Update Anchor IDs before creating users

Important

If you want to use SDS to create new users from the V2.1 CSV file format, and you’ve previously run SDS using the OneRoster API, PowerSchool API, or V1 formats, you must first run a PowerShell script to update the already created users' anchor ID to the new format.

Background

SDS supports various sync methods including CSV file formats and API-based syncs. SDS can create users from the source data. If it’s your first time running SDS and you want to create users, you can pick any sync method available and create your users. If you have already created users in SDS, each user will have an anchor ID extension attribute. The anchor ID is used to identify previously synced and created users to make sure SDS doesn’t create duplicate accounts. By stamping the anchor ID, you can create a new sync profile with the "create users" option. SDS will only attempt to create the users that SDS hasn’t previously synced.

Update

The anchor ID format changed with the recent V2.1 schema enhancement. Instead of using the format of student (sis ID) and teacher (sis ID), SDS creates users with user (sis ID).

If you’ve previously run SDS to create users with another sync profile type and attempt to create users with the new V2.1 CSV format, SDS won't find the previously synced users. The result will be errors or duplicate user accounts.

Solution

To mitigate the issue, you must run a PowerShell script to update the anchor IDs for all previously synced users to user (sis ID).

SDS will then find and match all previously synced users and only create new users that haven't been synced before.