Microsoft Solutions

Today I will show you how to add custom attributes to you Active Directory Users and Computers(ADUC).

I thought about using the Employee number for today as this is the most common attribute that users wants added to AD.

In order to add any "Attribute" you will use the following format:

<ldapdisplayname>,<column header>,<default visibility>,<width>,<unused>

OK lets begin.

ADDING EMPLOYEE NUMBER TO ADUC
1. Open ADSI Edit on your Active Directory Server - on server 2008 it would be start > Administrative Tools > ADSI Edit
2. Now ADSI Edit will prompt you with connection settings, ensure that "Select a well known Naming Context:" is set to "Configuration"
3. Now click OK
4. Expand the "Configuration [ServerName.yourdomain.com]" Tree
5. Expand "CN=Configuration,DC=yourdomain.com"
6. Expand "CN=DisplaySpecifiers"
7. Now Expand "CN=409" (This is just the language code for English)
8. Locate "CN=default-Display" in the right pane
9. Right click "CN=default-Display" and select "Properties"
10. Select the "extraColumns" Attribute in the list and you will notice that your "Edit" button becomes active
11. Now click the edit button
12. In the "Value to add:" field type the following: employeeNumber,Employee Number,0,100,0
13. Now click "Add:"
14. Click "OK"
15. Click "OK" again

Now your Employee Number has been added as a Custom Attribute. To verify this, please do the following.

VIEW EMPLOYEE NUMBER IN ADUC
1. Open ADUC
2. Expand "Saved Queries"
3. Right Click "Saved Queries" select "New > Query"
4. In the "Name:" field type "All Users" and select "Define Query..."
5. On the "Users" tab next to the "Name:" field click on the drop down and select "Has a value"
6. Now Click "OK" and "OK" again
7. Expand "Saved Queries" and select "All Users"
8. Now you will have a list of all your users in the right pane.
9. With the query selected click "View > Add/Remove Columns..." at the top of ADUC
10. Now on the left selection box, locate "Employee Number" and click "Add" to add it to the "Displayed Columns"
11. Click "OK"

Now you will see that the "Employee Number" Column has been added to the query results.

EDIT EMPLOYEE NUMBER IN ADUC
1. In ADUC click "View > Advanced Features"
2. Now right click on your "All Users" saved query and select "Refresh"
3. Next, right click any user in the right pane and click "Employee Number"
4. Now right click the user again and click "Properties"
5. Locate the tab called "Attribute Editor"
6. Press the letter "E" twice on your keyboard, which should take you straight to "employeeNumber"
7. To edit it, simply double click "employeeNumber" or click on the "Edit" button while "employeeNumber" is highlighted

And that is as easy as it gets.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Regards,
Hendrik Wiese