Manage user linking

Learn how to manage linking of Microsoft 365 portal users with Snow inventoried users in Snow License Manager.

Link users automatically with Active Directory user discovery

Automatic linking through the use of Active Directory user discovery brings additional value to the Microsoft 365 feature.

• Enable Active Directory user discovery in Snow Inventory Server to collect user data from Active Directory. The collected data is used to generate user objects in Snow License Manager and link them to the users from Microsoft 365 portal data. Refer to Snow Inventory Server Admin Console for information on how to enable Active Directory user discovery.

  note

  From Snow Inventory Server 6.5.0, the collected data includes Microsoft 365 User Principle Name (UPN). From Snow License Manager 9.8.1, user objects are created based on the Active Directory data (including UPN) and not only from inventoried users. You are recommended to update to the latest product versions. If you are using product versions earlier than Snow Inventory Server 6.5.0 and Snow License Manager 9.8.1, user linking based on UPN can be done manually as described in Link users through manual matching with Microsoft 365 UPN.

Link users through manual matching with Microsoft 365 UPN

If you are using product versions earlier than Snow Inventory Server 6.5.0 and Snow License Manager 9.8.1, you can link users by manually matching their username to their Microsoft 365 User Principle Name (UPN) and import the file.

1. Find and export a list of Snow License Manager users that you want to match to a corresponding Microsoft 365 user.

   The Snow License Manager users are found in the All users report or in the List all users view.

2. Remove all columns except the user name and add a column called Microsoft 365 UPN to the user export and add the matching Microsoft 365 User Principle Name for each user.

   The Microsoft 365 users are found under Users in the Microsoft 365 navigation, or in the Microsoft 365 portal.

3. Import the data by updating the existing users according to Import data.

   At the Field mappings step, ensure that the Microsoft 365 UPN field is mapped to the Email address field.

During the next import by the Microsoft 365 connector, correctly mapped users will be linked. The import can be manually triggered in the Snow Integration Manager user interface.

Link users manually with suggested matches

When you have Microsoft 365 users that cannot be automatically linked to Snow inventoried users, you can instead link them manually based on suggested matches on the Users to link tab.

tip

One Microsoft 365 account can be linked to several Snow inventoried users.

1. In the Microsoft 365 navigation bar, select Link users.

2. On the Users to link tab, review the suggested matches in the table.

   The table rows show Microsoft 365 users and any suggested matches with Snow inventoried users.

3. Optionally, in the Link targets column, change the suggested matches or add more users to be linked.

   • To add a user:

     1. In the Link targets column, start typing a user name, full name, or email address. The search results appear as you enter text.

     2. Select the user to link.

     3. Repeat to add more users.

   • To remove a user, select the remove icon for that user.

4. Optionally, you can select another option in the Link options column:

   • Mark as online only will not connect the user to an inventoried user account.
   • Keep unlinked will move the user to the Unlinked users tab.

5. To review the user linking before saving, select the rows for the Microsoft 365 users that you want to review, and then select Preview.

6. Optionally, in the Preview step, edit the linking:

   • To add or remove users in the Link targets column, see step 3.

   • To change Link options, see step 4.

   • To remove a user linking completely, select the trash can icon for that Microsoft 365 user.

7. To confirm the user linking, select Save.

Link users manually without suggested matches

When you have Microsoft 365 users that cannot be automatically linked to Snow inventoried users and you have no suggested matches, you can instead link them manually based on searches on the Unmatched users tab.

tip

One Microsoft 365 account can be linked to several Snow inventoried users.

1. In the Microsoft 365 navigation bar, select Link users.

2. On the Unmatched users tab, and for the Microsoft 365 users you want to link, do the following:

   1. In the Link targets column, start typing a user name, full name, or email address. The search results appear as you enter text.

   2. Select the user to link.

   3. Repeat to add more users.

3. Optionally, you can select another option in the Link options column:

   • Mark as online only will not connect the user to an inventoried user account.
   • Keep unlinked will move the user to the Unlinked users tab.

4. To review the user linking before saving, select the rows for the Microsoft 365 users that you want to review, and then select Preview.

5. Optionally, in the Preview step, edit the linking.

   • To add users in the Link targets column, see step 2.

   • To remove a user in the Link targets column, select the remove icon for that user.

   • To change Link options, see step 3.

   • To remove a user linking completely, select the trash can icon for that Microsoft 365 user.

