I came across a little something yesterday related to DirSync.
If you use a value in the notes.ini variable DIRSYNC_DEFAULT_ARGS that is not in the list of allowed values ( load dirsync -? ), then DirSync does not start anymore. More precisely, Dirsync starts, and quits immediately.
No big deal, but for an admin it is certainly helpful if DirSync prints a message on the Domino console indicating that an incorrect value is used in the variable.
There is a SPR #SPPPBYJLZZ for this, but it doesn’t really have a high priority. Rather a nice to have.
As of FP2 for Domino / Notes 11.0.1, DirSync now supports filters using OID rules for bitwise comparison.
SPR# BSTS796FFJ – Server – Dirsync now supports filters using OID rules for bitwise comparison and other rules.
This extension of the filter options is very useful if you want to filter on attributes that contain the information as bit patterns.
For example, you want to sync only users that have an active (enabled) account in Active Directory. Whether an account is disabled is stored as a flag in the userAccountControl attribute.
If a user account is disabled, the userAccountControl attribute contains the disabled account flag 2. We can now build a filter rule to retrieve only person records that does NOT contain the flag ( and also are members of a specific group).
Yesterday, Martin Vogel from sirius-net GmbH sent me an email and asked for help with HCL Domino DirSync.
He had an issue with the filter syntax and also encountered some strange error messages when trying to sync from an Active Directory to Domino Directory.
Let’s first see, what the problem with the filter is. By default, DirSync syncs all person and group objects under the given SearchBase.
If you only want to get a subset of the possible results, you can use a filter in the DirSync Configuration document. Here is the filter.
We checked the filter syntax by running a search from LDAPAdmin. The search returned the expected result.
But when we try to apply the filter to the DirSync configuration, the following error message occurs when trying to save the document.
Apparently there is a problem with the ‘&‘ in the ‘CN=Services & Accounts‘ part of the filter.
My first guess was that the ‘&’ character is not allowed in the filter string. But why is it possible to create an OU with this character in Active Directory?
And also, why does LDAPAdmin not complain about bad syntax?
I took a closer look at the DirSyncUtil class in names.nsf. The error message is displayed during validation of the filter string. The code assumes that a “&” or “|” can only occur right after a “(“.
Else
state = State_inpar ' if we see an operator after this it's a problem.
End If
lastChar = ch
Next
If depth <> 0 Then
crunch:
LDAPValidate = i
End If
Exit Function
If “&” or “|” occur after any other char, it is assumed an error. So the filter string is syntactically ok. But it is not validated as error-free.
Next, we needed to find a way to work around this limitation. One option would be to disable validation. Not a good idea. Or, we could set the filter string using Ytria ScanEZ.
This works, but in a productive environment this is certainly not the correct procedure.
Google to the rescue, we found another option to apply the filter string and validate it on document save & close.
Simply replace the ‘&’ char by it’s escape sequence ‘\26’. Our filter string will look like this then.
Now you can save & close the document without the error message. We then enabled the DirSync configuration. When DirSync tried to sync, we saw an error message on the server console.
We cross-checked the configuration on another machine and with another Active Directory.
Here the sync ran without any issues and the expected person records were synced into the Domino Directory.
We repeated the test without any filter string applied and even in this case, an error occurs. But the error has changed.
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync ResyncAll by CheckBox: 0
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync Preview: 0
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync Level: 16
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync SyncFlows: 2
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync OnPremCookie:
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync UserDirCookie: 54247270
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync ResyncAll by Request: 1
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync Sync all request calling SyncFromLDAPToNAB.
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync SyncFromLDAPToNAB The parms were:
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync base:
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync scope: subtree
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync filter: (&(|(objectClass=Group)(objectClass=Person))(uSNChanged>=0))
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync attributes: co
, company
, department
, description
, facsimileTelephoneNumber
, givenName
, mail
, homephone
, initials
, l, manager
, mobile
, pager
, physicaldeliveryofficename
, postalcode
, sn
, st
, streetaddress
, telephonenumber
, title
, uid
, wWWHomePage
, memberOf
, objectClass
, objectGUID
, groupType
, member
, uSNChanged
[17F0:0005-0324] DirSync page size: 5000
[17F0:0005-0324] SyncFromLDAPToNAB ldap err: 54
Error code 54 stands for LDAP_LOOP_DETECTED. The documentation says that the error …
Indicates that the client discovered an alias or referral loop, and is thus unable to complete this request.
