8.4. Schema Elements Synchronized Between Active Directory and Directory Server

In Directory Server, the cn attribute can be multi-valued, while in Active Directory this attribute must have only a single value. When the Directory Server cn attribute is synchronized, then, only one value is sent to the Active Directory peer.

What this means for synchronization is that,potentially, if a cn value is added to an Active Directory entry and that value is not one of the values for cn in Directory Server, then all of the Directory Server cn values are overwritten with the single Active Directory value.

One other important difference is that Active Directory uses the cn attribute as its naming attribute, where Directory Server uses uid. This means that there is the potential to rename the entry entirely if the cn attribute is edited in the Directory Server. If that cn change is written over to the Active Directory entry, then the entry is renamed, and the new named entry is written back over to Directory Server. This only happens, however, if the cn attribute is synced. If the change is not synchronized, then the entry is not renamed.

Both Active Directory and Directory Server can enforce password policies such as password minimum length or maximum age. Windows Sync makes no attempt to ensure that the policies are consistent, enforced, or synchronized. If password policy is not consistent in both Directory Server and Active Directory, then password changes made on one system may fail when synched to the other system. The default password syntax setting on Directory Server mimics the default password complexity rules that Active Directory enforces.

Active Directory uses the attribute streetAddress for a user or group's postal address; this is the way that Directory Server uses the street attribute. There are two important differences in the way that Active Directory and Directory Server use the streetAddress and street attributes, respectively:

Because of the different ways that Directory Server and Active Directory handle streetAddress and street attributes, there are two rules to follow when setting address attributes in Active Directory and Directory Server:

For the initials attribute, Active Directory imposes a maximum length constraint of six characters, but Directory Server does not have a length limit. If an initials attribute longer than six characters is added to Directory Server, the value is trimmed when it is synchronized with the Active Directory entry.