You can configure a Search activity to:
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Search in the Organizational Unit or container: Search a certain OU or container for objects that match your search criteria.
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Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group: Search for the managed objects of a particular user or group that match your search criteria. Managed objects of a user or group are those for which the user or group is the primary owner (manager) or a secondary owner.
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Search the group for its members: Search for the members of a certain group that match your search criteria.
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Search for direct reports of the user: Search for the direct reports of a particular user that match your search criteria. Direct reports of a given user are the users for which that user is the manager.
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Search within the attribute of the object (ASQ search): Search for the objects listed in a certain attribute of a particular object that match your search criteria.
You can specify the type of the objects you want the activity to search for. The list from which you can select the object type varies depending on the search scenario you have selected.
Table 13: Search activity: Object type
Search in the Organizational Unit or container. |
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Users
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Contacts
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Groups
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Computers
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Printers
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Organizational Units
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Shared Folders
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Exchange Recipients
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Inactive Accounts
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All Objects |
Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group.
- OR -
Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search). |
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Users
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Contacts
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Groups
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Computers
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Printers
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Organizational Units
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Shared Folders
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Exchange Recipients
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All Objects |
Search the group for its members. |
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Users
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Contacts
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Groups
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Computers
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Exchange Recipients
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All Objects |
Search for direct reports of the user. |
|
The search scope determines where to search for the objects of the specified type. The search scope settings depend upon the search scenario, and are as follows.
Table 14: Search activity: Search scope
Search in the Organizational Unit (OU) or container |
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Fixed container in directory: Search in the given OU or container. You can select the desired OU or container in Active Directory when you configure a Search activity.
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Parent OU of workflow target object: Search in the OU that holds the target object of the request that started the workflow.
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Object identified by workflow parameter: Search in the OU or container specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
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Object from workflow data context: Search in the OU or container that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which OU or container you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
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Object identified by DN-value rule expression: Search in the OU or container whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity. |
Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group |
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Workflow target object: Search for resources managed or owned by the target object of the request that started the workflow.
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Object identified by workflow parameter: Search for resources managed or owned by the object specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
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Object from workflow data context: Search for resources managed or owned by the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
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Object identified by DN-value rule expression: Search for resources managed or owned by the object whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression, you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity. |
Search the group for its members |
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Workflow target object: Search for members of the group that is the target object of the request that started the workflow.
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Object identified by workflow parameter: Search the group specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
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Object from workflow data context: Search for members of the group object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which group object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
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Object identified by DN-value rule expression: Search the group whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression, you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity. |
Search for direct reports of the user |
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Workflow target object: Search for direct reports of the target object of the request that started the workflow.
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Object identified by workflow parameter: Search for direct reports of the object specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
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Object from workflow data context: Search for direct reports of the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
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Object identified by DN-value rule expression: Search for direct reports of the object whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression, you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity. |
Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search) |
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Fixed object in directory: Search in a certain attribute of the given object. You can select the desired object in Active Directory when you configure a Search activity.
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Workflow target object: Search in a certain attribute of the target object of the request that started the workflow.
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Object from workflow data context: Search in a certain attribute of the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time. |
The activity provides various options allowing you to refine your search. Which options are available depends upon the search scenario and the object type to search for, as shown in the tables that follow.
The following table summarizes the search scenario-specific search options.
Table 15: Search activity: Search options
Search in the Organizational Unit (OU) or container |
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Retrieve only immediate child objects of the Organizational Unit or container: Use this option to restrict the search to objects for which the given OU or container is the immediate parent in Active Directory.
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Retrieve any objects held in the Organizational Unit or container: Use this option to search in the entire directory tree rooted in the given OU or container. |
Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group |
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Retrieve objects managed by the user or group (primary owner): Use this option to search for objects that have the given user or group specified in the Managed By property.
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Retrieve objects for which the user or group is a secondary owner: Use this option to search for objects that have the given user or group specified in the Secondary Owners property.
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Retrieve objects managed or owned due to membership in groups (indirect ownership): Use this option to search for objects for which the given user or group is a direct or indirect member of the group specified in the Managed By or Secondary Owners property. |
Search the group for its members |
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Also retrieve indirect members: Use this option for your search results to include indirect members of the given group. With this option, the activity searches not only for objects that are directly added to the group (direct members) but also for indirect members-objects that belong to the group because of their membership in other groups which are direct or indirect members of the given group.
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Also retrieve pending members: Use this option for your search results to include objects that are scheduled to be added to the group by using the Temporal Group Memberships capability of Active Roles. |
Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search) |
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Search within this attribute: Specifies the attribute for the ASQ search. This must be an attribute that stores Distinguished Names, such as the Member Of or Managed By attribute. The search is performed against the objects that are identified by the Distinguished Names found in that attribute. For example, a search within the Member Of attribute of a user account looks for groups in which the user is a member. |
The following table lists the search options that are specific to the object type. The search results contain only the objects that match the options you selected.
Table 16: Search activity: Object type
Users |
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Users with Exchange mailbox: Search for Microsoft Exchange mailbox-enabled users.
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Users with external e-mail addresses: Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled users.
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Inactive user accounts: Search for user accounts that have not been used to log on for more than a certain number of days, have old passwords, or are expired.
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Expiring user accounts: Search for user accounts that will expire within a certain number of days. |
Contacts |
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Groups |
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Mail-enabled groups .ge Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled groups (distribution lists).
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Security: Search for security groups.
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Distribution: Search for distribution groups.
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Domain local: Search for domain local groups.
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Global: Search for global groups.
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Universal: Search for universal groups.
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Dynamic Group: Search for groups that are configured as Dynamic Groups in Active Roles.
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Group Family: Search for groups that store Group Family configurations for Active Roles (Group Family configuration storage groups).
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Controlled by Group Family: Search for groups controlled by Group Family rules in Active Roles.
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Empty: Search for groups that have no members.
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Deprovisioned: Search for groups that are deprovisioned by using Active Roles. |
Computers |
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Computer role: Search for computers in a certain role. You can restrict the search to workstations and servers or to domain controllers.
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Inactive computer accounts: Search for computer accounts that haven’t been used to log on for more than a certain number of days, have the password age of more that a certain number of days, or are expired for more than a certain number of days. |
Printers |
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Printer features: Search for printers with particular features, such as the printer model, paper size, print resolution, print speed, and other capabilities, for example printing double-sided or colored documents, or stapling pages. |
Exchange Recipients |
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Users with Exchange mailbox: Search for Microsoft Exchange mailbox-enabled users.
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Users with external e-mail addresses: Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled users.
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Mail-enabled groups : Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled groups (distribution lists).
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Contacts with external e-mail addresses: Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled contacts.
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Mail-enabled Public Folders: Search for Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled public folders.
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Query-based Distribution Groups: Search for Microsoft Exchange query-based distribution groups.
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Room mailboxes: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange room mailboxes.
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Equipment mailboxes: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange equipment mailboxes.
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Linked mailboxes: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange linked mailboxes.
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Shared mailboxes: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange shared mailboxes.
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Mailboxes on this server: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange mailboxes hosted on a certain Mailbox server. You can select the desired Mailbox server.
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Mailboxes in this mailbox store or database: Search for user accounts representing Microsoft Exchange mailboxes held in a certain mailbox store or database. You can select the desired mailbox store or database. |
Inactive Accounts |
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Account type: Search for user accounts only, computer accounts only, or both user and computer accounts.
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Criteria of inactivity: Search for accounts that have not logged on in the past number of days, accounts whose password has not changed in the past number of days, or accounts that expired more than a certain number of days before the current date. |