Auto-configuration failure when Active Directory server uses a custom NetBIOS name

 [Update 5/8/09 -- fixed in Office Groove 2007, SP2.]

Today's issue applies to managed Groove domains that integrate with an Active Directory server.

If you manage your Groove domain with Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007 Manager, you can import users from an Active Directory (AD) server. This links the Windows domain login names of the users in the directory with their Groove accounts. One of the cool things about this (aside from saving on tedious data entry) is that you can then set up Groove Manager and the potential client computers so that when one of those users installs Groove, and the Groove installation connects to the Groove Manager, the Manager sends back that user's Groove account. This makes account configuration effortless for the user, and significantly easier for the Groove administrator.

However, we've recently discovered that this feature fails if the Active Directory server uses a domain NetBIOS name that does not match the AD domain name. By default, these names match, but during domain creation in Active Directory Server, you have the option to change the Domain NetBIOS name from the default value. Groove Manager, however, saves only the AD domain name, not the NetBIOS name or the DNS name, and the saved name is what it uses to attempt to identify configured users.

For example, let's assume that you have an Active Directory domain "cohovineyardandwinery". Since NetBIOS names are limited to 15 characters, you configure that to have a NetBIOS name of "cohowinery". Your Windows domain users authenticate as cohowinery\username. Groove Manager, however, is expecting cohovineyardandwinery\username. In this case, the user receives the following error:

Groove could not find your account information on your server. If you encounter this problem again after restarting Groove, contact your Groove administrator.

This is a recognized limitation in Groove 2007 Manager. We are working on support for this as a valid, non-default, Active Directory configuration.

For more information on names in Active Directory, see "Naming conventions in Active Directory for computers, domains, sites, and OUs" at https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;909264

Disclaimer: The example companies, organizations, and domain names depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, or domain name is intended or should be inferred.