Creating new users usually involves setting multiple attributes for the user. This can be time consuming and tedious, especially if you are creating multiple users. User templates can reduce the effort required to create new user accounts.
They also reduce the chance of errors when setting properties for users.
Most users in a department, business unit, or OU will share many common attributes, such as group memberships and home directory locations.
In AD DS, a user template is simply an account that you configure with all the properties that are common to that job role or department. For example, you might create a user account named Sales_Template that has all the attributes that apply to your salespeople. Then, when your organization hires a new salesperson, you can copy the template to create the new account.
Note: Best practices include disabling the template account so that no one can use it to sign in, and putting an underscore at the beginning of the name so that the template account is always at the top of the user list and easy to locate.
Only the most commonly used attributes are copied from the template over to the new user account. These include:
Group memberships
Home directories
Profile settings
Logon scripts
Logon hours
Password settings
Department name
Manager
When you copy an account, you must provide the following information for the new account:
First name
Last name
Full name
User logon name
Password
Attribute fields that are not copied from the template include:
Office
Phone numbers
Street address
Job title
Demonstration:
