How to handle duplicate User Names?

Question

Hello,

I am working on delegating the ability to create user accounts. One thing I'm not sure how to handle is duplicate user names.

I would like it if I could have an alternate User Property pattern if the username is not unique. For example, if I have two Bob Smiths I'd like one to be BobSmith and the second one to be added to be Bob.Smith. Is there a way to set this up in a Property Pattern or a business rule? If it worked for both the web console and CSV imports using the Adaxes cmdlets it would be very helpful.

Currently if we have a duplicate name the user creation gets passed off to me to create manually so I'd love to be able to automate it!

Answer 1

Hello,

Yes, you can automate that. For this purpose, you can create a Business Rule triggered before creating a user that would change the username if it is not unique. For instructions on how to create such a Business Rule, see Validate/Modify User Input Using a Script. On step 5, see Example 2. It demonstrates how to add a digit to the end of a username if it is not unique. If adding a digit is not enough, have a look at the following example in our Script Repository that provides a more flexible algorithm to generate a unique username: Create username automatically.