Active Directory - Users with 'Unspecified' domain and no Group Membership

Symptoms:

  • All Users domains are listed as Unspecfied within the User’s tab
  • All users are listed as not having any Applied Group or OU.
  • Group and OU quotas and restrictions do not apply to any users
  • All users report as (Ungrouped Users) within Group Reports, even when groups are properly activated
  • All users report as .Domain Root within Organizational Unit Reports, even when they are in a specific OU

Applies To:

This article applies to Print Manager Plus 2010. Current version build at time of last article update: 8.0.137.172

Causes & Solutions:

1. The Machine Account does not have Read Access to Active Directory
By default all machines that are a member of a domain have read permissions to Active Directory. In some high security environments these standard default rights have been revoked causing a failure when looking up user information.

Solution: Use a Service Logon
Change the Print Manager Plus Service Logon to a domain account that has the proper permissions.

a. Browse to [Administrative Tools] > [Services] on the print server running Print Manager Plus.

b. Right click on the service and choose [Properties].

c. Within the [Logon] tab you must specify a domain user account with the following permissions. The account should be entered in DomainUser format.

  • Local Administrative Rights to the Print Server
  • Administrative Rights to the Print Manager Plus Database 
    (Typically included with Local Administrative Rights)

d. Click Apply and then Restart the Print Manager Plus service.

2. (Uncommon): The Print Manager Plus service is configured to use a ‘Local Account’:

If the Print Manager Plus service has been configured improperly using a ‘Local Account’ on the system, rather than a domain account this can occur.

Solution: Use a Service Logon
Change the Print Manager Plus Service Logon to a domain account that has the proper permissions.

a. Browse to [Administrative Tools] > [Services] on the print server running Print Manager Plus.

b. Right click on the service and choose [Properties].

c. Within the [Logon] tab you must specify a domain user account with the following permissions. The account should be entered in DomainUser format.

  • Local Administrative Rights to the Print Server
  • Administrative Rights to the Print Manager Plus Database 
    (Typically included with Local Administrative Rights)

d. Click Apply and then Restart the Print Manager Plus service.

 

3. (Uncommon): The user is not in the same domain as the Print Server:
By default, Print Manager Plus tracks domain information only for users that located within the same active directory domain.

Solution: Ensure addition domains are added

a. A two way trust must be configured and operational between the two domains.  This is configured within Active Directory and is beyond the scope of this guide, or Print Manager Plus support.

b. Within Print Manager Plus, go to [Settings] > [Define Trusted Domains].  Here you can additional directory listing domains that Print Manager Plus will use to look up domain information for.

4. (Rare): A Domain Controller could be contacted for that User:
Issue usually indicates a pre-exisiting network issue of some kind. 

  • Ensure you can successfully logon to your domain controller.
  • Create a new user account, and then test logging in with that user account from the print server.
  • Attempt to join a new computer to the domain.

 

Repairing User listed with no domain information:

Once the issue has been resolved, you will want to test and fix the issue with your accounts with following steps.

1. Select all users on the Users tab who are listed as domain 'unspecified'.

2. Proceed to delete their user account by clicking [Delete these accounts] on the left hand side.

3. Allow users to print. The next time each user prints, their account will be re-added with the correct Active Directory information, and settings.

Note About Deleting Users in Print Manager Plus:
Deleting user accounts within Print Manager Plus does not delete or affect their account within Active Directory.

It removes the following:

  • Current quota information
  • Group and OU membership settings
  • Restriction settings

Print history will remain fully intact.

 

Non-Resolution:
In the event none of the mentioned causes and solutions resolved your issue. Please follow the following steps to provide support with valuable information to assist in troubleshooting further.

  • Locate a user that was added with domain 'unspecified' and delete that user's account within Print Manager Plus.


Log File Name: PQService_(day of the week)_1.log
Log File location - 32 Bit System: C:WindowsSystem32
Log File Location - 64 Bit System: C:WindowsSysWow64