Tools4ever Solutions
(UMRA) - User Management Resource Administrator: Download
(ESSOM) - Enterprise Single Sign-On Manager: Download
(SSRPM) - Self Service Reset Password Management: Download

Test Environment: Server - Server 2008 R2
Test Environment: Exchange Server - Server 2008 R2 (Exchange 2010 SP1)
UMRA - 10.6 (build )

I get asked often "How can I get all mebers of an Active Directory group into a UMRA data table?". So this blog post will be an easy way to pull users of a Active Directory group into a UMRA generic data table.

Step 1:
Now, there are may ways to do this first step, but I like to search all users "memberof" Active Directory attribute for the DN of the group.
This will be placed into the "LDAP Filter" Tab in the UMRA generic data table.
LDAP Filter: (&(objectClass=user) (memberof=DN_OF_GROUP))
LDAP Filter Example: (&(objectClass=user) (memberof=CN=My Cool Group,OU=Groups,OU=A,OU=DEMO,DC=MINE,DC=local
))



Step 2:
Now that you have your filter set, you can now select attributes you want to pull back in the table, click on the "Attributes" tab, and select attributes you want to display in your UMRA generic data table.


Step 3:
Now that we have our filter, and our attributes you want to pull back, click the "Variable" Tab. Here you will be entering a variable name for your table, this way we can refence the table in other UMRA actions, such as a For Each action.



Step 4:
Now that we have our filter, attributes, and variable set we can now click the "Run Test" tab. This will allow you to run a test and see your data retrieved. If it looks good, your done, and can now use the variable you set Step 3 in other UMRA actions, such as a For Each action.


So there you have it, a quick and simple way to get all users of a group into a UMRA generic data table. I hope this helped some of you out there who might have been wondering on how to do such a task, and as always if you have any questions feel free to email me, or post a comment below.

Tools4ever Solutions
(UMRA) - User Management Resource Administrator: Download
(ESSOM) - Enterprise Single Sign-On Manager: Download
(SSRPM) - Self Service Reset Password Management: Download

Test Environment: Server - Server 2008 R2
UMRA - 10.6 (build 1640)

I've been asked a few times over the last few months what are the common ways to backup your current UMRA projects. In those blog post I will go over the ways I backup a UMRA services projects when I've completed a clients Automation project. Now, keep in mind this will cover how to back up UMRA however in most cases you will have other additional resources such as Databases, Scripts, and other items that are required for your UMRA project to run correct. You will want to back any additional resource files up as well.

1. Create a folder on your desktop called UMRA Backup, and then create 2 new files within that called UMRA and Resources.


2. Open up your UMRA console and select UMRA Service -> Manage service projects. Next Highlight all projects and folders, and press the button "Export", select "Yes" export to xml, and save these within your UMRA Backup/UMRA folder you created on your desktop?


3. Now that you have your UMRA projects successfully backed up, you now want to make sure any SQL database, VB Scripts etc. are backed up also. You would move these files / projects into the UMRA Backup/Resources folder?

4. Final step, is to now move the UMRA Backup folder to a secure file location?

So there you have it, a quick and easy way to backup your current UMRA projects. As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to email me, or leave a comment below.

Tools4ever Solutions
(UMRA) - User Management Resource Administrator: Download
(ESSOM) - Enterprise Single Sign-On Manager: Download
(SSRPM) - Self Service Reset Password Management: Download

Test Environment: Server - Server 2008 R2
UMRA - 10.6 (build 1640)

I've been asked a few times over the last few months what are the common questions someone might have when trying to create a UMRA Automation project that takes Active Directory Users and syncs it with Google Apps. Below are four of the main questions I ask my clients before I being a the sync process.

1. Are the users already in Active Directory but not Google Apps?
* The reason why I ask this is because, when you create the Google Apps account, what will be the initial password upon creation? You can use any relevant data from either Active Directory, or another data source for the initial password.

2. Are the users that are going to be created in Google Apps, created in a specific container?
* Google Apps has the ability to create a container, much like Active Directories OU's. This is important because you need to know where to place a user upon creation, instead of putting everyone on the root. Having a clean

3. Are you going to keep your Google Apps users in sync with Active Directory?
* Creating accounts is only Google Apps is only one of the steps when doing a sync. Other standardization options include, location sync (what happens if a user moves schools after they are created in Google Apps), status sync (if a user becomes disabled in Active Directory, are you going to suspend in Google Apps), first name / last name sync (if the first or last name changes in Active Directory are you going to sync that into Google Apps).

4. Are you going to apply group memberships in Google Apps?
* Much like Active Directory, you can apply groups to users, however you will need to setup security on these groups. When setting up the security, you need to know who can send and use these group lists.

Those are 4 of the main questions I typically ask when doing a Active Directory to Google Apps sync. If you are able to answer these standard questions, or come up with your own standardization rules for these, doing the sync should be come a lot more easier to do. As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me, or leave a comment below.