Collection of VMMSync and LDAPSync information

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Today I am putting this blog together to provide a little information on VMMSync and LDAPSync, two methods used to bring users from a directory server into Maximo.  There are two directory servers that are supported, MSAD - (Microsoft Active Directory) and TDS (Tivoli Directory Server).

LDAPSYNC process was developed to copy user data from the Active Directory LDAP server to the Maximo table structures and enable authentication to Maximo. This tool communicates directly with the Active Directory and uses straight Active Directory queries and filters to find data to be copied.

VMMSYNC is designed to synchronize users by communicating with the normalized WebSphere directory. To do this, queries and filters that would normally work for Active Directory must be modified to use the WebSphere structure. The VMMSYNC process introduces a new layer of technology and complexity to the synchronization process since now both WebSphere and VMMSYNC must be configured to map the data correctly.  The crontask makes contact with a component of WebSphere called VMM using API's.

Both of these crontask can be configured in the Crontask Setup application. 

Either of these crontask can be used if dealing with Active Directory, we find there seems to be more filtering options using the VMMSync.

One thing to note if you are having issues syncing users is that the logs will fill up quite quickly.  I generally like to tell people to setup a specific log for troubleshooting these issues.  It saves a bunch of time sifting through a big log to pinpoint the issue you are looking for.  Here is a link to a document that will assist in setting up that sync specific log.

/support/pages/node/227005

Also keep in mind that the crontask can take quite some time to run depending on the number of users that are being brought over from the directory server.  The crontask allows you to choose how often you want the crontask to run, all companies are different but we like to recommend running the cron once or twice a day, you don't want the crontask starting to starting before it has even finished the first time for those companies with a lot of users.