I am not an Active Directory expert. So I have no clue, why this errors occur on one machine, but not on the other. I’ve asked Mike O’Brien from HCL Development.
Odd. The error 84 (0x54) is an LDAP_DECODING_ERROR. This means that there was an issue decoding a server result. The 54 which is (0x36) is a LDAP_LOOP_DETECT which indicates a service issue. The fact that he is seeing this with the default filter leads me to believe it is something service related.
Mike O’Brien, HCL
Apparently, the errors are related to the Active Directory configuration. Anyone any thoughts on this?
During my DNUG47 Online session on “Active Directory Synchronisation with HCL Domino v11 DirSync” I was asked if it is possible to identify users that have been synced to the Domino Directory and later on deleted in Active Directory.
Two scenarios must be distinguished here.
User has been synced from AD but not registered in Domino Directory
User has been synced and registered in Domino Directory using the “Register selected user” functionality.
In the first case, users that have been deleted from the AD are also deleted from the Domino Directory.
In the latter case, users are NOT deleted from the Domino Directory.
But how can we tell, if a user in Domino Directory has been added to the Domino Directory from the Active Directory.
Let us take a closer look into the document properties of such a user.
When a user has been synced by DirSync, you will see the “briefcase” icon left to the user name.
In addition, several items are added to the Domino document, i.e. ‘objectGUID’, ‘$$DirsyncDigest’, ‘$$DirsyncDomain’ and ‘$$LdapDN’.
When the user has been registered, also the “AvailableForDirSync” item is added to the document.
When you remove the user from the Active Directory, you will see the following output on the Domino Console.
[0868:0005-2A30] DirSync
DirSync Removed 'objectGUID', '$$DirsyncDigest', '$$DirsyncDomain' and '$$LdapDN' for registered user 'CN=James Kirk/O=singultus' with Note ID '33810'.
[0868:0005-2A30] DirSync NOTE: This registered user is now DISCONNECTED from its AD counterpart and can be reconnected later by matching the e-mail address.
[0868:0005-2A30] DirSync resyncall - SyncFromLDAPToNAB completed in: 0.71 seconds
Keep in mind, that you need to perform a full “Resync” to change the user state in Domino Directory.
When we now look into the document properties, we will see the following.
First of all, you see that the “briefcase” icon is no longer available.
As stated in the console output, ‘objectGUID’, ‘$$DirsyncDigest’, ‘$$DirsyncDomain’ and ‘$$LdapDN’ have been removed from the document, but the “AvailableForDirSync” item is still there.
So this can be used as an indicator to identify user records that have been synced from the Active Directory, registered as Notes user, and removed at some point from the Active Directory.
When you use Directory Sync, you can register Active Directory users in Domino to create mail files and Notes IDs for them.
To register Active Directory users in Domino, open the Admin client and navigate to “People & Groups -> People“. Select the name of an Active Directory user to register. Right-click and select Register Selected Person.
Select the certifier and type in the password.
The Register Person dialog appears, pre-filled with …
ouups. NOTHING in there.
This is an issue, I ran into during BETA testing. It took a while until we found out the cause for it. If you encounter the same in V11 GA in your environment, open the Notes Client notes.ini and search for
NewUserServer=<servername>
Most likely, servername is not the name of the registration server. Delete the entry from notes.ini and restart the Administration client. If this does not fix the issue, check your policy settings. Chances are that the registration server in the registration policy does not match the server where you want to register the user.
This is a known issue and will be fixed hopefully in Domino V11.0.1. It’s being tracked under SPR# MOBNBHQQUH.
With the correct settings in place, you will see the following
Complete the registration dialog and register the user.
The Active Directory users is now registered in Domino.
By now, you can only register one user at a time. An enhancement request already exists to register ALL selected Active Directory users.
Renaming Domino users when their names change in Active Directory
When you use Directory Sync and the common name of a registered Domino user changes in Active Directory, follow this procedure to change the name in the Domino directory Person document, too.
