When attempting to set audiences on a web part using AD Security groups, you click the
Target Audiences Browse icon (under Advanced in the Web Part properties), and this displays the
Select Audiences dialog box. Then you select
Distribution/Security Groups from the
Find drop down list, type a search key word and then click
Search. Then a list of all the AD Security Groups should be displayed. However, in my case I was getting the message:
No security groups or distribution lists were found based on your search request. Refine the search text, and then rerun the search request.
So I checked the synchronization connection under Configure Synchronization Connections on the Manage Profile Service page in Central Administration, to see if I was omitting an AD container. (You can get to this page by going to Manage Service Applications on the Application Management menu, selecting your User Profile Service Application and selecting Manage in the ribbon). This looked fine as all the AD OUs with the security groups were already being included.
Then I did a full profile synchronization but the AD Security Groups were still missing from the Web Part Audience Picker. I then tried setting permissions on a site and list item, and the AD Security Groups were showing up, but just not in the Audience Picker.
So being unable to find a solution, I decided to delete and re-create the User Profile Service application. I would delete the sync database, but keep the existing user profile and social databases. Steps I followed:
- Went to Manage Service Applications in Central Administration, deleted the User Profile Service Application (without deleting its data - clear the Delete data associated with the Service Application check box).
- Deleted the Sync database from SQL Server
- Created a new User Profile Service Application using the existing user profile and social databases
- Added the Farm account to the local server admin group (can be removed after the next step runs)
- Started the User Profile Synchronization service under Manage services on server link on the System Settings page. Wait for a little while for the status to go from Starting to Started
- Removed the Farm account from the local server admin group (if added it above)
- Re-created the synchronization connection under Configure Synchronization Connections on the Manage Profile Service page in Central Administration.
- Started a full profile synchronization
Went back to the Audience Picker and now the AD Security Groups were showing up. Seems like way over-kill, and perhaps there is a much more simple and elegant solution, but this worked for me.