XADM: Auto-naming Feature Doesn't Work with Directory Import (146293)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q146293

SYMPTOMS

The Auto Naming screen of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program states: 
   Auto naming rules lets you customize the display name. . . for new
   mailboxes.

The online help for this topic states: 
   Use Auto Naming Options to control the way display and alias names
   for mailboxes and custom recipients are automatically generated.

However, when you migrate users from ccMail to Microsoft Exchange and specify a template for the format of user accounts, the template will not be used.

CAUSE

A fixed rule for building default values for Display-Name and Mail-Nickname was being used, instead of using the Administrator program autotext format strings.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange Service Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION

Default generation of Display-Name and Alias-Name when not specified has been changed to be as much like the Administrator program as possible. When the import occurs, the Admin options value is read from the registry at: 
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\ 
   MSExchangeAdminCommon:Options

and the AutoText format strings for generating Display-Name and Alias-Names are extracted from it. If these values are not specified, are not readable, or are specified as constant strings, the default format strings are used.

The default strings are: Display Name = "%First %Last" and Alias Name = "%First%1Last". For each entry created, if there is no value specified for Display-Name or Mail-Nickname, a default value is constructed according to the rule obtained above. If the registry parameter holds a constant literal string, the Common-Name is used.

NOTE: This does NOT apply to modifications, only creating new entries. Also, to fall inline with the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, the method used to get a default value for Assoc-NT-Account has been slightly modified: if no value is specified for either Assoc-NT-Account or Obj-User, the Mail-Nickname is used (either as specified or as constructed). The former behaviour was to use the value specified for the Common-Name.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:4/28/2005
Keywords:kbusage KB146293
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