Create groups from Active Directory and Configuration Manager collections

Aug 14, 2017

You can create groups for your applications, based on grouping structures discovered from Active Directory and Configuration Manager.

It is important to understand that there is not a direct mapping between the grouping structures in Active Directory and Configuration Manager and groups in AppDNA. In AppDNA, groups are simply sets of applications – they help structure and organize the applications in your portfolio. They make it easy to review and report on the applications in the group separately from the rest of your portfolio. In Active Directory and Configuration Manager, the grouping structures represent sets of users and computers, some of which might represent real people and computers and some might represent dummy accounts used for authentication, for example.

Some of the Active Directory and Configuration Manager grouping structures reflect the organization’s structure (such as divisions, departments, and geographical locations) and hardware or software scenarios. For example, there might be an Active Directory group that represents the finance office in London and another that represents designers in France. Similarly, there might be a Configuration Manager collection that manages mobile devices, and another that manages servers running Windows Server 2012.

Active Directory groups and Configuration Manager collections can provide useful insight in AppDNA, because Active Directory and Configuration Manager deploy managed applications to them. So the Active Directory group that represents the French designers may have the specialist applications that the designers use associated with it. If you create an AppDNA group based on this Active Directory group, the managed applications deployed to that Active Directory group are automatically added to the AppDNA group (provided those managed applications have been imported or linked with applications already in AppDNA). You can then conveniently analyze and report on this group of applications in AppDNA.

Note: The number of managed applications shown include only those that have been deployed to the Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection. This is not necessarily the same as the number of managed applications that have been deployed to the members (users and computers) of the Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection.

To create a group

1. From the AppDNA menus, choose Configure > AD & ConfigMgr > Manage Groups.

   • The left side of the screen shows the groups that have already been created in AppDNA.
   • The right side of the screen shows the Active Directory organizational units (OUs) and groups, and Configuration Manager collections, in a tree view or a list.
   • The lower part of the screen shows for the item that you select on the right side of the screen either the managed applications deployed to the item or the applications in AppDNA that are linked to them, depending on whether you select the Deployments or Applications option.

2. On the right side of the screen, click the item on which you want to base the new AppDNA group.

3. Drag the item from the right side to where you want to place it in the tree on the left side of the screen. Alternatively, click the item in the tree on the left under which you want the new group to appear and click Create.

   If the Active Directory or Configuration Manager item has child items, AppDNA creates a corresponding set of nested groups. AppDNA automatically adds any applications associated with the Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection to the newly created application group. If the Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection has more than 20 associated applications, AppDNA displays a warning message to check that you want to proceed.

   Groups created through the AD & ConfigMgr Collections screen are visible and editable in Manage > Groups.

Add associated applications to a group

To add applications associated with an Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection to an AppDNA group:

1. From the AppDNA menus, choose Configure > AD & ConfigMgr > Manage Groups.

2. Click the group to which you want to add applications.

3. On the right side of the screen, click the item whose associated applications you want to add to the group and then click Add.

   If the applications that are deployed to the Active Directory group or Configuration Manager collection subsequently changes, you must update the AppDNA group to reflect the changes.