Add custom Active Directory attribute to SCCM inventory

I get often ask if it’s possible to add custom Active Directory attribute to SCCM inventory.

The answer is yes, you can add any AD attribute, and it’s quite simple.

For this post, I’ll add the Description attribute from a computer account.

Configuration

Natiguate to Administration / Hierarchy configuration / Discovery Method
Right click Active Directory System Discovery
Select the Active Directory Attributes tab
Enter or select your attribute from the Available Attributes list
If the wanted attribute is not listed, simply click the Custom button and enter it manually
Click Add
Ensure that your new attribute is listed in the Selected attribute list and click OK. In this example, I’ve added Description attribute.

Once completed, initiate a Full Discovery on Active Directory System Discovery by right clicking it and choose Run Full Discovery Now

Wait for the scan to finish, you can monitor the process by opening adsysdis.log on your site server.

As this is discovery data, the resulting data will be stored in the V_R_System view.

Collection

With this new data you could create a new collection based on this newly collected data.

Create a new collection
Add a Query Membership Rule
Edit the Query Statement
Add a new criteria
Click the Select button and select System Resource under Attribute class
Select Description under Attribute
Select the desired value (ex: like %SQL% ) and close all windows. This will add all resources having SQL in the description filed
Update collection membership and see the result in your collection

SQL/Report

You can also query this information and include it in your reports.

Select Name0,Description0 
from v_r_system

For my example I’ve run the query on the computer shown in the first screenshot.

The description field in SCCM matches the data from Active Directory.

Use the following Technet link to know more about Active Directory system discovery.