The Rename Domino users upon Active Directory rename option must be enabled in the Directory Sync configuration document.
When a Domino user’s common name changes in Active Directory, a Rename Common Name administration process request is created. You must approve the request for the rename to be carried out in Domino.
I renamed the user in Active Directory
Here is what you see on the server console during the sync.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Entry with mail address 'd.vader@darkside.org' - NoteID 33086 was found in the target directory.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync
DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify(dn = 'CN=Darth Vaderman,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box', newentry=0)
[0290:0004-16DC] 22.01.2020 08:34:28 LLNDirSync CSyncToAdminP::ModifyPerson: FLATFirstFuameValue: CN=Darth Vaderman/CN=Sync/DC=ad/DC=fritz/DC=box
Status: No error.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Submitted adminp request to rename user CN=Darth Vader/O=singultus to CN=Darth Vaderman/O=singultus
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified LastName from 'Vader' to 'Vaderman'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified memberOf from '' to 'CN=BadGuys,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified uSNChanged from '234953' to '235340'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync 'person' Document updated, UTF8 Name = 'CN=Darth Vaderman,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify - Modified existing Note for 'CN=Darth Vaderman,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync
[0290:0004-16DC] 22.01.2020 08:34:28 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (1.111 sec, Start=235338, Adds=0, Modifies=1, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=235340)
Open admin4.nsf and navigate to “Rename Common Name Requests”.
Select the names to process and click Complete rename for selected entries. Select certifier and provide the Notes certifier password.
Select “Change common name” in the next dialog box.
A standard administration process Rename In Domino Directory request is then initiated for each name processed.
Deleting registered users
When users or groups are deleted in Active Directory, they are also deleted in the Domino® directory, with one exception: Active Directory users who are registered as Domino users (have mail files, etc) are not deleted from Domino.
The objectGUID item will be removed from the personrecord on next resync.
DirSync Removed ObjectGUID for Registered User with Note ID 33086, user = CN=Darth Vaderman/O=singultus.
In this part of the tutorial, we want to look at what happens when DirSync synchronizes objects from Active Directory
Let’s first take a look into the Directory Assistance document for the AD domain to find the BaseDN.
Using LDAPAdmin, we can now navigate to CN=Sync under the root entry DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box. This is where DirSync will for users and groups to sync to the target directory.
Our Directory Sync document for domain AD has an LDAPFilter applied to sync only a subset of all entries under the BaseDN
In this sample, only Darth Vader has a mail address that matches the filter criteria.
Let’s see what happens, when DirSync kicks in.
DirSync connects to the Active Directory using the information from the Directory Assistance document for domain AD. It then finds the configured baseDN and evaluates the LDAP filter expression.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::SyncSpan (NAMEldap_search_ext_s call) : (&(&(|(objectClass=Group)(objectClass=Person))(|(mail=@brightside.)(mail=@darkside.)(mail=@msdn.)))(uSNChanged>=234898)) took 1 msec
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Processing ldap entry (SyncSpan) #1 from page #1, total entries #1: 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
DirSync has identified “Darth Vader” as a valid candidate for sync, creates a new document in the target directory and copies the values from the object attributes in Active Directory to the matching Notes items in the document
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified LastName from '' to 'Vader'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified OfficeCity from '' to 'Tatooine'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified OfficeState from '' to 'Alpha Quadrant'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified o from '' to 'Dark Side Inc.'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified JobTitle from '' to 'Bad Guy'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified Comment from '' to 'description'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified OfficeNumber from '' to 'Deathstar'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified OfficePhoneNumber from '' to '+99(555)DEATHSTAR'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified FirstName from '' to 'Darth'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified memberOf from '' to 'CN=starwars,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified uSNChanged from '' to '234898'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified WebSite from '' to 'www.deathstar.info'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified objectGUID from '' to '8e7032bd93bded4782479eaf66208b25'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified InternetAddress from '' to 'd.vader@brightside.org'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified MailAddress from '' to 'd.vader@brightside.org'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified MailSystem from '' to '5'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync 'person' Document updated, Common Name = 'CN=Darth Vader'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify - Added New Note for 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
Finally, DirSync saves the document and prints the sync summary
Opening names.nsf in the Admin Client, you’ll find a new entry for “Darth Vader”. An icon indicates that this entry has been synced by DirSync.
