How can I export User Profile Custom Properties for importing into a different environment?

Question

Is there a PowerShell or other mechanism that I can use to export out the custom property definitions from the Manage User Properties page in Central Admin from one environment to another?

I know I can add them all manually, but as that's error prone and likely to take a bit of time I wondered if there was a better way?

Answer 1

Yes, you can use PowerShell to export the definitions and then import them back in to another environment. Gary Lapointe has some examples for 2007 http://blog.falchionconsulting.com/index.php/2007/11/user-profile-properties/ or you can roll your own.

Here is a CodePlex project too: http://mossprofilereplicate.codeplex.com/

M

Answer 2

I've previously used Darko Milevski's post about deleting profiles with PowerShell as a reference for accessing the user profile service properties.

The relevant bits are the lines:

$DisplayName = $profile.DisplayName  
$AccountName = $profile[[Microsoft.Office.Server.UserProfiles.PropertyConstants]::AccountName].Value  

Some properties are available from the UserProfile $profile object (display name) and others (all I believe) can be accessed with the property constants (AccountName). You can look up the property names in the UPA to get the properties you need (in your case, since it's custom you probably already know the property name).

To import, you reverse the process.