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Bulk Modify (Active Directory) Beta Testing (Release Version now available!)

Wiseman82

By Wiseman82
in Wireless Networks

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Wiseman82

Wiseman82

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Posted (edited)

http://www.wisesoft.co.uk/Products/PasswordControl/Images/BulkModify_General.PNG

 

Overview

Password Control is a simple app designed mostly for helpdesk staff to reset passwords and to enable/disable accounts. I added Bulk Password Control to make it easier to reset passwords for large numbers of user accounts.

Bulk Modify is a new addition to this application that allows users to modify AD attributes of many user accounts (designed for system admins rather than helpdesk staff).

* This is a very brief overview - more information is available at WiseSoft - Password Control. Active Directory Password Reset Tool..

Or here if you just want information about Bulk Modify:

http://www.wisesoft.co.uk/Products/P...y/Default.aspx

 

Feedback

Any feedback on the beta (or live) version of this application is appreciated. Bug reports, comments and suggestions are all welcome.

If you find a bug, please provide as much information as possible to allow me to reproduce the problem.

 

Download

To download the beta version, please goto the following URL:

WiseSoft - Password Control. Active Directory Password Reset Tool.

 

Click the "Download BETA" link on the right hand side.

 

Many thanks in advance for your time spent testing this beta application. I look forward to your feedback.

 

It would be inadvisable to use this application on your live AD network.

 

Thanks,

 

David

 

PS. I'm only an occasional user of these forums. Feel free to move if you think this post is better suited elsewhere.

I used to be a computer tech for a college. I'm now working as a DBA outside the education sector.

Edited by Wiseman82
Release version of application is now available
MkII

MkII

Posted
Posted
David is a long time member Dos Box. Password Control and bulk user import are such useful free tools - a valued member I think, along with others :D
Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What does it offer that you can't do with bog standard ADUC?

There was a deliberate design choice to make the application look like the user dialog in ADU&C – this is to make it easier to identify the attributes that you want to modify. ADU&C is mostly designed to edit attributes a single account at a time. Support is there to do bulk updates, but it’s pretty limited.

Bulk Modify is designed to allow easy updating of many AD attributes.

 

What does this app offer that I can't do with admodify?

Bulk Modify is very similar to ADModify. After developing the bulk password control tool I wanted a way to allow users to modify other account control attributes. The scope got increased to include other attributes and the application now offers similar features to ADModify. There are a number of differences between the two applications and there are pros and cons to each.

 

Bulk Modify Pros

  • Better searching facilities. You can select users from an OU, Group or from a custom list. You can also use a custom or a pre-defined query. ADModify does support using a custom LDAP filter but not everyone is comfortable with the syntax.
  • You can move users to a different OU and reset passwords with Bulk Modify/Bulk Password Control.
  • Bulk Modify supports conflict resolution on common-name, username and UPN attributes. It supports some attributes not found in ADModify – Logon Hours, username (sAMAccountName), logon workstations etc. Bulk Modify has better support for multi-valued attributes (inc Member Of). The “Other” tab provides support for most AD attributes. You can even use the “Other” tab to bulk load user photos into Active Directory.
  • ADModify is made more flexible by the use of “variables”. Bulk Modify uses more powerful XML Placeholders. Both allow you to do things like set the display name to “LastName, FirstName”. XML Placeholders also allow case transformation (UPPER/LOWER/PROPER case), left, right and substring and null value replacement.
  • For the manager attribute (and other DN attributes), you can search for the distinguished name (type the account name for example). ADModify only allows you to verify that the DN entered is correct.
  • Both ADModify and BulkModify have a rollback facility by using an XML log file. I’ve included a results dialog box with Bulk Modify though so you don’t need to inspect the XML file manually. You can use the rollback facility directly from the results dialog.

Bulk Modify Cons

  • A lot of work has gone into ADModify to support the various exchange attributes. I have not included any support for exchange attributes in Bulk Modify.
  • ADModify provides a command line tool called ADModcmd.exe. Bulk Modify does not include a command line utility.

Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hmm. I was going to classify this as an illegal advert (well, some of it IS!), but it's not exactly advertising if it is a freebie.

 

PM Sent.

 

You can be forgiven for thinking that this post was spam from a company advertising on your forums - you probably get sick of people spamming your forums.