Additional fields to sync
DirSync by default syncs standard attributes from an Active Directory object to Notes items in the target directory document.
The name in parentheses is not the name of of the target Notes item. It is just descriptive. The actual mapping of an attribute to a Notes item is done via the schema.nsf database on the server.
You can enhance this list and add additional attributes. (higlighted yellow).
In our sample, additional attribute “o” is mapped to the according Notes item “o”.
Currently there is an issue with multi value items. There is no such type in Active Directory. Multiple values are stored in attributes of the same name. DirSync only syncs the first attribute. This is a known limitation. The issue will be addressed in a future version.
Another known issue is with attributes of type “Image“. They are currently not synced to the person document. The issue is tracked under SPR MOBNBJGSL6 and targeted for V11.0.1.
Internal fields
DirSync adds a couple of internal items to the person document that are needed to identify an Active Directory object in the target directory.
These items should not be modified!
Modifications in Active Directory
During a scheduled sync, DirSync processes only objects that have been changed after the last sync. (uSNChanged)
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Processing ldap entry (SyncSpan) #1 from page #1, total entries #1: 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Entry with mail address 'd.vader@brightside.org' - NoteID 33050 was found in the target directory.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify(dn = 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box', newentry=0)
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified o from 'Dark Side Inc L' to 'Dark Side Inc.'[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified uSNChanged from '234927' to '234930'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync 'person' Document updated, UTF8 Name = 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify - Modified existing Note for 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync
[0290:0004-16DC] 21.01.2020 13:48:06 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.022 sec, Start=234930, Adds=0, Modifies=1, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234930)
Be careful, when you set an already synced attribute to an empty value; AD will remove such attributes from the object. As a result, the target document will not be modified.
I removed the value from the “o” attribute in the user object. The attribute was removed completely from the object. DirSync recognised the change and processed the object. But it could no longer find the “o” attribute and left the item in the person document unchanged.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Processing ldap entry (SyncSpan) #1 from page #1, total entries #1: 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Entry with mail address 'd.vader@brightside.org' - NoteID 33050 was found in the target directory.
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync
DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify(dn = 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box', newentry=0)
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync Modified uSNChanged from '234935' to '234936'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync 'person' Document updated, UTF8 Name = 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify - Modified existing Note for 'CN=Darth Vader,CN=Sync,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box'
[0290:0004-16DC] DirSync
[0290:0004-16DC] 21.01.2020 13:59:06 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.022 sec, Start=234936, Adds=0, Modifies=1, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234936)
Deleting objects
When users or groups are deleted in Active Directory, they are also deleted in the Domino® directory, with one exception: Active Directory users who are registered as Domino® users (have mail files, etc) are not deleted from Domino. The deletion is not performed during a scheduled sync. You have to initiale a resync to delete persons that do no longer are available in Active Directory.
SyncFromLDAPToNAB - Deleted existing Note for 'Darth Vader'. This is NOT a registered user and could be a deleted orphan
[0290:0005-16E0] DirSync resyncall - SyncFromLDAPToNAB completed in: 0.225 seconds
[0290:0005-16E0] DirSync Updating SyncAll Request's DirSyncRequestState to 2
[0290:0005-16E0] 21.01.2020 15:07:10 DIRSYNC Full Resync From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.225 sec, Start=0, Adds=0, Modifies=0, Deletes=1, Skips=2, Errors=0, End=234945)
To monitor DirSync output, you can use the server console or the server log.nsf. This in general lets you identify possible errors during DirSync processing.
If you need a more verbose output, or you want to dig deeper into DirSync functionallity, use the following notes.ini variable to create some kind of trace mode.
set con DIRSYNC_DEFAULT_ARGS=-v
You do not need to restart the DirSync task to switch verbose logging on / off.
Instead of just the summary line
[1730:0004-0BE0] 20.01.2020 12:13:56 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.003 sec, Start=234796, Adds=0, Modifies=0, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234795)
by setting the parameter, you will get a more verbose output.
In addition to the notes.ini parameter mentioned above, DirSync comes with a lot more notes.ini parameters. They are not documented and should only be used when support advices you to do so.