6. To confirm the user linking, select Save.

Edit user linking

To edit already linked or unlinked Microsoft 365 users, do the following:

1. In the Microsoft 365 navigation bar, select Link users.

2. On the Linked users or Unlinked users tab, and for the Microsoft 365 users that you want to edit, do one or more of the following:

   1. To change the link option, select option in the Link options column:

      • Linked will connect the user to one or several inventoried user accounts.
      • Mark as online only will not connect the user to an inventoried user account.
      • Keep unlinked will move the user to the Unlinked users tab.

   2. To add users to a Microsoft 365 user with link option set to Linked:

      1. In the Link targets column, start typing a user name, full name, or email address. The search results appear as you enter text.

      2. Select the user to link.

      3. Repeat to add more users.

   3. To remove users from a Microsoft 365 user with link option set to Linked, select the remove icon for that user.

3. To review the changes before saving, select the rows for the Microsoft 365 users that you want to review, and then select Preview.

4. To confirm the change, select Save.

Unlink users

To unlink a Microsoft 365 user that is linked to one or several Snow inventoried users, or is marked as online only, do the following:

1. In the Microsoft 365 navigation bar, select Link users.

2. On the Linked users tab, and for each user that you want to unlink, change the option in the Link options column to Keep unlinked.

   The Keep unlinked option unlinks the user accounts, and then moves the Microsoft 365 user to the Unlinked users tab.

3. To review the changes before saving, select the rows for the Microsoft 365 users that you want to review, and then select Preview.

4. To confirm the change, select Save.

Improve search time when linking users manually: Cached data

note

This can only be performed by the system administrator.

In Snow License Manager, the Snow Software SLM Cache Server Service caches data on Snow inventoried users. For this purpose, there is an EnableCachingUsers setting in the appsettings.json file of the service. This setting is enabled by default.

To reduce the search time when you want to manually link Snow inventoried users to Microsoft 365 users, you can use the cached information instead of the real-time information in the Snow License Manager database. When you run a search against the cached information, you get a faster response. However, the cache is only updated automatically once a day so you will not see more recent changes without manually refreshing the cache.

To enable searches against the cached information, do the following:

1. Stop the SnowLicenseManagerMicrosoft365BFF service.

2. Navigate to and open the appsettings.json file located in C:\Program Files\Snow Software\Snow License Manager\Services\Microsoft365BFF.

3. Change SlmUsersFilteringSource to MongoDB.

   The default value is SLMDatabase.

4. Optionally, change PageSizeUsersBySearchTerm.

   The property defines the maximum number of fetched Snow License Manager users that can be returned in the response. The default value is 100.

5. Save the changes in the appsettings.json file.

6. Start the SnowLicenseManagerMicrosoft365BFF service.

7. Stop the SnowCacheServer service.

8. Navigate to and open the appsettings.json file located in C:\Program Files\Snow Software\Snow License Manager\Services\CacheServer.

9. Verify that EnableCachingUsers is set to true.

10. Optionally, under CachingSchedule, change the Interval and StartDateTime for the scheduled refresh of the cache.

11. Save any changes in the appsettings.json file.

12. Start the SnowCacheServer service.

Improve search time when linking users manually: Indexed data

note

This can only be performed by the system administrator.

For faster searching of Snow inventoried users, you can let the Snow Software Data Access Service generate index data using the native Snow License Manager database.

When you run a search using the index, you get a faster response which can be useful in environments with very large number of users. However, the index is only updated automatically once a day so you will not see more recent changes. Note that searches against the index can cause increased traffic on the Snow License Manager database, so caution should be taken if this is a concern in your environment.

To enable generation and use of the indexed information, do the following:

1. Stop the SnowLicenseManagerMicrosoft365BFF service.

2. Navigate to and open the appsettings.json file located in C:\Program Files\Snow Software\Snow License Manager\Services\Microsoft365BFF.

3. Change SlmUsersFilteringSource to SLMTreeIndex.

   The default value is SLMDatabase.

4. Optionally, change PageSizeUsersBySearchTerm.

   The property defines the maximum number of fetched Snow License Manager users that can be returned in the response. The default value is 100.

5. Save the changes in the appsettings.json file.

6. Stop the SnowLicenseManagerDataAccess service.

7. Make a note of any services associated with the SnowLicenseManagerDataAccess service that also stop. You need to start theses services again, later.

8. Navigate to and open the appsettings.json file located in C:\Program Files\Snow Software\Snow License Manager\Services\DataAccess.

9. Change IndexGenerationEnabled to 1.

   The default value is 0.

10. Optionally, under IndexGenerationTime, change the time of day when you want the index to be regenerated.

11. Save the changes in the appsettings.json file.

12. Start the SnowLicenseManagerDataAccess service.

13. Start the associated services that you made a note of in step 7.

14. Start the SnowLicenseManagerMicrosoft365BFF service.