Adding People to Active Directory Groups for Access to Shared Department Folders, OnBase or Other Applications.

In easy to understand terms, the Active Directory helps us protect our computers, systems and other objects on our network from unauthorized use and applies group policies to help keep our computers and network safe and secure.  

We can use the Active Directory to add employees to groups that are allowed access to certain applications like the OnBase Document Management System,  your department's Shared Department Folders, and other applications that require strict security.   Generally, the Access Controller is someone in your department charged with adding people to these groups.

  • Employees are never granted access to Shared Department Folders and other applications directly; they are always added to groups.
  • Contact support to have the Active Directory application installed on your machine.
This Information is Intended for:
Instructors, Researchers, Staff

To add an employee to a group, the Access Controller must:

  1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers application.
    Screenshot of the Active Directory User and Computers Desktop icon
    * If you do not see this application on your desktop, you can access it via the Virtual SINC Site.
  2. Click to select the campus.stonybrook.edu domain and then click on the Find objects in Active Directory Domain Services icon.
    Screenshot showing the Find Objects in Active Directory Domain Services icon within the Active Directory Users and Computers administrative panel
  3. In the Find Users, Contacts, and Groups window, enter the group name that can access the shared department folder in the Name: field and then click Find Now.   The Search results will be listed below.
    Screenshot showing a user, contacts and groups search by name
    If you cannot find the group, you are typing in the wrong name.  See further in the documentation for Tips for Searching to help you find your group.
  4. Double-click on the group in the Search Results to open the group’s properties:
    Screenshot of a search results detailed properties.
  5. Click the Members tab.  Here you can see who is a member of the group. Click the Add button:
    Screenshot of the Members tab under a selected groups properties which lists the users or groups that belong to this Group.
  6. Enter the new member’s NetID in the Enter the object names to select field.   You can add multiple users by separating their NetIDs with semicolons:
    Screenshot showing how to add additional users to a group. Enter each users NetID and separate multiple users with a semicolon (;)
  7. Click Check Names to ensure accuracy and then click OK.
    Screenshot highlighting the Check names button after entering multiple NetIDs

 

Tips for searching

In step 3 (above), when looking for groups, searching for “training” yields no results.   Searching “doit” yields too many results. You will need to know the name of the group you are searching for to add members to it.

If you do not know the name, you can find the group name in the properties of a Shared Department Folder you already have access to:

  1. Open This PC (Windows 10) or Computer (Windows 7) in File Explorer, by holding down the Windows button on your keyboard and tapping “E”:
    Keyword showing the Windows Key + E Key shortcut to open windows explorer
  2. Look for the Shared Department Folder, right-click on it and click Properties:
    Screenshot of windows explorer showing a mapped drives context menu and the properties menu item selected
  3. Click the Security tab.  Here you will see a list of Groups that have access to the folder.  For example, the image below shows that the group DoIT Training and another group called Administrators have access to the “Training...” folder.
    Screenshot showing the security tab of a mapped drives properties showing the groups and users who have access to that drive.
  4. Use the correct spelling you see listed under Groups or user names for step 3 (searching for groups) in the documentation above.
This Content Last Updated:
01/28/2026

Supported By


Customer Engagement and Support
This Information is Intended for:
Instructors, Researchers, Staff
Estimated Read Time:
2 minutes
Important Files & Links:
This Content Last Updated:
01/28/2026