Step-By-Step: Managing Multiple User Accounts Via Active Directory Admin Center

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Normally in a Windows Server Active Directory environment, time is needed to apply same set of changes to a group of users. For example, let’s say a company's domain prefix changed. As the IT administrator you have been asked to change the UPN prefix for all users from abc.com to xyz.com. How long would it take to complete this change if done one-by-one? Imagine this was also a large environment. How much time would it take to complete? What would be the probability for mistakes to happen?

Active Directory Administrative Center and / or the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC can empower IT professionals to change multiple user attributes.  This Step-By-Step will demonstrate this based on a Windows Server 2012 R2 server.

  1. Navigate to the Active Directory Administrative Center, via server manager > tools > active directory administrative center
     
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  2. Next go to the domain and Organizational Unit (OU). In this demo the OU is called Contoso Users

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  3. Next select the users using shift key

  4. Right-click the selected users and click properties

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  5. A new window opens allowing for the attribute change take place. In this example, to change UPN, tick the option and then select the new value

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    As you can see, many options are available for modification.

  6. Once modification are completed, click on OK to apply changes
     

This same procedure can also be completed via the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC.  Steps to complete said process are as follows:
 

  1. Go to server manager > tools > active directory users and computers
     

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  2. Go to relevant OU, select the users  and right click and click on properties
     
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  3. Then it will give options to edit. Once changes are applied, click ok to proceed.