Is the sync process that comes with SharePoint not doing enough for you?
The Bamboo User Profile Sync allows you to automatically synchronize a master user database with another user database. You can map properties from the master user database to the target user database and view whether the update was successful as well as an audit trail of how each item was updated. Use the Windows Scheduler to automate the sync process.
With Release 1.4, users added to or deleted from a SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0), Contacts List, or AD can be automatically added or deleted in the target List (i.e. SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0) or Contacts List). In addition, users added to a SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0) can be automatically assigned to a SharePoint group.
There are five sync types offered with User Profile Sync. They are:
- MOSS 2007 User Profile database to Active Directory.
- Active Directory to a WSS 3.0 User Information List.
- WSS 3.0 User Information List to a WSS 3.0 User Information List(s).
- Active Directory to a Contacts List in WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007.
- A Contacts List in WSS 3.0 to a WSS 3.0 User Information List(s).
What does it do?
- Update SharePoint user profiles (MOSS 2007) in Active Directory.
- Update WSS 3.0 User Information Lists with Active Directory information.
- Update the User Information Lists in WSS 3.0 Site Collections against one WSS 3.0 User Information List on the same server.
- Sync Active Directory information to Contacts List.
- Sync Contacts List to WSS 3.0 User Information List.
- Schedule automatic updates between MOSS 2007 and AD, WSS 3.0 and AD or WSS 3.0 User Information Lists in a site collection.
- Flexible mapping of SharePoint User Profile fields to Active Directory properties or User Information List fields to Active Directory properties depending on the sync type.
- Audit trail of imported data.
- Ability to exclude certain users or groups.
- Automatically add or delete users in the target user store when users are added or deleted in the source user store. New!
- Assign SharePoint groups to users automatically added to the target user store (applies to Sync Types that sync to the SharePoint User Information List). New!
How does it work?
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First, configure the proper settings depending on your sync type. Then enter in a user name and password for an account that has proper rights to both user database sources. For example, for the Active Directory to WSS 3.0 User Information List (B) sync type, you need one user ID and password that is both an Active Directory Admin account and SharePoint Site Collection Administrator account. Then define mappings between the master user database and the target user database. After the mappings are defined, then the user data is exported to the appropriate properties according to the defined mappings. This export occurs through a scheduler that runs at your convenience. You can also view a log file to determine whether the export/import of data was successful.
For the Active Directory to Contacts List (D) and Contacts List to WSS 3.0 User Information List (E) sync types, you can define the mappings in the same way as the other sync types, but you must also create a column in the Contacts List that contains the user account name in order to link to the account name in Active Directory or the WSS 3.0 User Information List (depending on the sync type you are using). User Profile Sync requires this link to be able to update the user profile information properly.
The new adding or deleting users from AD, a SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0), or a Contacts List only applies to Sync types that sync to a Contacts List or SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0). Automatically adding new users to a SharePoint Group, only applies to those Sync Types that sync to a SharePoint User Information List (WSS 3.0).
What If I Need More Than One Sync Type?
During its trial period, User Profile Sync allows you to try each of the sync types offered above. However, depending on the User Profile Sync product (A, B, C, D or E) that you decide to purchase, you will receive a license key that unlocks only that functionality. For instance, if you purchased User Profile Sync B for syncing Active Directory to WSS 3.0 User Information List, then you will receive a license key that allows you to use User Profile Sync only to update information in your WSS User Information List with Active Directory profile information.
Why did we build it ?
Many companies that use SharePoint are using Active Directory (AD) as the main authentication server. The Active Directory service stores user profile information and acts as the master database for company-wide information. The user account and profile information is imported from AD into SharePoint via the Central Administration during the initial deployment. Since AD acts as a master database, the user profile database in SharePoint can be set up to run incremental imports to sync user profiles when new user information is added to AD. A drawback to the out-of-the-box SharePoint functionality is that this update is available for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) only and is only a one-way sync (from AD to MOSS). If a user updates details in their MOSS SharePoint user profile, the information is not propagated to the AD profile and/or it is overwritten by the next sync from AD.
Additionally, with Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0, there is a separate User Information List for each site collection. Out-of-the-box SharePoint functionality does not provide a method to keep these separate information stores in sync. Users with access to more than one site collection could update their user information in one site collection and the update would not appear in the user information kept in another site collection on the same server. Although Bamboo's User Profile Sync can be used to update user information from AD to a User Information List in WSS 3.0, often there are fields in the WSS 3.0 User Information List that store information in addition to what is in AD. There should be a way to synchronize values in these fields across site collections.
Lastly, some organizations using WSS 3.0 have found it simpler to store their user information in a Contacts List rather than try to use the WSS 3.0 User Information List which can be difficult to find, extend and manage. A Contacts List allows the User Administrator to extend metadata, integrate to Microsoft Outlook and restrict access to the list to maintain data integrity. Some of these organizations may need to sync their Contact List information to the WSS 3.0 User Information Lists to take advantage of some SharePoint features that may come along in the future related to social networking. Other organizations have a need to sync their AD information to the Contacts List. There should be a way to perform this type of synchronization.
The Bamboo User Profile Sync application provides a quick and easy way to synchronize user information in all of these instances. Whether you need to update Active Directory, the SharePoint User Profile database in MOSS 2007, the WSS 3.0 User Information List or a Contacts List, User Profile Sync can help you set up your sync type, automate the sync, and maintain an audit trail of the updates.
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