You can find a list of those parameters using the following command on the server console.
In this part of the tutorial about Domino V11 Directory Synchronization, we want to take a closer look at the actions that can be performed on DirSync configuration documents.
Enable Configuration
To enable a DirSync configuration, select it in the view and click the Enable button. You will be presented a dialog box where you can select from 2 options.
Select Run in test mode to simulate the actions that Directory Sync would take but without changing any Domino® data. Make any adjustments needed to the Directory Sync configuration. When you are ready to enable synchronization for real, select Synchronize data.
Next, click OK to close the Activate Directory Sync dialog
DirSync will recognise the new configuration on the next scheduled run.
Disable configuration
To disable a DirSync configuration, select the document in the view and click the Disable button.
Next, click OK to close the Deactivate Directory Sync dialog
A “Disable” request document will be created.
DirSync will disable the configuration on next scheduled run and also delete the request document.
You also have to disable a Directory Sync configuration before changing it. You will get a warning message if you try to edit an enabled Directory Sync configuration.
Resync
You can resync all of the Active Directory data.Resync if you make changes to the Directory Sync Configuration document that affects which data is synced. Resyncing occurs through a Dirsync thread that runs in the background, in parallel with the usual incremental sync.
Next, click OK to close the Resynchronize Selected Directories dialog
A “Resync” request document will be created.
On the server console you will see the following entries when the DirSync task processes the resync request.
[1BE0:0004-1D10] DirSync Updating SyncAll Request's DirSyncRequestState to 1
[1BE0:0004-1D10] 20.01.2020 06:56:19 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.001 sec, Start=234776, Adds=0, Modifies=0, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234775)
[1BE0:0005-0284] DirSync Sync all request calling SyncFromLDAPToNAB.
[1BE0:0005-0284] DirSync resyncall - SyncFromLDAPToNAB completed in: 0.363 seconds
[1BE0:0005-0284] DirSync Updating SyncAll Request's DirSyncRequestState to 2
[1BE0:0005-0284] 20.01.2020 06:56:26 DIRSYNC Full Resync From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.363 sec, Start=0, Adds=3, Modifies=0, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234775)
[1BE0:0004-1D10] DirSync Deleting SyncAll Request
[1BE0:0004-1D10] 20.01.2020 06:57:19 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.001 sec, Start=234776, Adds=0, Modifies=0, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234775)
Resync Issue
There is a small issue with resync when you accidently flag a disabled DirSync configuration for resync.
After you confirm to resynchronize selected Directories, the configuration will be flagged for resync by setting the item DirSyncReset=”1″.
When you now enable the configuration, you would expect a resync of the selected configuration, right? But that does not happen. The DirSync task starts as soon as it detects the new configuration, but it does neither perform the requested resync nor it resets the DirSyncReset item value. Even trying to reinitiate the resync fails. You need to remove the DirSyncReset item value by either using an agent or another tool of your choice.
I have created a case with HCL for this (Case# CS0081445)
Issue with Domino Directory file name
If you see the following error message on the server console
[1BE0:0004-1D10]CSyncFromAD::ProcessEntry could not open customer directory - reason File does not exist
check the Domino Directory file name item value in DirSync configuration. Most likely, the file name is misspelled or the file does not exist on the server. In the BETA version, this resulted in an enabled configuration to be prevented from being disabled. This has been tracked under SPR# MOBNBHUHGD and fixed in Domino V11 GA.
After you have created a Directory Assistance document in part 2 of this tutorial, that is enabled for Directory Sync, create a Directory Sync Configuration document in the Domino® directory. You use this document to select Directory Sync configuration options and then to enable Directory Sync.
Open your Domino Directory (names.nsf) and navigate to Configuration > Directory > Directory Sync .
Click “Add Directory Sync” to create a new document.
Select a Directory Assistance Domain from the list of configurations in da.nsf.
For an initial sync of all users and/or groups from the selected Active Directory set “Sync all Active Directory users” to Yes. Select No (default) to sync only Active Directory users who are registered in Domino. If previously set to Yes, any unregistered Active Directory users synced previously are removed from the Domino directory. For an Active Directory record to sync with Domino, the Active Directory mail field must match theInternet address field in the Domino directory Person document.
