Manage groups with Toolkit

View a group on Toolkit

The Group view lists groups and distribution lists at the selected institution. Two sections are available:

• Hybrid AD (Active Directory) groups - to view and manage the hybrid (AD-sourced) groups,
• Cloud-only groups - to view and manage cloud-only (Entra) groups.

Hybrid AD groups

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The list shows:

• the institution
• display name
• membership count
• if the group is hidden in the Global Address List
• if the group is synchronised with a Lookup group and the last sync status message
• the email address for distribution lists

The Lookup synchronization column will:

• be blank if the group is not being synchronised with Lookup
• have an upload arrow if the group is being synchronised to Lookup
• have a download arrow if the group is being synchronised from Lookup
• provide a brief description of the last sync status alongside the arrow

Cloud-only groups

cloudonly_group.png

The list shows:

• the institution
• display name
• description
• group type - Security or Mail-enabled
• membership type - Assigned or Dynamic
• membership count
• an icon to indicate the MPS and Special groups

Navigating the Groups view 

Select a column heading to sort the list by that column.

To the top right of the screen, you’ll find Add, Edit, Delete and Export buttons.

To Export the currently displayed list, use the arrow button next to the Export option to export the file as a CSV or Excel file.

To view additional group details, double-select a row in the table. Additional group details will expand on the right-hand side of the screen. If you have permission, these details are editable.

Create a group or distribution list

Cloud-only groups should be the default option. Use hybrid groups only when you need them to "talk" to Blue. For example, it needs to be used by the Institutional File Store (IFS).

To create a group:

1. select the institution you wish to create a group for using the menu on the left of the screen. The "add" button is disabled until only one institution is selected.
2. select "add"
3. enter a "Display name" field. For hybrid groups, this is the only required field and must be unique across Blue AD
4. for cloud-only group, choose the group type and then complete all of the mandatory fields. These are marked with an asterisk
5. select "Create group" to confirm. The group will be created using a GUID as the underlying AD object name (to ensure uniqueness)

If you wish to synchronise the membership of the group with a Lookup group (hybrid groups only), choose a sync type of "To Lookup" or "From Lookup'" and the Lookup group you wish to sync with.

For a Lookup group to appear in the group list:

• the current Toolkit user must be able to manage the Lookup group
• the “uis-toolkit-group-sync” Lookup group must have permissions set to “Managed by” on the target Lookup group (for syncing to/from) or “Privileged access by” if only syncing from Lookup.

Once configured, syncing will occur approximately once an hour. Changes to the group membership will be logged in the “Audit” section.

To create a distribution list (hybrid groups only. For the cloud-only equivalent, use Mail-enabled Security Group):

1. select the institution you wish to create a distribution list for using the menu on the left of the screen. The "Add" button is disabled until only one institution is selected.
2. select "Add"
3. enter a "Display name" field, add a "Primary address" email and select a domain from the dropdown list. The dropdown list will contain the domains available to the selected institution.
4. choose whether the distribution list will be hidden in the Global Address List. By default, they will be visible.
5. select "+’" in the permitted senders section and enter the CRSID, display name or email address to add permitted senders to the distribution list, if required. This will enable only "Permitted Senders" to send email to the distribution list.
6. select "–‘" to remove a permitted sender
7. select "Create group" to create the distribution list.

Edit a selected group or distribution list

To edit a group or distribution list:

1. select the group you wish to edit.
2. select the "Edit" button
3. alter any aspect of the group and select "Apply changes" to make the change

You can also amend a group membership by selecting the Members tab at the top of the screen. View group membership for more details.

Delete a group or distribution list

To delete a group or distribution list:

1. select the group you wish to delete
2. select the "Delete" button to open a confirmation dialogue. Select "Delete" to confirm or "Cancel" to cancel the action. Once "Delete" is confirmed, there is no undo function.

View group membership

To view group membership:

1. double-select the group in the group table, or select "Edit" if available
2. select the Members tab to open the members list
3. add or remove group members using the buttons in the members table toolbar
4. to export the members list select "Export to CSV"

Licensing group membership will be shown for each user. This indicates whether group members have access to EES-provided services such as Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint. It also shows whether they are licensed for Exchange Online and have a mailbox.

Please note: users may appear to be licensed before the automated processes have assigned the relevant licenses. There can be a delay of approximately three hours in some cases.

Add new users to a group

To add a user to a group:

1. select the group you wish to add a user to
2. select "Add" to open a dialogue in which users can be added

An "Add group members" pop-up allows you to add users in several ways:

• "Choose users manually" - Enter CRSIDs into this field separated by commas or spaces. You can also enter email addresses. It will search Blue AD for an object with that email address and add it to the group. If none are found, a new “Contact object” will be automatically created.
• "Upload a file of users" - the file will have one CRSID or email address per line.
• "Select the members of another group" - the members of that group will be added to the selected group.
• "A nested group in this one" - a group will become a nested member of the selected group.

Any combination of the above selections can be used.

• choose "select members" to stage the new group members for addition. You will see a table confirming the users to be added.
• select "Add members’ to confirm. You will see a notification showing which users have been successfully added and which couldn’t be (for example, because they are already members).

Note: This option is not available if the group is synced from Lookup, or for the cloud-only group with dynamic membership.

Remove users from a group

To remove users from a group:

1. use the checkboxes next to the group members to select which users to remove
2. select the "remove’" button to confirm. A notification will appear showing which users were successfully removed and which couldn’t be.

Note: This option is not available if the group is synced from Lookup, or for the cloud-only group with dynamic membership.

Export to CSV

In most places where a list of items is displayed - for example, the group list or the membership list - you will find an "Export to CSV" button to the right of the toolbar.

To export a group:

1. select "Export to CSV" to convert the visible entries in the list into a CSV file 
2. select the arrow next to the button to open or save the file in an Excel format.

Get help

If you need further support with Toolkit, raise a ticket in the IT self-service portal. Mark it for the attention of the collaboration tools team.