How To
Active Directory

Update the Active Directory Manager Attribute

If you need to update or set the Active Directory manager attribute follow the guide below to find out how to set the manager attribute in active directory for all users in an OU.

Data Sync has built in columns to handle the complexity that can be involved in setting certain attributes in Active Directory. One of these is looking up the distinguished name of the manager. These built in columns all start with DS-.

The video below shows how you can use these Data Sync columns to quickly update the manager attribute in Active Directory .

Connect to Your Source and Target (Active Directory)

To get started connect to your source data set. At a minimum this needs to have the account name of the user to be updated and one of the following fields for the manager:

  • EmployeeID
  • sAMAccountName
  • DistingiuishedName (DN)
  • Email Address

Below is an example of the data you might have with the manager being defined by the EmployeeID.

Data Example

You then need to connect your target data source to Active Directory by using the Active Directory Users provider.

Configure your Columns in the Schema Map

Now match the columns from your source to the corresponding columns in the target.

The user account name matches to DS-SAMAccountName and this is our key column.

The matching column for the manager will depend on what data you are presenting. Below is the corresponding column name for each record type:

  • DN -> DS-Manager-DN
  • EmployeeID -> DS-Manager-EmployeeID
  • Email -> DS-Manager-Email
  • sAMAccountName -> DS-Manager-SAMAccountName

For our example we are using the Manager EmployeeID so we have mapped this to DS-Manager-EmployeeID.

Manager Update Schema

Compare the Data and Synchronise

To finish, run the compare by clicking the Compare A > B button in the toolbar. You can view the changes to be made before synchronising by clicking onto the blue diamond for updates or the green plus for additions. Deletes will show but these are disabled by default so they will not be deleted.

Once you are happy click the Synchronise button and then start to begin the sync.

You manager attribute will now be updated with the data you supplied.