Can I disable Active Directory Account Creation mode?

Question

I am new to SharePoint so please bare with me. I have installed SharePoint 2010 Foundation on our server at work and from the last step I have used the advanced settings option: 'enable active directory account creation mode'.

Unfortunately all the users on the domain cannot be found in SharePoint now. I have read this article http://tristanwatkins.com/index.php/active-directory-account-creation-mode-sharepoint-2010/ about this problem and tells that there is no way you can rearrange this setting after installation. I was wondering whether there is someone who found a solution to this problem without having to uninstall and reinstall SharePoint again.

Answer 1

Yeah, the whole point of this mode is that it delegates account creation in Active Directory to SharePoint and it only allows you to use those SharePoint-created accounts, as Jesus points out. The other suggestions he makes are good as well, if you've got anywhere with the farm before trying to add users.

I'd be pretty surprised if Move-SPUser would work in this mode, but also, it's probably not a solution that you'd want to live with long-term. This isn't a bug, it's the way this mode works, so it's not likely to be changed now when it's been this way since WSS2. The SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard won't allow you to undo the setting, as that's effectively just a GUI for the PSConfig/New-SPConfigurationDatabase commands that I discuss in my blog post above.

I'd rebuild the farm and save yourself a lot of hassle/time. I spent the better part of a day trying to find solutions to this, including changing the mode programatically. Nothing worked.

Answer 2

This mode does more than just restrict the OU it reads from in AD, as it enables the ability for SharePoint to create accounts, which is not normally available.

Unfortunately I think you are stuck with a rebuild.

I would note any configuration changes you have made after install for both the farm and any IIS specific settings that may need replaced. I'm not entirely sure where this setting is stored, so I wouldn't use the configuration backup.

You can leave your DB's intact and just re-attach them after the rebuild so you wont lose content.

Answer 3

If you might end up rebuilding your farm, there are a couple of things I would try before rebuilding. First I would try running the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard again and see if you can change this setting. If you can, then you might be able to work normally. Another alternative is to use the PowerShell Move-SPUser to move the existing accounts into the environment. The ability to use PowerShell for this will allow you to iterate through many users.

If this doesn't work, then you can wipe the farm and just restore the customizations you have made and attach the content databases like Jesus suggests.