Connect Namely to Active Directory

A Namely personal access token uses its profile’s permissions and stops working if the profile is deactivated. Create a dedicated ezOnboard profile to keep access independent of staff changes.

Assign the Administrator role, which Namely requires for API access. Mark the profile as a non-employee or exclude it from reports so it isn’t counted as staff. ezOnboard only reads Namely.

Sign in as the ezOnboard profile. Open Admin → API → Personal Access Tokens. Choose New Access Token, name it ezOnboard and choose Create. If API isn’t available, ask your Namely administrator for access.

Copy the token to a secure location before closing the dialog. Namely shows it only once. Note your company subdomain: the part of your address before .namely.com. You’ll need both in step 5.

The agent runs as a Windows service on a domain-joined server with Windows Server 2019 or later. It connects to Namely and ezOnboard over outbound HTTPS. No inbound firewall rules are needed.

Download the signed MSI and enrollment bundle from the portal. Save the install code. The portal shows it only once. Run the MSI, enter the code and choose a service account, preferably a group managed service account. The installer checks the domain connection, LDAP access, outbound access and clock before making changes.

Run the installer’s delegation script once as a domain administrator. It lets the agent’s service account create, update and disable accounts only in the OUs you choose. The agent doesn’t need Domain Admin rights.

Include the OUs for staff accounts, disabled accounts and managed groups. The agent blocks changes outside these OUs, even if a rule requests them.

In the portal, add Namely as an HR source using the personal access token and your company subdomain. Your credentials are encrypted with your organization’s key and sent to your agent. The agent reads Namely from your network. Nobody at ezOnboard can read the credentials.

Choose a field to match people across both systems, usually work email or employee ID. The agent checks Namely every five minutes and catches up on any missed changes.

Choose which Namely fields update each directory attribute. Start with the defaults below, add custom fields or combine values. For example, build a display name from first and last names, format a job title or look up an office address by site.

Blank Namely fields leave directory values unchanged unless you configure the mapping to clear them.

Rules define who gets an account, which OU it belongs in, how it’s named and which groups it joins. They also control offboarding. Use Namely fields, such as department and site, to make those choices.

Our implementation team helps you write the rules. With approvals enabled, your team must approve each rule change before the agent uses it.

Run a dry run for your whole workforce. The agent matches Namely records to existing accounts by employee ID, then work email, and previews changes without applying them. If two accounts match one person, that action stops for review.

Review the planned changes and the rules behind them in the portal. Adjust your rules and repeat the dry run until the results match your expectations.

Turn off dry run to apply changes. If a run would disable or move more accounts than your safety limits allow, it stops and alerts your team before making changes. We review the first runs with you.

HR continues working in Namely. Your rules handle new accounts, updates and offboarding on schedule. Get alerts by email, in the portal or by webhook when a run stops, the HR feed stops updating or the agent stops reporting. An inactive feed never triggers offboarding.