Hey everyone,
I'm having a debate with a coworker regarding a client situation. We noticed that one of our client's usernames was misspelled during account creation – her name has two letters inverted. This has been the case for months, and she's been logging in with the incorrect name.
While I was troubleshooting another issue with her on the phone today, I was about to change her UPN in Active Directory to correct her name. However, my colleague warned me that doing this would erase her data the next time she logs in. Is that true? I've never changed someone's UPN before but thought that the data is linked to the account rather than just the UPN.
2 Answers
Changing a user's login name won’t wipe their data, so you should be fine. However, if they've got folders set up that refer to their old username, like in a redirect, you'll need to update those manually. Just remember, the objectSid remains the same regardless of the username, so the core account data stays intact. It’s a good idea to change both the UPN and the sAMAccountName when making updates to avoid confusion later on.
By the way, if they're using VPN or certain applications, you may run into issues if scripts are set up that reference the username. You might want to check for any custom scripts or directory settings before making changes.
You can change the UPN, and the data will still be there. It's just that the samAccountName will now differ from the user profile directory (C:Users). It's not usually a big deal, but check for any login scripts or home directories that might reference the old username. If there's a script using something like $env:username, it may break after you make the change. Also, consider using Group Policy Objects (GPOs) for management to avoid potential issues down the road.
If I do change the UPN, will I need to update other settings? I’m not very familiar with the client, but I don't think they have any scripts. The person I'm talking about is just an accountant who uses an accounting tool on a remote Desktop server.
Even if you manage it through GPO, be cautious. Using variables like %username% for roaming profiles or redirected folders could still lead to issues since it references that old name.
What do you mean by folders redirected to them?