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How to create new custom AD attributes for use with Exclaimer Cloud signature templates

Payal Arya
  • Updated

Scenario

You would like to have custom information displayed within a signature without having to set up multiple signature templates and policies for individual users.

Resolution

It is possible to create custom Active Directory attributes that can be used within your signature template.

This article describes how you can create custom Active Directory attributes and add them to your template:

NOTE: By default, you can configure 15 Extension Attributes to hold information per Active Directory user account. If you have not used all of these Extension Attributes, then it is recommended to use these first before creating new attributes.
Pre-requisites
WARNING! This is an advanced change to the Active Directory Domain environment - the change needs to be made to the Active Directory Schema.
By default, the Active Directory schema snap-in is not enabled on Domain Controllers or Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed machines.
Enabling Active Directory schema for the first time
  1. Open an Elevated Command Prompt.

  2. Run the following command:
    regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

    A confirmation message is displayed:
    Example:
Creating a new Attribute
  1. Once you've received the confirmation message, enter the command 'mmc' into the command prompt window to open up a new Microsoft Management Console window.

  2. Choose File > Add or Remove Snap-ins, then select the Active Directory Schema option. Double-click or click Add, then click OK to load the Snap-in.
    Example:


  3. Once the Snap-in has been loaded, expand this out, right-click on the Attributes entry then select Create Attribute... to continue.
    NOTE: If the Create Attribute option is greyed out, please ensure you are a member of the Schema Admins group.
    A warning is displayed at this point because these types of changes will become permanent within your Active Directory.

  4. Please ensure you read and fully understand the warning, as you will not be able to delete these updates.
    Example:


  5. If you click Continue, you are prompted to provide the following information:
    Example:

The following table provides full details for each of these values and how they function:

Field Purpose Required? Notes
Common Name Name of the Attribute being created.
This cannot be changed. 		 ✔  
LDAP Display Name Used for checking the Attribute in LDAP lookups. ✔ Autofilled by Common Name.
Unique X500 Object ID Must begin with either 0., 1. or 2. ✔

This script can be used to generate an. appropriate Object ID
Description Description of the Attribute. ×  
Syntax Format of the Attribute.  ✔ Unicode String is recommended as the default option.
Minimum A minimum number of entries is required to apply the attribute to an account. × Recommended using a binary value (64,128 or 256).
Maximum A maximum number of entries that can be stored. × Recommended using a Binary value (64,128 or 256).
Multi-Valued Changes the Attribute to allow it to accept Multiple Values. × Not recommended for use with Exclaimer Products.
Enabling Global Catalogue Replication and adding a new Attribute to the User Class
  1. Right-click the newly created attribute, then select Properties. The Properties window is displayed.

  2. Select Replicate this attribute to the Global Catalogue option to enable replication to the Global Catalogue.

  3. Click OK to continue.
    Example:


    You will then need to assign the attribute to the user class so that it becomes available within the Attribute Editor.

  4. From the left-hand pane in the console, expand the Classes folder, locate the user class, then right-click and select Properties. The user Properties window is displayed.

  5. Open the Attributes tab, then click Add...
    Example:


  6. Search for the name of your new attribute, highlight this and click OK twice to save the change.
    Example:


    WARNING! These changes can take a few minutes to come into effect within your Active Directory.

    Please allow 15 minutes to ensure that these fields become available, after which you will be able to update the data for this new field within the Attribute Editor tab of a user's Active Directory entry.

    Example:


Updating the Azure AD Connect configuration
  1. Open Microsoft Azure Active Directory Connect, and click Tasks to display a list of all the available tasks.

  2. From the Additional tasks list, select Refresh Directory Schema.
    Example:


  3. Click Next until the schema is refreshed.
    NOTE: To add the new extension to the Azure AD Connect configuration, please see Enable and configure Directory Extensions in Azure Active Directory Connect.