows command line please  type the following:

dsquery * -attr proxyAddresses -filter (proxyAddresses=*?*) ou=TestOU,dc=target2003,dc=com
(Check for any proxy Address attributes that contain an illegal "?")

or

dsquery * -attr proxyAddresses -filter (proxyAddresses=*#*) ou=TestOU,dc=target2003,dc=com
(Check for any proxy Address attributes that contain and illegal "#")

Search by root domain, container, or user as needed. Use the names specific to your environment.

For example,

To check a root domain:                         dc=target,dc=com
To check an organizational unit:         ou=myOrganizationUnit,dc=target,dc=com
To check a specific user:                       cn=Test_User,ou=OrganizationalUnit,dc=target,dc=com

Note: Type "dsquery" at the command line for more help and options.