 

My website is a free resource - with tools and scripts to help system admins. It's my own personal website - only me working on it and developing the apps. I've just added an option for people to add their own scripts - hopefully this will help improve my site as a resource for system admins. :)

 

Sometimes people are put off by the registration - this simply allows me to keep track of how many people are using my apps etc. It also provides a method for people to communicate with me and for me to send an email occasionally to inform people of updates. If you check the homepage you can see the last newsletter I sent - October 2007. I'll probably be sending another email out shortly to inform people about "Bulk Modify".

 

The main reason I'm posting on these forums is because I used to be an IT technician for a college about 4 1/2 years ago (I now work as a DBA for a private company). Most of the apps were developed when I was working at the college (with only me developing them some haven't changed much since then)

Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The current version of Password Control was recently reviewed on www.schooltechnician.co.uk

 

The review also gives a nice overview of how to use the app. Just thought I'd mention this as the site might be of interest to people on these forums. My thanks to Terry Watts for writing this very favourable review. :)

FN-GM

FN-GM

Posted
Posted (edited)
Looks a good app, when i took a look on the website i got some errors. Edited by FN-Greatermanchester
Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Looks a good app, when i took a look on the website i got some errors.

 

I've had a couple of problems with my hosting provider recently. I've been migrated to a new server so hopefully this will improve the situation. Please try again.

 

Cheers.

Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hi

 

Can this tool edit the location information on computer accounts please?

 

Thanks

 

This tool is only designed for user accounts. I might add support for other AD object types in future versions.

  • 2 months later...
spc-rocket

spc-rocket

Posted
Posted

Hi there,

 

Does this tool allow existing user accounts' display name to be modified i.e. say that we have Joe Bloggs where Joe is the first name and Bloggs is the lastname (in a first name lastname style), it is now possible to modify so it add or appends the word (student) after the name so it looks like Joe Bloggs (student) including the brackets?

 

I'm not sure if this can be done with admodify but this would ideal for us.

 

TIA,

 

Ash.

Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hi there,

 

Does this tool allow existing user accounts' display name to be modified i.e. say that we have Joe Bloggs where Joe is the first name and Bloggs is the lastname (in a first name lastname style), it is now possible to modify so it add or appends the word (student) after the name so it looks like Joe Bloggs (student) including the brackets?

 

I'm not sure if this can be done with admodify but this would ideal for us.

 

TIA,

 

Ash.

 

Yes. :)

 

You might want to have a look at the XML Placeholders section:

 

Bulk Modify for Active Directory - XML PlaceHolders

 

This should work:

 

givenName sn (student)

 

or this

 

displayName (student)

  • Thanks 3
spc-rocket

spc-rocket

Posted
Posted

Hi There,

 

When i use the bulk modify to change the display name for the users the following error keeps cropping up.

 

See the end of this message for details on invoking

just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

 

************** Exception Text **************

System.ArgumentException: An XML comment cannot contain '--', and '-' cannot be the last character.

at System.Xml.XmlTextWriter.WriteComment(String text)

at PasswordControl.frmBulkPasswordControl.applyBulkModifications(List`1& bulkModifyTemplates, Boolean displayResults)

at PasswordControl.frmBulkPasswordControl.bttnBulkModify_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)

 

Any ideas?

 

Ash.

Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hi There,

 

When i use the bulk modify to change the display name for the users the following error keeps cropping up.

 

See the end of this message for details on invoking

just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

 

************** Exception Text **************

System.ArgumentException: An XML comment cannot contain '--', and '-' cannot be the last character.

at System.Xml.XmlTextWriter.WriteComment(String text)

at PasswordControl.frmBulkPasswordControl.applyBulkModifications(List`1& bulkModifyTemplates, Boolean displayResults)

at PasswordControl.frmBulkPasswordControl.bttnBulkModify_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)

at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)

 

Any ideas?

 

Ash.

 

Hi,

 

I think it might be because you have a user with a - at the end of their username. I wasn't aware of this XML specification requirement. I'll investigate further and include the fix in the next version of Password Control.

 

As for the next version of Password Control, I've created a 2 minute video showcasing some new features:

 

Password Control - New Features Preview

 

* CSV Update

* Editable GridView

* Edit GridView in Excel

 

Let me know what you think. :)

  • 2 weeks later...
Wiseman82

Wiseman82

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I was hoping to get the new version of Password Control released over the weekend, but there are still a few updates I need to make to my website.

 

Hopefully this is the next best thing. :)

 

 

Let me know if you like the video.

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