Update for “Manage Active Directory synchronization in Project Server 2007” covers user synchronization issues

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The article Manage Active Directory synchronization in Project Server 2007 will contain the following updated information when it appears in the Project Server 2007 TechCenter next week.

User Synchronization Issues

Caution:

Under certain circumstances, synchronizing Project Server users and workspaces with Active Directory can cause a “deadlock” situation in which all users are locked out of a PWA site or the respective workspaces. This causes user synchronization jobs to fail and site permissions to synchronize partially or not at all. Users may not be able to log on to PWA or their workspaces.
A deadlock can occur if the user synchronization process is taking too long to complete. This is due to the synchronization job iterating through many users and workspaces, for example, when large membership changes are being made. A synchronization job remaining in the queue a long time increases the possibility of other jobs starting inadvertently, which can also cause a deadlock.

To reduce the chance of a deadlock, you can do the following:

  • Before making large group membership changes, verify that there are no jobs named “User Synchronization for Project Web Access App Root Site and Project WSS Workspaces” currently processing or waiting to be processed in the queue.
  • Run the Project Server Workspace Sync tool on the CodePlex site at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=147394. The tool controls what is to be synchronized when the job starts —PWA and workspaces, workspaces only, PWA only, or no synchronization for either PWA or workspaces — and allows the administrator to perform the user synchronization during non-working or off-peak hours when server overhead is lower.
    Note that the Project Server Workspace Sync tool does not speed up the synchronization process beyond normal. However, being able to synchronize users when server overhead is lower reduces the possibility of synchronization failures.