HOW TO: Use Custom Attributes to Organize Recipients in Exchange 2000 (319204)

SUMMARY

When you install Exchange 2000, the Setup program adds a large number of new attributes to the Active Directory schema, including custom attribute fields that you can use to add personal information about your users that does not easily fit into the existing fields. Examples of custom attribute fields include employee numbers, national insurance, or social security information. This step-by-step article describes how to add information to custom attribute fields and to search for data in these fields.

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References

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Active Directory
• Exchange Server 2000 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• Exchange System Manager
• The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in

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How to Plan Custom Attributes

When you plan custom attributes, consider the following factors:

• Use custom attributes for information that is not already included in the user's standard (non-Exchange 2000) Active Directory attributes. Fields to enter an address, a telephone number, an e-mail address, and a Web page address already exist.
• Add custom attributes only for information that is necessary for the efficient operation of your organization. This procedure provides a cost benefit that you can weigh against the expense of entering and maintaining the information in the first place. For example, if you are unlikely to search for people's preference for taking their holidays, do not add this attribute as a custom attribute.
• Custom attributes are not multiple-valued, and you can only enter a single string of text. Therefore, custom attributes are unsuitable for recording information such as lists of jobs held with corresponding dates.
• Custom attributes have a maximum length of 1024 characters. If you enter more than 1024 characters, the additional characters are not saved.
• Add fields for information that either rarely changes or does not change at all, for example, social security numbers. Information such as last month's expenses claim or mileage traveled for the week is not suitable information to record in this format.
• Be careful not to record information in custom attributes that may be considered discriminatory. Inform employees about the information that is being stored about them. You can specify this information in their terms and conditions of employment. Be aware of the respective data protection legislation for the country or countries in which you operate, particularly if the Exchange Server organization has a global scope.

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How to Enable Advanced Features in Active Directory Users and Computers

After you configure Active Directory Users and Computers to view advanced features, the Exchange advanced tab is displayed for each messaging-enabled user.

1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click Microsoft Exchange.
2. Click Active Directory Users and Computers.
3. Click Advanced Features on the View menu.
   
   Extra containers are now displayed, such as LostAndFound, and System and Microsoft Exchange System Objects.

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How to Add Values to the Custom Attribute Fields

1. Click Start, point to Programs, click Microsoft Exchange, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Double-click the user account for which you want to add a custom attribute.
3. Click the Exchange Advanced tab, and then click Custom Attributes.
   
   A list of attributes is displayed. These attributes are named extensionAttributex, where x is a value from 1 to 15.
   
   NOTE: If you upgraded from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000, the extensionAttribute10 attribute may be displayed that has a value of NTDSNoMatch. This value indicates that this mailbox should not be matched to a corresponding Active Directory user account during the upgrade process.
4. Double-click an attribute, type the value for the information that you want to store, and then click OK.
5. Click OK, click OK, and then quit Active Directory Users and Computers.

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How to Search for Information in Custom Attributes

1. Click Start, point to Programs, click Microsoft Exchange, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. Right-click the domain or the organizational unit that you want to search, and then click Find.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Field.
4. Click User, and then click Custom Attribute X, where X matches the number of the attribute in which you added data in step 4 of the previous section.
5. Under Condition, click one of the following options depending on the information that you are trying to find:
   • Starts with
   • Ends with
   • Is(exactly)
   • Is not
   • Present
   • Not present
   
   
6. If you click either Starts with, Ends with, Is(exactly), or Is not as your condition, type a value in the Value field.
   
   For example, type Rob, to find words such as Robinson, Roberts, and Robard.
7. Click Add.
   
   You can add further conditions, but note that the logic is "AND", which means that all conditions must be true for a match to be displayed.
8. Click Find Now.
   
   Matches to the conditions are listed in the new list that is displayed at the bottom of the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups dialog box.
9. Double-click any entry in the list to edit that entry.
10. Close the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups dialog box.

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How to Confirm That You Configured Custom Attributes Correctly

To verify that the search procedure works:

1. Type a known value in the extensionAttribute1 attribute for a number of users.
2. Open the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups dialog box, and then search for the exact value that you entered in the search condition for Custom Attribute 1.

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Troubleshooting

You cannot alter the display names for the extensionAttributex attribute in the user account properties or the Custom Attribute X entry in the field list in the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups dialog box. This issue occurs because extensionAttributex is the LDAPDisplayName attribute for this object in Active Directory and is uniquely defined in the schema. If you try to use the ADSIEdit tool to change the LDAPDisplayName attribute, you receive an error message if you try to modify or view the list of custom attributes on a user account.

Searches may not return hits for the following reasons:

• You entered data incorrectly in the custom attributes fields.
• You spelled the search condition information incorrectly.
• You applied the wrong logic.

To confirm that a value exists in a custom attributes field, run a search that has the search condition of "Present."

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