Synchronize Using LDAP Directory Synchronization

Use the LDAP Directory Synchronization page to synchronize PowerSchool Usernames with an LDAP directory server.

1. On the start page, choose System under Setup in the main menu.
2. Under Security, click LDAP Directory Synchronization. 
   The LDAP Directory Synchronization page acts as a hub for all of the synchronization processes. From this page, you can choose to synchronize the current selection of students or teachers and staff, all students (district wide), all students with blank usernames (district wide), all teachers (district wide), all staff (district wide), all teachers with blank usernames (district wide), or all staff with blank usernames (district wide).
   Note: You can also invoke mass student synchronization from the Functions menu after establishing a selection of students. Similarly, you can invoke mass teacher/staff synchronization from the Functions menu after establishing a selection of teachers and/or staff. 
   Once a selection is established and the LDAP Directory Synchronization process is selected, one of two pages appears, depending on whether you are working with students or teachers and staff. In either case, before the synchronization process begins, the expected user ID attribute displays, and you have the opportunity to change it before proceeding. The User ID attribute is the name of the schema element in the LDAP directory that holds the username. This is the value that is brought back into PowerSchool and stored in the appropriate username field in PowerSchool's database
3. Click Submit. When you click submit, the synchronization process begins and each record in the selection is processed. The first and last name in each record is used to find an exact match in the directory. If no exact match is found, a second search is done using only the last name in an effort to find partial matches.

If an exact match is found, the username in PowerSchool's database is compared to the username reported by the directory. If they are the same, no action is taken. If they differ, the value from the directory is stored in PowerSchool. All matching records are reported in the first section of the Synchronization Results.

When processing an exact match for a teacher/staff record, the following logic applies. If the record represents a teacher, the Teacher Username will be checked and updated if necessary. And, if the teacher has access to the admin portion of PowerSchool, the Admin Username is also checked. If the record represents a staff member, the Admin Username is checked and updated if necessary.

If partial matches are found, a list of the partial matches will be displayed in the exception portion of the Synchronization Results. A link will also be provided next to the record, which opens in a new browser window to allow manual lookup and synchronization.

Records with no matches (either exact or partial) are reported in the exception portion of the Synchronization Results. For records with no matches, the appropriate users should be added to the LDAP directory or the first and last names should be checked to ensure that they match in PowerSchool and the Directory. Once the issue is corrected, the synchronization process can run again.