General tab
The General tab displays the Group Family name, and allows you to edit the description. This tab cannot be used to modify the Group Family name. You can change the name by using the Rename command on the Group Family configuration storage group.
By clicking Storage Group Scope and Type (Advanced), you can view or modify the group scope and group type of the configuration storage group. Changes to these settings do not affect the Group Family. The group type and group scope are set to Security and Global by default, and normally need not be modified.
Controlled groups tab
The Controlled Groups tab lists the groups that are controlled by this Group Family. The tab includes the following items:
Table 52: Controlled groups tab items
Controlled groups |
This is a list of all groups that are under the control of this Group Family. For each group, the list displays the name of the group along with the path and name of the container that holds the group. |
Capture Groups |
Click this button to examine the list of controlled groups in detail. For each of the controlled groups, you can identify the grouping assigned to that group. |
Manage Rules |
Click this button to view or change the Group Family settings that determine properties of the controlled groups such as the naming properties, the group type and scope, the container that holds the groups, and Exchange-related properties. |
Each of the groups listed on this tab is either created or captured by the Group Family, and linked to a certain grouping. You can view or modify those links by clicking Capture Groups.
NOTE: For a newly created Group Family configuration, the list on this tab only includes the groups specified in the Capture Existing Groups Manually step of the New Group Family wizard. If that step was skipped, the list is empty until the Group Family has been run.
Clicking Capture Groups displays a window where you can view the list of controlled groups in more detail. The Capture Groups window allows you to add, modify, or remove entries from that list.
The Capture Groups window lists all the controlled groups. For each group, you can see which grouping is linked to that group. As usual, groupings are identified by combinations of values of the group-by properties. Thus, each entry in the list includes the following information:
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Combination of values of the group-by properties: The combination of property values that identifies a grouping.
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Group Name: Identifies the group linked to the grouping.
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In Folder: The canonical name of the container holding the group.
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Last Update: The date and time the group was last updated by the Group Family. The update occurs during a Group Family run, when any changes to the grouping are detected and the membership list of the group is modified so as to reflect those changes.
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Members: The number of members that the group holds after the last update. Equals to the number of objects the Group Family found in the grouping as of the time of the last update.
The Capture Groups window provides these buttons for managing the list:
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Add: Opens a window where you can select a group and specify a grouping to which you want to link (assign) an existing group. To specify a grouping, you need to enter a certain value of each of the group-by properties. The result is that the group you select is linked to the grouping identified by the combination of values you have entered.
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Edit: Allows you to modify an entry you select from the list. Opens a window where you can select a different group, or specify a different grouping by making changes to the combination of values of the group-by properties.
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Remove: Deletes the entries you select from the list. The result is that the Group Family will create new groups for the groupings you remove from the list.
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Scan: Detects new combinations of values of group-by properties, and displays them in the list so that you can link existing groups to new combination manually if you do not want the Group Family to create new groups for those combinations.
When managing the list of groups in the Capture Groups window, consider the following:
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You can assign an existing group to a grouping regardless of whether the grouping actually exists in the directory. For example, you can assign a group to a grouping with a Department property value that is not encountered in the directory. Once the Department property for some users is set to that value, the Group Family will add those users to the specified group instead of creating a new group for the new Department.
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Only one group can be assigned to a grouping. If the list already includes a given grouping, you will not be allowed to add a new entry referring to that same grouping. In this case, you have the option to use Edit, to link a different group to the grouping.
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When you edit a list entry to link a different group to a grouping, the group that was earlier linked to the grouping remains intact. It neither is deleted nor has the membership list updated. In other words, the members of the grouping still belong to the group even though you have removed that group from the list, and thus from under the control of the Group Family.
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When you remove an entry from the list, the group that the entry refers to is not deleted. During a subsequent run, the Group Family will detect a grouping that has no group assigned and try to create a group for that grouping. This operation may fail due to a name conflict so long as there is an existing group with the same name—the group that was earlier linked to the grouping. To avoid name conflicts, rename or delete the groups you remove from under the control of the Group Family.
Group creation-related rules
When a Group Family discovers a grouping that is not linked to any group, it creates a new group, links the new group to the grouping, and adds the members of the grouping to that group. The Group Family configuration specifies a number of rules on how to set up certain properties for new groups.
The rules that control the group creation process are defined when the Group Family configuration is created. You can examine or modify those rules by using Manage Rules on the Controlled Groups tab, in the Properties dialog of the Group Family configuration storage group.
You can navigate through these pages by using the Back and Next buttons. The Finish button on the last page commits the changes, if any, from all pages to the Properties dialog, and completes the task of managing the group creation rules. The changes are applied when you click OK or Apply in the Properties dialog, and can be discarded by clicking Cancel.
Groupings tab
From the Groupings tab, you can view or change the Group Family settings that control the Group Family calculation processes.
During each run, the Group Family re-calculates groupings by breaking up the set of managed objects (scope) into sub-sets, with each sub-set consisting of the objects that have a particular combination of values assigned to the group-by properties.
The scope and the group-by properties are specified when the Group Family configuration is created, and can be changed on the pages that appear when you click Configure on the Groupings tab. By clicking Configure, you can view or change the following settings:
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Location of Managed Objects: The containers that hold the objects to be managed by this Group Family. For more information, see Location of managed objects.
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Selection of Managed Objects: The rules that determine what objects are to be managed by this Group Family. For more information, see Selection of managed objects.
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Group-by Properties: The list of properties based on which the Group Family calculates groupings. For more information, see Group-by properties.
If you add or remove a group-by property, the naming rules that currently exist are replaced with the default naming rule and the list of groups to capture is erased.