With Microsoft Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010 & Lync & Sharepoint 2010 you can finally get photos into your global address list (GAL) and see just who’s who on your emails. You can do this on 2 way’s

1. Using Powershell

A minor schema change

First stop, the AD Schema. A minor schema modification is required to flip the thumbnailPhoto attribute to make it replicate to the Global Catalog.

1. If you haven’t registered the Schema MMC snap-in on the server you want to make this change on, go ahead and do so using the following command:

   Regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

2. Fire up a MMC console (Start -> Run -> MMC) and add the Schema snap-in

3. In the Active Directory Schema snap-in, expand the Attributes node, and then locate the thumbnailPhoto attribute. (The Schema snap-in lists attributes by its ldapDisplayName).

4. In the Properties page, select Replicate this attribute to the Global Catalog, and click OK.

   

   Figure 1: Modifying the thumbnailPhoto attribute to replicate it to Global Catalog

Loading pictures into Active Directory

Now you can start uploading pictures to Active Directory using the Import-RecipientDataProperty cmdlet, as shown in this example:

Import-RecipientDataProperty -Identity "Ward VIssers" -Picture -FileData ([Byte[]]$(Get-Content -Path "C:\pictures\wardvissers.jpg" -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0))

To perform a bulk operation you can use the Get-Mailbox cmdlet with your choice of filter (or use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet if you want to do this for members of a distribution group), and pipe the mailboxes to a foreach loop. You can also retrieve the user name and path to the thumbnail picture from a CSV/TXT file.

2. Using a Free tool like Outlook Photos from Exclaimer

Download the Tool HERE

The tool is easy to use .

Prerequisites

User Preferences

Domain user – The logged in user’ account is required to be an Active Directory account.

Domain computer – The computer the user is logged into needs to be joined to an Active
Directory domain.

Active Directory permissions – The logged in user must have permission to upload photos to the required Active Directory accounts. (Alternate credentials can be supplied or control of the thumbnailPhoto field can be delegated to the logged in user.)

Operating System

• Windows Server 2003 x86 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Server 2003 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Server 2008 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Server 2008 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Small Business Server 2003 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Small Business Server 2008.
• Windows Small Business Server 2011.
• Windows XP x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows Vista x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
• Windows 7 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).

Other Software

Microsoft Outlook 2010 x86 and x64

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Microsoft Exchange 2010 RTM and above

Active Directory

You must be logged into an Active Directory domain to run the application.

Active Directory Forest
Domain and Forest functional level of Windows Server 2008 and above.
For Domain or Forest functional level of Windows Server 2003, the Windows Server 2008 Forest preparation must first be complete.

Screenshots