Type in the name of the application that is the target for synchronized users and/or groups into the “Domino Directory file name” field. Typically, this is your primary address book (names.nsf)
As you can see, the “Direction” field is not editable by now. At the moment, only a sync from Active Directory is possible.
One of DirSync’s abilities is to rename synced users in the target Domino directory when the when the users’ common name changes in Active Directory.
If the name of an Active Directory user who is not registered in Domino® changes, the name is automatically updated in the Domino® directory Person document during sync, regardless of this option. If the user is already registered, a standard administration process Rename Person request is initiated for each name processed.
The Sync frequency settings tells DirSync how frequently the Dirsync task checks for Active Directory changes to synchronize. Default is once a minute. Resync frequency tells DirSync how often to resync all data from Active Directory, in minutes. Default is 10,000 minutes or approximately once a week. If you don’t want to regularly resync all data, specify 0 ( not recommended).
If you want to synchronize groups, select the types of groups to synchronize. If you don’t want to synchronize groups, do not select either option on the “Synchronization” tab of the DirSync configuration document.
Keep in mind that the groups to be synced must be in the global group scope. If you try to sync local groups, you will receive an error on the Domino server console.
DirSync DirSync CSyncFromAD::DoModify - Skipping modification because entry = 'CN=Users,CN=Builtin,DC=ad,DC=fritz,DC=box' is not a valid candidate for a 'group' record.
If you only want to sync a subset of all objects under the configured BaseDN, use an LDAp filter.
After you finished your configuration, save and close the document.
Select the saved configuration in the view, click Enable and select Sychronize Data. Select Run in test mode to simulate the actions that Directory Sync would take but without changing any Domino® data.
If not already done, add the DirSync task to the server’s notes.ini
and issue the following command on the server console: load DirSync.
DirSync will be started automatically on next server restart.
The Dirsync task begins to run when it detects the configuration document and you should now see an entry similar to this on the server console.
[1BE0:0004-1D10] 19.01.2020 15:34:09 DIRSYNC From Active Directory (AD) - Summary (0.128 sec, Start=210711, Adds=0, Modifies=0, Deletes=0, Skips=0, Errors=0, End=234710)
Look at the Status tab of the Directory Sync Configuration document in the Domino® directory in addition to monitoring the output of Dirsync at the server console and in log.nsf.
Congratulation, you have successfully configured DirSync synchronization. In the next part we will dig deeper into DirSync features and abilities.
In part 1 we covered the basic concept of DirSync. In this part, I will explain, how to setup and configure directory assistance.
The first step to configure DirSync is creating a DirSync-enabled directory assistance document in the directory assistance database.
If not already done. To configure directory assistance, you create a directory assistance database from the template DA.NTF, and replicate it to the servers that will use it. A server must have a local replica of a directory assistance database to use directory assistance. Then you add the database file name to the directory assistance database name field in the Domino® Directory Server documents of these servers.
For details about how to setup directory assistance refer to “Directory Assistance” in the HCL Domino Administration Help database.
If you are using an existing directory assistance database, replace its design with the da.ntf template provided with Domino® V11 .
Check the application properties.
Look at the template name in the inherit design from master template section. Hmm, seems to be wrong, isn’t it.
I opened a case with HCL support and got the following reply
I would like to inform you that i have checked the DA.ntf template on Domino Version 9.0.1 & 10.0.1.
On both the version it is showing the same name. I also found an enhancement request to change the DA.ntf template name which has been documented in SPR# CTOE8JRPTC.
So the template name of the DA.nft is not wrong it is as per the design.
Click on “Add Directory Assistance” to create a new document in da.nsf
On the “Basics” tab set select “LDAP” as Domain type and set “Make this domain available to” to “Directory Sync“. Do not select Notes clients and Internet Authentication/Authorization or LDAP Clients unless you are also using the LDAP directory for these purposes.
On the LDAP tab enter the hostname of your Active Directory and provide (optional) credentials to connect to that instance.
Click Verify to verify that the user name and password you entered is valid on each host name and to asure that the search base is accessible on each host name using the configured credentials.
Use the Suggest button to look up the host names of LDAP servers listed in your DNS and to search each host name for likely search bases.
