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When it comes time to migrate a domain or create one from scratch, punching user accounts into Active Directory one at a time is tedious and a waste of time. A smart Exchange administrator should make use of a third-party tool to create a domain from pre-existing data.
OrgBuilder (courtesy of programmer Asaf Ganot at Daniel Petri's MCSEWorld site) is one such tool -- and definitely one of the better ones I've come across.
This tool imports data from a CSV spreadsheet (a template is provided with the program in Excel format) and automatically creates user accounts, departments, department groups, duty groups and department organizational units from the provided list.
Using OrgBuilder is simple enough once you have the spreadsheet populated and saved in CSV format. (You can also save the CSV data from your own source, provided it matches the existing format.) You just need to supply the organization's domain name, the path to the CSV file and the proper administrative password, set a few options and you're ready to go.
The program also has some advanced directory-creation settings. You can optionally create a single public directory shared among all users, separate public directories for each department, hidden shares and a private directory container (either a global one for all private folders or different ones for each department).
OrgBuilder also provides the option to preview all changes to be made before they're committed, and logs its actions to a separate file for debugging.
About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows 2000 Power Users Newsletter and a regular contributor to SearchExchange.com.
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More information from SearchExchange.com:
Exchange Essentials: Toolbox for Exchange administrators
Learning Guide: Exchange migration
Topics Library: Exchange and Active Directory tips
