I need to make some mass updates in the console but don't want it to kick off business rules and create log entries.

Question

We'll be updating over 14K accounts with data (adding data to a virtual attribute) using a scheduled task but I don't want the updates to trigger Business Rules and flood the Adaxes log with entries. Is there an easy way to prevent this?

Comments

Hello Sandra,

If the updates are performed by built-in actions (e. g. Update the user) in your scheduled task, there is no way to make the actions not trigger business rules. The only solution is to use a script that will perform the updates directly in AD without involving Adaxes pipeline. For us to help you with the script, please, post here or send us (support@adaxes.com) a screenshot of the scheduled task you have.

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I don't have a working screen shot yet but will post when it's completed. Will this work if I'm putting the data into an Adaxes custom (virtual) attribute? I didn't think those were available outside of the Adaxes environment.

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Hello Sandra,

You are right, Adaxes custom attributes are not available outside the software. However, they can also be updated avoiding Adaxes pipeline.

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I sent my script to support@adaxes.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Answer 1

Hello Sandra,

Thank you for the provided script. For it to perform the operations avoiding Adaxes pipeline, just remove the -AdaxeService localhost part from all the cmdlet (e.g. Get-AdmObject) calls.

Comments

When I run my script, I get the error message "The specified directory service attribute or value does not exist" for each user. I am attempting to add values to the attributes adm-CustomAttributeDate 3 and adm-CustomAttributeText 4.

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Hello Sandra,

As per our check, just removing that part from your script will not work. Here is the updated script that should do the trick:

Import-Module Adaxes

$csvFilePath = "\adaxes01\c$\HR-9\Test Files\ImportUniqueIdentifiers.csv"
$userIdColumn = "EMPLOYEE_ID"
$userIdProperty = "employeeId"
$accountPasswordColumn = "AccountPassword"
$customColumnNames = @{
    "LAST_FOUR" = "adm-CustomAttributeText20";
    "DOB" = "adm-CustomAttributeText21";
} # TODO: modify me
$aDObjectProperties = @("Manager", "Secretary") # TODO: modify me

# E-mail settings
$to = "recipient@domain.com"
$subject = "Import Unique Identifiers Report"
$reportHeader = "<h2>Import report</h2>"
$reportFooter = "<hr /><p><i>Please do not reply to this e-mail, it has been sent to you for notification purposes only.</i></p>" # TODO: modify me

$domainName = $Context.GetObjectDomain("%distinguishedName%")
$importedUsers  = Import-Csv -Path $csvFilePath

$moreThanOneUserFound = New-Object "System.Text.StringBuilder"
$userNotFound = New-Object "System.Text.StringBuilder"
foreach ($userFromCSV in $importedUsers)
{
    $userObject = @{}
    $accountPassword = $NULL
    $propertiesToClear = @()
    foreach ($property in $userFromCSV.PSObject.Properties)
    {
        $columnName = $property.Name
        $value = $property.Value

        if ($columnName -ieq $accountPasswordColumn -and !([System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($value)))
        {
            $accountPassword = $value
            continue
        }
        elseif ($columnName -ieq $accountPasswordColumn -and [System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($value))
        {
            continue
        }

        if ($customColumnNames.ContainsKey($columnName))
        {
            $propertyName = $customColumnNames[$columnName]
        }
        else
        {
            $propertyName = $columnName
        }

        if ([System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($value))
        {
            $propertiesToClear += $propertyName
            continue
        }

        # Parse special columns
        if ($columnName -ieq $userIdColumn)
        {
            $propertyName = $userIdProperty
        }
        elseif ($aDObjectProperties -icontains $columnName)
        {
            $aDObject = Get-AdmObject -Filter {(Name -eq $value) -or (DisplayName -eq $value) -or (distinguishedName -eq $value)} `
                -AdaxesService localhost -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Server $domainName

            if ($aDObject -is [System.Array])
            {
                $Context.LogMessage("Found more than one object with identity '$value'.", "Warning")
                continue
            }

            if ($aDObject -eq $NULL)
            {
                $Context.LogMessage("Could not locate object with identity '$value'.", "Warning")
                continue
            }

            $value = $aDObject.DistinguishedName
        }

        if ($value -ieq "True" -or $value -ieq "False")
        {
            $value = [System.Boolean]::Parse($value)
        }

        $userObject.Add($propertyName, $value)
    }

    # Check whether the user exists
    $valueForSearch = $userObject.$userIdProperty
    $userExists = Get-AdmUser -LdapFilter "($userIdProperty=$valueForSearch)" `
        -AdaxesService localhost -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Server $domainName

    if ($NULL -eq $userExists)
    {
        $userNotFound.Append("<li>$valueForSearch</li>")
        continue
    }

    if ($userExists -is [System.Array])
    {
        $moreThanOneUserFound.Append("<li>$valueForSearch</li>")
        continue
    }

    # If user exists, update account
    $displayName = $userExists.Name
    $user = $Context.BindToObjectByDN($userExists.DistinguishedName)

    foreach ($property in $userObject.Keys)
    {
        $user.Put($property, $userObject[$property])
    }

    try
    {
        $user.SetInfoEx(@($userObject.Keys))
    }
    catch
    {
        $Context.LogMessage("An error occurred when updating user '$displayName'. Error: " + $_.Exception.Message, "Warning")
    }

    if ($propertiesToClear.Length -ne 0)
    {
        foreach ($property in $propertiesToClear)
        {
            $user.Put($property, $NULL)
        }

        try
        {
            $user.SetInfo(@($userObject.Keys))
        }
        catch
        {
            $Context.LogMessage("An error occurred when updating user '$displayName'. Error: " + $_.Exception.Message, "Warning")
        }
    }

    if ([System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($accountPassword))
    {
        continue
    }

    try
    {
        $user.SetPassword($accountPassword)
    }
    catch
    {
        $Context.LogMessage("An error occurred when updating the password for user '$displayName'. Error: " + $_.Exception.Message, "Warning")
    }
}

if ($moreThanOneUserFound.Length -eq 0 -and $userNotFound.Length -eq 0)
{
    return
}

# Build report
$html = New-Object "System.Text.StringBuilder"
$html.Append($reportHeader)
if ($userNotFound.Length -ne 0)
{
    $html.Append("<b>The following users were not found in Active Directory:</b>")
    $html.Append("<ol>")
    $html.Append($userNotFound.ToString())
    $html.Append("</ol>")
}

if ($moreThanOneUserFound.Length -ne 0)
{
    $html.Append("<b>Found more than one user with the following value of the $userIdProperty property:</b>")
    $html.Append("<ol>")
    $html.Append($moreThanOneUserFound.ToString())
    $html.Append("</ol>")
}

# Send report
$Context.SendMail($to, $subject, $NULL, $html.ToString())