Using a SID as Profile Source

Alter-Ego allows you to specify the security identifiers (SIDs) of source users rather than usernames when migrating user profiles. This allows you to migrate profiles for users in a security context which is no longer available.

Some common examples of situations where this may be necessary include:

• The source accounts have been deleted or rendered inaccessible from the client PC and you wish to attach a profile to a newly created replacement account.
• A domain controller is being rebuilt as a new domain on the same server hardware, which results in Alter-Ego being unable to reference the source user security context (the old domain) to locate the source users.

Source user SIDs can be collected through various means. Various utilities available on the Internet will allow you to query a security database for user SIDs. The Winterfrost Systems Knowledge Base will contain the latest methods, scripts, and recommended utilities to gather user SIDs for use with Alter-Ego.

Optionally, user SID(s) can also be gathered from the registry of the client PC which contains the profile(s) you wish to migrate. The SIDs are listed in the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. Each subkey within this key is labeled with the SID of the corresponding user profile. All user SIDs will begin with the string "S-1-5-21-". The ProfileImagePath value contains the full path to the profile. This path typically includes the username, and so may be helpful for identifying the corresponding user account if you are uncertain.

We recommend that you perform User to User migrations whenever possible. In User to User migrations, SID lookups are performed as part of the migration process, which reduces the chance for an accidental User-SID mismatch.

This option applies to Profile Migration Only and Profile Migration + Domain Change.