User Sync in Zoho Connect

User Sync in Zoho Connect

Feature Availability

Overview

Most organizations use enterprise directory systems (such as Active Directory or LDAP) to maintain employee, group, and application information. For larger organizations, it can be difficult to manually add and manage users in the network, as user numbers are high. Zoho Connect's User Sync option simplifies these processes. 

User Sync in Zoho Connect 

User Sync enables you to add, update, and disable user profiles in bulk using a CSV file. Depending on the data provided in the CSV file, you can complete the following actions:
  1. Create new user profiles 
  2. Update details in existing user profiles.
  3. Disable existing member accounts
There are two types of sync options available: Manual sync using CSV and Advanced user sync. 
  1. Manual sync using CSV 
    Users can manually upload a CSV file with user profile details into Connect. This option is useful for small organizations that do not depend on centralized directory systems.

  2. Advanced user sync  
    Advanced sync uses a tool to automatically move user details from your organization’s enterprise directory system (such as Active Directory or LDAP) to Zoho Connect.  The sync tool can also be configured to run at specified intervals. Each time the sync tool runs, it looks for a CSV file in the configured location and uploads it to Connect. 

Who can configure or perform User Sync? 

Only the network admins can configure and perform User Sync. 

How do I perform Manual sync? 

  1. Click the gear icon [] in the menu on the right. 
  2. Select Settings in the dropdown.
     
  3. In the Settings page, click User Sync under Automation.
  4. Click Expand next to Manual user sync using CSV. 
  5. Click Upload CSV and choose a file with user profile details from your device. 
  6. Map the headers in the CSV file to the respective profile fields in the Connect network. 
  7. Once done, click Map and Sync. 

How do I set up Advanced user sync? 

The pre-requisites to perform Advanced user sync are as follows: 

OS and software requirements: Zoho Connect's User Sync tool is built with .NET Framework 4.5. Therefore, a device with Windows 7 or later and .NET Framework pre-installed is required to configure Advanced user sync.  
 
To set up Advanced user sync, you'll have to perform the following steps. 
 
Step 1: Download the sync tool
  1. Click the gear icon [] in the menu on the right. 
  2. Select Settings in the dropdown.
     
  3. In the Settings page, click User Sync under Automation.
  4. Click Expand next to Advanced user sync. 

  5. Upload a CSV file that contains the fields in your organization's database and map them to the respective profile fields in the Connect network. 
  6. Click Download next to the sync tool that matches your system specifications. 
Step 2: Log in to the sync tool and select the network
  1. Open and run the downloaded file.
  2. Log in using your Zoho credentials.
  3. Select the Zoho Connect network where user and profile details need to be updated.
  4. Save the changes. 
Step 3: Create a trigger schedule

  1. Open the Windows Task Scheduler.
  2. Under the actions panel, click Create Task and enter the required details.
  3. Navigate to the Triggers tab, click New, and define the recurrence type. It can be daily, weekly, or monthly.
  4. Switch to the Actions tab and click New.
  5. From the dropdown, select the action Start a program.
  6. For the Program/script field, click Browse and select the downloaded .exe file.
  7. In the Add arguments field, enter "--action=sync --conf=#configuration file location#" (note: the configuration file location will be your user's folder followed by "\ZohoCSVSync\ZohoCSVSync.conf" so the complete configuration file location will be "C:\Users\test\ZohoCSVSync\ZohoCSVSync.conf").
  8. Click Okay.
 
Once you've set it up, the sync tool will execute in the scheduled intervals. Each time the tool runs, it looks for a CSV file in the configured location and uploads it to Connect using APIs. The user profiles are added, disabled, or enabled based on the data in the CSV file. 

Handlers 

Handlers in User Sync enable you to perform customized actions on the input data. You'll define the necessary action by using the Deluge script to write a custom function in these handlers. 
 
Currently, User Sync has two handlers: Function Handler and Post-Function Handler. Logs in each handler store the details of the action performed and its results. You can use these logs to keep track of actions, as well as analyze and debug issues. 
 
Function Handler: Define the action to be executed before syncing the user details with the Zoho Connect network. Ideally, this handler is triggered once a CSV file is uploaded. You can use this handler to make changes to the data in the CSV file. For example, you can write a function to change the email domain based on the location or reorder the first name and last name to align with local usage. 

Post-Function Handler: Define the action to be executed after syncing the user details with the Zoho Connect network. You can use this handler to notify the admin that the user details are synced or send a welcome email to the newly added members. 
 
 
If you have any questions about User Sync, please write to us at support@zohoconnect.com. We're happy to help!