Indexing attributes in the Active Directory

The default Microsoft Active Directory schema is full of attributes. If you by chance pick some unused attributes and reuse them for your own purposes, there’s a caveat – some attributes are indexed and some other are not. And as you can expect – this makes a huge difference if your business processing relies on searching the AD database.

Fortunately, AD can be reconfigured to create an index over any attribute. These articles describe all required steps:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755885(WS.10).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa995762(EXCHG.65).aspx

In short:

1. You have to be in “Schema Admins” AD group
2. You have to install the Active Directory Schema MMC snapin (just regsvr32.exe schmmgmt.dll and the snapin will be available)
3. Run the snapin “as the administrator” from the shell
4. Locate your attribute, double click it and check both “Index this attribute” and (optionally) “Replicate this attribute to the Global Catalog”