Import From File

Manually entering computers and users, particularly for a large-scale operation, can be a very time-consuming process. For this reason, Alter-Ego offers the ability to import user data from file or from an existing Active Directory database. This article will discuss how to import user and computer information from a text file to facilitate the setup of your migration.

The file to be imported must be a comma separated values (CSV) file in one of the following three formats:

Computer name (CN), Source account username (SU), Destination account username (DU)
Computer name (CN), Source account SID (SS), Destination account username (DU)
Computer name (CN) only

The selected format should reflect if usernames or SIDs are being used for source users in a profile migration. If migrating numerous accounts on the same PC, the computername must be repeated with each source/destination pair. Computername must be a valid network-resolvable name via WINS, DNS, HOSTS/LMHOSTS file, or broadcast. If using DNS names, use the host name only -- fully-qualified domain names are not supported. There is no mechanism to create groups by importing from file.

To perform the import:

Open the Import users and computers dialog by clicking File -> Import -> From File... in the Console menu.
Choose the type of CSV file: CN,SU,DU/CN,SS,DU/CN
If performing a CN only import, checking the Migrate all user profiles checkbox will cause all computers to be configured for an All Profiles Migration as they are imported.
Click the Browse... button and browse to your file, or enter the full path name directly in the Import File field.
Click the Import Now button.

If the Migrate all user profiles

The imported file will be scanned for errors. If errors are found, a report will be displayed with the specifics.

A message is displayed on a successful import.

Multiple file or AD imports can be brought into the same tree provided that there are no duplicate destination user names. Likewise, computers and groups can be imported from Active Directory into an existing tree. If imported records match existing computer names, the source/destination user pairs will be added to the existing computers in the tree.

Settings cannot be imported through this means. Settings can only be created using the Easy Setup Wizard or by manually setting them. Settings can only be loaded from an exsiting Alter-Ego saved file.

It should also be noted that Alter-Ego does not create user accounts. All destination accounts in a profile migration must exist before the migration occurs.