How to Enable Active Directory System Group Discovery

Use the Active Directory System Group Discovery method to discover the following:

•  Organizational units
•  Global groups
•  Universal groups
•  Nested groups
•  Non-security groups (Distribution Groups)

Active Directory System Group Discovery can be run only on primary sites. It polls Active Directory for all system resources in the Configuration Manager database, including those discovered at child sites, and including secondary sites. Because Active Directory System Group Discovery does not contact the computers directly, the computers do not have to be turned on to be discovered. Polling performed by Active Directory System Group Discovery can generate significant network traffic; schedule the discovery to occur at times when this network traffic does not adversely affect network use.

1. Open the Configuration Manager Console and navigate to the Discovery Methods node. In the right pane, right-click on the Active Directory System Group Discovery component and select Properties.
2. Select Enable Active Directory System Group Discovery. Click the button to add a search location.
3. Select Local domain as the location and accept the other default settings. Click OK.
4. Select the container that contains the computers that Configuration Manager will discover.
Note
Ensure that the container(s) that contain the computers that have already been discovered by the Active Directory System Discovery method are specified. Click OK.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each container to be searched.
6. Click the Polling Schedule tab. Select Run discovery as soon as possible. Click Schedule to specify an ongoing schedule for the discovery process. Click OK.
 

To monitor the progress of the discovery, or to verify that the discovery process ran successfully, review the log file <Configuration Manager installation folder>\Logs\Adsysgrp.log. Also, look at the individual records from the administrator console to verify that the additional discovery information has been appended. To view the discovery details, either double-click a resource from it in the All Systems collection in the Configuration Manager Console, or right-click on the computer in the Console and select Properties.