Renaming Accounts

The SAP adapter now supports renaming accounts, except when CUA mode is enabled on the adapter. The adapter performs this function by copying an existing account to a new account and deleting the original. SAP discourages renaming accounts, but provides the option in the user management application (Transaction SU01 from the SAP GUI). Therefore, Identity Manager also supports the option. Be aware that SAP may not support the rename feature in future releases.

The SAP GUI uses a different method to perform the rename because it has access to non-public APIs and to the SAP kernel. The following steps provide a high-level description of how the adapter performs the rename operation:

How the SAP Adapter Performs the rename Operation

1. Get the user information for the existing user.

2. Save the ALIAS attribute, if one exists.

3. Create the new user.

4. Set the Activity Groups on the new user.

5. Set the Profiles on the new user.

6. Get the old user’s Personalization Data.

7. Set the new user’s Personalization Data.

8. Delete the old user.

9. Set the Alias on the new user if one was set on the old user.

   If an error occurs during steps 1-3, the operation fails immediately. If an error occurs during steps 4-7, the new user is deleted and the whole operation fails. (If the new user cannot be deleted, a warning is placed into the WavesetResult). If an error occurs during steps 8-9, a warning is added to the WavesetResult, but the operation succeeds.

   The Rename operation requires that a new password be set on the new user. This is most easily accomplished by customizing the Rename User Task to invoke the Change User Password Task.