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How can I sync Groups as Groups (List Processing)?

Category:Group as Group Sync

Last Updated:2011-08-18

 

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UnitySync will sync the email address of a source group or to sync ’groups as groups’.

Syncing Groups as Email Addresses (Default)

The default option for syncing your source Groups/Lists is ’sync as email address’. This means that only the email address of the list is synced, not group membership information.  Syncing Groups as Email Addresses is the most common way of handling Group sync, and all that is needed a majority of the time.

Syncing Groups as Groups (List Processing)

Depending on your destination directory type, you may also have the option of ’syncing Groups as Groups’. Meaning a Group object will be created on the destination and membership information will be synced. This is referred to as List Processing.

To configure your List Processing option, go to the Destination tab of your connection. The List Processing menu box allows you to select from available options for your destination directory type.

Further, depending on the destination directory type, different types of groups may be created.

For Example:
When syncing to an Exchange 5.5 destination, you may sync to create Exchange Distribution Lists.

When syncing to an Exchange AD/2000 destination, you may sync to create any one of the following typs of AD Groups:
Global Distribution Group
Global Security Group
Global Distribution Group (Mail Enabled)*
Global Security Group (Mail Enabled)*

* Mail Enabled Groups are only valid if your destination Active Directory has the Exchang 2000/2003 schema loaded.


** Important Notes regarding syncing Groups as Groups **

  1. Generally, the default Syncing ’Groups as Email Addresses’ meets the needs of most Group sync requirements.  Before implementing Group as Group sync, please evaluate if it is really needed.
     
  2. By default a connection that syncs Groups as Groups will only maintain members whose User/Contact record is also synced by that same connection. If a Group member is not synced, that member will be left out of the synced Group.   This is because each connection can only resolve Membership DNs of the objects it syncs. This may leave your Membership list a little short if some of the member contacts were synced in via UnitySync and then added to Groups on the destination server.  If those Groups are synced back to the originating server, they will be missing those members because the contacts are excluded from the reverse sync. 
     
  3. There is an alternate connection configuration, utilizing multiple connections including a DNHASHGEN connection, that may be used to allow Memberships to be maintained in cases where source members (users/contacts) are not actually synced in the same connection that the Groups are synced.  At left, click 'Group as Groups' to see related articles, which include the DNHashGen configuration options.
     
  4. Manually created Source User/Contacts (aka not created by any UnitySync connection) that reside in containers that are EXCLUDED from the sync will always be dropped when syncing Groups as Groups.  This is because SimpleSync has no way of knowing if there is a valid contact for that member on the destination or what it’s DN might be.
     
  5. When a Group is initially synced, the member list may be incomplete. A subsequent sync will get the new Group object’s membership list up-to-date.This occurs because the Groups member list can only contain objects that are included in this connection’s sync. Sometimes, during the sync process, the Group object will sync over before it’s member objects. When this happens, those members who have not yet synced will not be included in the Group. The next sync will bring the membership up-to-date.
     
  6. The display name of Groups are syned over exactly as they appear on the source. (Reformat Display Name option on the Display Name tab does not apply to Groups. You have the option of specifying a label to be appended to the Display Name of your Group object. This label may be specified in the Display Name tab, in the Display Name Label section’s Group parameter.
     
  7. If upgrading from a previous version of UnitySync, v4.0.3 and greater will delete the previously synced contact and replace it with a Group object.  To do this, follow the upgrade procedures including the initial post upgrade syncs before changing to sync Groups as Groups in a subsequent sync.