Vault 2022 User Display Name

[ThomasRambach]

In Vault 2021, our Vault usernames "User Name" are like {DOMAIN}/{USERNAME}

In Vault 2022, it removes the "User Name" field and replaces it with "Display Name" like {Lastname}, {Firstname}.

Generally, I like the options in Vault 2022 but is there a way to retain the "User Name" information like it had in Vault 2021? We have a lot of other systems that need to be updated that require this field as-is.

[ihayesjr · Accepted solution]

There isn't a way to place the old username into the display name after migration. You can use the API and replace the display name with those values.

[ThomasRambach]

Thanks @ihayesjr. That should be something we can work with.

[Magnus-HW]

Why do you create more work for me???
Now I have to go through ALL the drawings that has been released since update and regenerate all DWF & PDF as the User Friendly Name is used in the drawings for Checked By and makes an unreadable mess on all those drawings!
This was not a good way to do it 😞 

[dpeters1]

Surely this was an unnecessary change to make.  Why - what was the reason behind removing username?

[dpeters1]

ihayesjr:

What do you mean "use the API and replace the display name with those values."?

[smilinger]

Unbelievable, when making a such big change to your product, did it ever occur to you that some users may want to keep the old way?

[ihayesjr]

@smilinger and @dpeters1 

The reason for the change was based on a lot of feedback we received from customers who use Windows Authentication as their primary method of accessing Vault. Larger customers have Active Directory names that are not human readable and they needed a way to know who that person is inside of Vault.

See Different Display Name for Windows Users - Autodesk Community

We did make the mistake of changing the display name for all accounts but with the 2022.1 Update, we provided a way to resolve it easier. You can export the entire list of accounts to an excel document, make the changes to the fields and import the changes back in.

Vault 2023 Help | Export User/Group | Autodesk

Vault 2023 Help | Import User Updates | Autodesk

[dpeters1]

Thanks for the explanation.  The workaround with a spreadsheet might be of interest to some.  Interested in whether there will be a fix (as opposed to a workaround) in the future?

[ihayesjr]

@dpeters1 

Once you have migrated to 2022 this doesn't happen again. No "fix" is needed.

[dpeters1]

This happened "when" we migrated to 2022.  We are currently running 2022.3.1 update.

[ihayesjr]

@dpeters1 

Yes, this was a new feature change in Vault 2022. It won't happen to you again. You are now in the new structure.

[dpeters1]

Sorry, now you have me confused.  This is a problem or "mistake" made in 2022.  According to you there was a workaround made possible in 2022.1.  I am saying that this happened when we upgraded from 2020 to 2022, and we are currently running 2022.3.1.  Now you are saying that "It won't happen to you again. You are now in the new structure."

I'm running 2022.3.1.  Can I get username back in the grid or not?

[ihayesjr]

You can get the username in the Display Name property by exporting them and importing the changes. 

We also added an enhancement where users who use the Active Directory integration. They are able to create a custom Display Name from a template when the account is created. Vault 2023 Help | Display Name Template for Windows Accounts | Autodesk

If we were to make another change that automatically moved the "username" into the Display Name, I would have users complaining about doing the opposite and causing the same problem you are having now. The ability to import the changes allows all users to customize the way the display names are set. Future releases should not make any changes in the display name. 

[dpeters1]

OK I appreciate your explanation.  Thanks

[smilinger]

I am not against the change. What I insist on is that even after the change there should be some easy way to allow the old behavior. From what I can see now there is no simple way to get back the simple "DOMAIN\username" account name. There are profile attributes and display templates that I can play with, but none of them can do simply that. I see there are so many attributes that I can retrieve from the Active Directory, most of which are totally USELESS, I just don't understand why this simple "DOMAIN\username" is not in them.

Another big problem with the new behavior is that the display name is not guaranteed to be unique, if there are duplicate display names when importing new domain groups, Vault will not allow it, we need to change the existing duplicated user display names before importing again. In big companies, it is a good chance that there are some duplicate display names, in the end, we end up with some display names like 'Henry Smith 1', 'Henry Smith 2', 'Henry Smith 3', etc.

[ihayesjr]

@smilinger 

You should be able to get the domain name and username from the lists of Active Directory attributes. I do understand that this may be hard to find.

As far as the duplicate names, you might be able to design the template in a way to eliminate the adding of a number at the end of the name. Even after it is created, the administrator can manually change the name if one of these is created.

[smilinger]

@ihayesjr, I still can't find the attribute for the domain name, can you point me in the right direction?

[ihayesjr]

@smilinger 

Let's say your domain name is ACME.

In the template type in "ACME\" without the quotes.

Then find the AD attribute that gives you the login name. It might be SAM-Account-Name.

Your template field may look like the following.

ACME\{SAM-Account-Name}

The preview field may look like the following.

ACME\smilinger

[ThomasRambach]

@ihayesjr My issue with all that is having multiple domain names throughout our Vault. We've opted to start using email addresses as usernames for 2023.