Checklist when configuring User Profiles Service Application

Hi everyone, this is just a quick list to take in mind when configuring User Profiles Service Application:

For the Service Application:

• You have started at least one User Profile Service Instance
• You have included the service application in the connection list for the web applications, or put it in the default associations

For the Sync Service Instance

• You have the farm account included in the local Administrators group. You need this only in the server that will run the service instance.
• If you haven´t and you have just done it, restart the server

For the  Syncrhonization to be completed:

• Ensure you have created a connection
• When creating the connection, ensure the user you use to populate the tree in the connection form, has the right privileges. (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh296982(v=office.14).aspx#RDCdomain)
• Perform first a full synchronization.

For the my sites:

• Create the web application and a site collection in its root managed path (/) using the my site host template. (There are more options, but I leave this as the most common).
• The web application should have the "personal" wildcard managed path and the self service site creation enabled.
• At the user profile service application configuration page, ensure you have entered the web application url in the my site host.

For the pictures from AD

• Check that you have created the map for the picture profile property to the thumbnailPhoto AD attribute.
• If you haven't, do so and perform a full synchronization again. Check that you have pictures at the my site host site collection (by browsing into it's content).
• After that, if the pictures still does not appear, execute the Update-SPProfilePhotoStore command under the farm account credentials, or a user that has enough access to it or you will have a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object".