Simplifying Tasks through SharePoint 2010

An excellent example of using SharePoint 2010 to improve a task in Lync Server 2010 is in the area of managing photographs for contacts. Lync Server 2010 leverages the thumbnailPhoto attribute in Active Directory to store and access photos for contacts, yet it doesn’t offer any interface to import photos into this attribute. This is where SharePoint 2010 comes in. Users of SharePoint 2010 can upload their photo to their “My Site” and the administrator can configure profile synchronization in SharePoint 2010 to synchronize the photo to the thumbnailPhoto attribute in Active Directory.

Configuring profile synchronization involves several steps, which can be found on the Microsoft website at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee721049.aspx.

The following five key phases, each with several substeps, describe the process at a high level:

Phase 1: Configuring the Farm

• Verify account permissions

• Create a Web application to host My Sites

• Create a managed path for My Sites

• Create a My Site Host site collection

• Create a User Profile service application

• Start the User Profile service

Phase 2: Start the User Profile Synchronization service

• Start the User Profile Synchronization service

• Remove unnecessary permissions

• Reset IIS

Phase 3: Configure connections and import data from directory services

• Create a synchronization connection to s directory service

• Define exclusion filters for a synchronization connection

• Map user profile properties

• Start profile synchronization

Phase 4: Configure connections and import data from business systems

• Create external content types

• Give the User Profile service application permission to use the external content type

• Configure a Business Data Connectivity synchronization connection

• Add or edit user profile properties

• Import data

Phase 5: Configure connections and export data to directory services

• Grant Replicate Directory Changes permissions on the domain

• Grant Replicate Directory Changes permissions on the Configuration container

• Grant Create Child Objects and Write permissions