Back to Scripts

List Local Admin Users

This script retrieves the list of users who are members of the local admin group on macOS. It uses the Directory Service command line utility (dscl) to query the admin group membership. The output is formatted for Intune custom attributes to provide visibility into privileged access on managed devices.

MonitoringSecurity
Author: Ugur Koc
Version: 1.0
All Tests PassedTested on 09-22-2025
View on GitHub
local-admins.sh
#!/bin/bash

# TITLE: List Local Admin Users
# SYNOPSIS: Lists all users with local administrator privileges on macOS
# DESCRIPTION: This script retrieves the list of users who are members of the local admin
#              group on macOS. It uses the Directory Service command line utility (dscl)
#              to query the admin group membership. The output is formatted for Intune
#              custom attributes to provide visibility into privileged access on managed devices.
# TAGS: Monitoring,Security
# PLATFORM: macOS
# MIN_OS_VERSION: 10.15
# AUTHOR: Ugur Koc
# VERSION: 1.0
# LASTUPDATE: 2025-06-04
# CHANGELOG:
#   1.0 - Initial release
#
# EXAMPLE:
#   ./local-admins.sh
#   Outputs the list of local admin users
#
# NOTES:
#   - Uses dscl to query admin group membership
#   - No external dependencies required
#   - Designed for Intune custom attributes (single line output)
#   - Includes count of admin users for quick assessment
#   - For more scripts and guides, visit: IntuneMacAdmins.com

# ============================================================================
# VARIABLES AND INITIALIZATION
# ============================================================================

# ============================================================================
# FUNCTIONS
# ============================================================================

# Function to output result (for Intune custom attributes)
output_result() {
    # For Intune custom attributes, output should be a single line
    echo "$1"
    exit 0
}

# Function to check prerequisites
check_prerequisites() {
    if ! command -v dscl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
        output_result "Error: dscl command not found"
    fi
}

# Function to get admin users
get_admin_users() {
    # Query the admin group membership
    local admin_output
    if ! admin_output=$(dscl . -read /Groups/admin GroupMembership 2>&1); then
        # Check if it's a permission issue
        if echo "$admin_output" | grep -q "eDSPermissionError"; then
            output_result "Error: Permission denied"
        else
            output_result "Error: Unable to query admin group"
        fi
    fi

    # Extract just the user list (remove "GroupMembership:" prefix)
    local admin_list
    admin_list=${admin_output#GroupMembership: }

    # Check if we got valid output
    if [[ -z "$admin_list" ]] || [[ "$admin_list" == "$admin_output" ]]; then
        output_result "Error: No admin users found or invalid format"
    fi

    echo "$admin_list"
}

# ============================================================================
# MAIN SCRIPT LOGIC
# ============================================================================

main() {
    # Check prerequisites
    check_prerequisites

    # Get the list of admin users
    local admin_users
    admin_users=$(get_admin_users)

    # Count the number of admin users
    local admin_count
    admin_count=$(echo "$admin_users" | wc -w | tr -d ' ')

    # Format output for Intune custom attributes
    if [[ $admin_count -eq 0 ]]; then
        output_result "Admin Users: None found"
    elif [[ $admin_count -eq 1 ]]; then
        output_result "Admin Users (1): $admin_users"
    else
        # For multiple users, show count and list
        output_result "Admin Users ($admin_count): $admin_users"
    fi
}

# ============================================================================
# ERROR HANDLING
# ============================================================================

# For Intune custom attributes - handle errors gracefully
trap 'output_result "Error: Script failed"' ERR

# ============================================================================
# SCRIPT EXECUTION
# ============================================================================

# Only run main if script is executed directly (not sourced)
if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
    main "$@"
fi

# Exit successfully (if not using output_result)
exit 0