Published Date : 10 Jan 2017
Last Updated : 12 May 2023
Content Ref: TEC5427652
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Summary
Detailed information about MIS Sync for RM Unify.
Symptoms
RM Cloud Service Delivery can assist you with your RM Unify AD Sync, MIS Sync and Network Provisioning installations. For further information, please speak to your Sales representative on 0845 070 0300 or email getintouch@rm.com, quoting this article.
Requirements
Benefits of getting your MIS data into RM Unify
Enabling data sync from your MIS allows you to benefit from:
Enriched user data such as year group, registration group, MIS ID and UPN.
Simplified user management using teaching groups.
The ability to push year, registration and teaching groups to Microsoft® 365™ as education classes for use with Teams, ensuring Teams membership remains in sync with MIS. Or optionally, to push MIS groups to Microsoft 365 groups.
The ability to push year, registration, and teaching groups to Google Classroom
Making this MIS data available to apps, giving your establishment a wider choice of apps.
The Invite Parents functionality to create parent accounts in RM Unify.
'Create mode' or 'Link mode'?
There is a key decision that you need to make on how RM Unify should process your MIS data. You can use MIS Sync in Create mode or Link mode:
Use MIS data to drive your user management - creation, modification and deletion of users; we call this 'Create mode'.
Use your AD or a CSV to drive user management but enrich the user data with information from your MIS; we call this 'Link mode'.
Regardless of the mode you select, you will still get the benefits highlighted in the section above and in both cases you can continue to manually create users for those people that will never appear in your MIS or AD.
Note on 'Create mode': You cannot use 'Create mode' and run RM Unify AD Sync at the same time. Therefore, if you are currently using RM Unify AD Sync and you wish to switch to Create mode but also retain Windows device single sign-on (DSSO) and RM SafetyNet user based web filtering (UBF), you will need to also enable RM Unify Network Provisioning. Please refer to the RM SafetyNet help area for details.
Supported MISs
Currently supported:
Arbor
Bromcom
SIMS (inc SIMS Connected)
Cloud School
Facility CMIS
Integris
iSAMS by IRIS
Juniper Horizons (formerly Pupil Asset)
ScholarPack*
SEEMiS Click and Go (for Glow schools)
WCBS (on-premise)
*ScholarPack does not support teaching groups, so these will not synchronise to RM Unify, nor will they onward sync to Google Classroom, or to Microsoft 365 as groups/classes.
Why drive user management from the MIS?
Driving the user management from the MIS has some clear advantages for you:
User data is managed in just one place.
It saves time and money.
It helps to maintain data accuracy - no re-keying mistakes.
It improves the timeliness of data flow - no stale, out of date, data.
In an ideal world the IT systems you use could be provisioned for a new starter before they've even left the school office. At RM, we realise that there need to be controls in place, as different schools have their own IT policies. To this end, we are currently implementing features to allow you to customise the experience.
Did you enable 'MIS Sync in Link mode'? If, yes, then do not follow the remaining instructions in this article. Simply follow the three steps shown in the link above.
Or did you enable 'MIS Sync in Create mode'? If yes and you are using AD Sync, you must uninstall AD Sync from the network. See the steps below to transition from other provisioning methods to MIS Sync.
Data sync from the MIS
It is vitally important that your MIS data is well managed, as it now drives downstream IT system provisioning and controls access to essential systems.
Here are some of the key facts for the data sync:
Data is extracted from MIS and sent to RM Unify nightly - the exact time varies, dependent on MIS.
Data is sent securely using strong, standards-based authentication and encryption.
The MIS can be considered the master data for RM Unify and the quality of the data in the MIS will be reflected in the user data in RM Unify.
Once a new student or staff member is received by RM Unify, it will create an account using the username policy you've defined and make the username and password for all new users available on the Download Passwords page in the RM Unify Management Console.
If a teacher changes their name and this is modified in the MIS, RM Unify will not update their username automatically. Instead, as the RM Unify Administrator, you can go into the Management Console at any time before or after the change, and update that person's username.
Possible Issues
Synchronisation status
The 'Last sync from MIS' timestamp, in the RM Unify Management Console Dashboard, indicates the last time any data was synchronised from the MIS. If the date is a day, or two days, or a week etc, in the past, it does not indicate that MIS Sync has stopped working. It simply means that no data has been synchronised since that date.
For reference, all MISs automatically sync to RM Unify overnight. RM Unify Group Sync also syncs overnight to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
More Information
If you are planning to enable RM Unify Network Provisioning, please refer to the transitioning guide in TEC5797912 in the Other Useful Articles section below.
If you are not planning to enable RM Unify Network Provisioning then see below for how to transition from existing provisioning methods.
Transitioning from CSV sync or manual user creation
Enable RM Unify MIS Sync for your MIS, selecting the 'Link mode' option.
Use the Link Users page to link existing users to their MIS identities.
In Link Users, 'Display as Table', confirm you have the user counts shown in the Link Users table below.
Change the selected MIS Sync mode from 'Link mode' to 'Create mode'.
Transitioning from CSV sync where you are already using MIS Sync in 'Link mode'
Resolve any unlinked MIS identities and/or RM Unify users using the Link Users page in the Management Console.
In Link Users, 'Display as Table', confirm you have the user counts shown in the Link Users table below.
Change the selected MIS Sync mode from 'Link mode' to 'Create mode'.
Transitioning from AD Sync
Uninstall RM Unify AD Sync and Password Filter from the network.
If not already enabled, enable MIS Sync for your MIS, selecting the 'Link mode' option.
Use the Link Users page to complete linking existing users to their MIS identities.
In Link Users, 'Display as Table', confirm you have the user counts shown in the Link Users table below.
Change the selected MIS Sync mode from 'Link mode' to 'Create mode', following the instructions on the page.
Transitioning from AD Sync where you are already using MIS Sync in 'Link mode'
Uninstall RM Unify AD Sync and Password Filter* from the network.
Resolve any unlinked MIS identities and/or RM Unify users using the Link Users admin console page.
In Link Users, 'Display as Table', confirm you have the user counts shown in the Link Users table below.
Change the selected MIS Sync mode from 'Link mode' to 'Create mode', following the instructions on the page.
*if you are going to install RM Unify Network Provisioning then leave Password Filter installed on your network
Link users
User category
Number of users
Users with a likely MIS record match
0
Users with a possible MIS record match
0
Users not matched to an MIS record
0
If an RM Unify user does not have an MIS record, then set it as 'User not in MIS'.
MIS records not matched to an RM Unify user
0
If an MIS record does not have an RM Unify account, then set it as 'Has no RM Unify account'.
Further help with linking users can be found in TEC7674490 from the Other Useful Articles section below.
Detail: How to uninstall RM Unify AD Sync and Password Filter
Log on as administrator to the server running the RM Unify AD Sync service.
Navigate to Control Panel, Programs (or 'Programs and Features').
Search for RM Unify AD Sync and select Uninstall. There is no need for a server reboot.
Once uninstallation is completed, you may delete the C:\Program Files(x86)\RM\RM Unify AD Sync folder. If you intend to install Network Provisioning, which uses Password Filter, then stop here.
On every domain controller, navigate to Control Panel, Programs (or 'Programs and Features').
Search for RM Unify Password Filter and click Uninstall.
Reboot the domain controller to complete uninstallation.
Repeat steps 5-7 on all domain controllers on your network.