Squadron - Active Directory Add-in

What is Active Directory Add-in?

Active Directory Add-in allows quick lookup of the Active Directory users & groups. For SharePoint installations, Active Directory is the directory service that stores security objects. While working with Permissions, we need to explore the available users & groups in Active Directory. This Add-in helps do that.



Squadron is a Free SharePoint Administration tool available at www.sharepointcto.com.



Types of Active Directory Groups

I would like to emphasize that we are mainly focusing on 3 types of entities in Active Directory; they are:

1. User
2. Security Group
3. Distribution Group

A User is an entity representing an individual user.

A Security Group represents a collection of users usually representing a department. (Vertical)

A Distribution Group will be an email distribution group based on location. (Horizontal)

In SharePoint, we can only assign Permissions to a User & Security Group.

Generating Report

After installing Squadron, you can execute it from "Start Menu" > "SharePointCTO" > "Squadron". On loading the primary screen, enter your SharePoint URL in the top text box.



You will see that the Domain name is automatically fetched. If you need to change it then you can do that.

Now, click on the Active Directory item from the left pane.



You will get the following screen:



Click on the "Execute" button to generate the report. The "Highlight Disabled" option highlights the disabled users/groups in red color.



Saving Report

For saving the report, right-click on the Grid & choose from the options:

1. Save as Excel
2. Save as CSV

After saving, you will see the file opened in the associated application.



Properties Window

We can also use the Properties Window on the right hand side to explore the properties of the user/group. Click on the grid item to view the properties in the right hand side.



This completes our Active Directory Add-in information. I hope you like the functionality & beautiful look & feel.

References

http://bit.ly/10uiVpB

Summary

In this article we have explored the Active Directory Add-in Squadron. I believe this Add-in will be another useful too in the hands of a SharePoint Explorer.