Each server process that provides directory services and detects a local directory assistance database configuration loads directory information configured in the directory assistance database into an internal memory table.
During server startup and thereafter at five-minute intervals each server process checks for changes to the directory assistance database configuration and if found, each process reloads its internal memory table to reflect the changes.e the document.
From the server console of the Domino® administration server, run the sh xdir command to confirm that the DirSync configuration in the Directory Assistance document is set up correctly.
You should get a console output similar to this:
You have now completed the first step in configurating DirSync. Part 3 of this tutorial will explain, how to create DirSync Configuration documents.
When the Domino® server is installed in a Microsoft Windows domain, as an administrator, you typically need to maintain two separate directories for the same set of people and groups. Maintaining user and group information involves adding entries to both directories, deleting entries, ensuring that passwords are the same when users use Notes® Single Logon, coordinating group membership in both directories, and ensuring that user or group settings, such as email addresses and telephone numbers, are identical.
Prior to HCL Domino® V11 you had to install Domino® Active Directory synchronization as an additional feature. This only worked in a Windows environment. Tools like TDI also work on Linux, but the installation and configuration is not easy and error-prone.
HCL Domino V11 introduces ( and replaces ) a new, integrated task to synchronize users and groups . The task is called Directory Sync or DirSync in short. DirSync replaces the older Active Directory Synchronization feature, which is now deprecated. The new DirSync feature is a simpler, more effective synchronization tool . In this blog series, I will describe the basic concept and explain, how to setup and configure DirSync.
As an HCL Master, I had the privilege to test DirSync already from the first closed V11 BETA on. The HCL team did a great job answering questions about the feature and also fixing issues as soon as they had been reported in the BETA forum.
A lot of fixes have been included in HCL Domino® V11 GA in 12/2019. There are still a few issues on the list that were not so easy to fix. They will be addressed in HCL Domino® V11.01 and later. If available, I will post case numbers and SPR#.
Also, there are some additional DirSync features in the backlog that will be added in future versions of HCL Domino®.
So, what is DirSync and what can you do with it ?
DirSync allows you to sync people and/or group data from an external LDAP directory into the Domino® directory.
Currently data from Active Directory can be synced
DirSync makes it easy for your HCL Domino® users to address mail to and see details about users in your organization who do not use Notes® such as Microsoft™ Outlook users registered in Active Directory.
With this feature, Active Directory users automatically have Person documents in the Domino® directory so that Notes® users can find their addresses and other information.
Without Dirsync, Notes® users must know the addresses of the Active Directory users before they can send mail to them, unless Person documents are added for them manually.
DirSync includes the following components:
LDAP directory assistance document created in a directory assistance database that is enabled for Directory Sync. A Domino® server uses this document to connect to the Active Directory server for syncing.
Directory Sync Configuration document created in the Directory Sync view of the Domino® directory. This document controls which Active Directory fields to sync to Domino® as well as other options.
Aserver task, Dirsync, that runs only on the Domino® administration server, that connects to the Active Directory server regularly to pull person and group changes into the Domino® directory.
What abilities does DirSync provide ?
The ability to register Active Directory users in Domino®.
The ability for administrators to rename registered Domino® users when their names change in Active Directory. When a user’s common name in Active Directory changes, an administration process request, Rename Common Name is created. Administrators approve the request to initiate a standard administration process rename request.
The ability to sync from multiple Active Directory instances into multiple applications that use pubnames.ntf as their template. By today, there are still a couple of issues with this configuration. Hopefully they will be fixed in HCL Domino® V11.0.1. I will come back to that later.
DirSync does not sync the password from an Active Directory into the person document in Domino® directory in HCL Domino® V11. This may or may not change in a future version.
Here is what a DirSync environment could look like
serv01 is the Administration server of the Domino® directory running the DirSync task. Directory Assistant database (da.nsf) contains configuration documents that describe the configuration for the 2 Active Directory instances to sync users and/or groups from. Domino® directory database (names.nsf) contains the DirSync configuration documents that are needed for synchronization from the Active Directory instances. (AD) syncbook.nsf is an additional addressbook. Depending on DirSync configuration in names.nsf, users and/or groups are either synced into the primary Domino® directory names.nsf or the secondary syncbook.nsf.
