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Cisco Secure Access Help

Edit AD Authentication Properties

Updated: August 24, 2026

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Provides instructions for completing the Edit AD Authentication Properties workflow in Cisco Secure Access. It explains the sequence of actions and relevant settings presented in the procedure.

Edit the Authentication property for the AD users or endpoint devices in the organization.

Once you add an Active Directory (AD) integration in Cisco Secure Access, you can edit the Authentication property for the AD users or endpoint devices in the organization.

Before you begin

Procedure

  1. Navigate to Connect > Users, Groups, and Endpoint Devices, and click Configuration management.

  2. Navigate to Configurations, and then navigate to Directories.

  3. Expand Active Directory.

  4. Click Edit (pencil icon) at the top of the Active Directory section on the page to edit the authentication properties for the directory integration.


    The AD Directory Integration Edit interface.

  5. Navigate to Users Authentication, and then navigate to Authentication Property.

    1. Select the property that all AD users in the AD directory integration will use to authenticate with Secure Access.

      • User Principal Name—The user principal name of the AD user.

      • Email—The email address of the AD user.

      • SAM Account Name—The SAM account name for the AD user.


      The Users Authentication Select interface.

  6. Navigate to Endpoint Devices Authentication, and then navigate to Authentication Property.

    1. Select the property that all AD endpoint devices in the AD directory integration will use to authenticate with Secure Access or select Not Required.

      • Common Name—The common name (CN) is the unique name of the AD endpoint device within it's organizational unit (OU).

      • Distinguished Name—The name of the AD device that is unique in the organization.

      • Hostname—The hostname of the AD endpoint device.


      The Endpoint Devices Auth Select interface.

  7. Click Save.

Best Practices: Configuring the AD Authentication Properties

  • After a configuration change to the Authentication property, Secure Access begins the update of the Authentication property for the AD users or endpoint devices in the AD directory integration.
    Note
    Updates to the Authentication property for the AD users or endpoint devices may take up to one hour to complete.
  • We do not recommend that the organization update the Authentication property for the AD directory integration frequently. If the organization configures a series of changes to the Authentication property before the first update has completed, an error may occur.
  • After you update the Authentication property for the AD endpoint devices, you must restart the AD Connector to trigger a full synchronization of AD Users, Groups, and Endpoint Devices. For more information, see Restart the Active Directory Connector.