The customer wanted to integrate Active Directory from Microsoft 365 with a FileMaker-based solution. The main goal was to determine whether it was possible to automatically transfer information about users and their groups, which are managed in Microsoft 365 via Active Directory. They needed to verify how this data could be securely and efficiently imported into FileMaker and then used for access management or other business logic.
We prepared a FileMaker demo application that allows defining which Active Directory groups should be imported and how individual fields from Microsoft 365 should be mapped to fields in FileMaker.
A key component of the entire solution is a Python script, running as a web service, that communicates directly with Active Directory. FileMaker generates text files containing the list of required groups and user accounts to be retrieved. The Python script processes this data, connects to Active Directory, exports the requested user information, and saves it into a file. FileMaker then automatically loads this output file and stores the data in its database according to the previously defined mapping.
The solution also includes a change-detection mechanism that compares the existing FileMaker data with the newly imported data. It identifies, for example, accounts that have been removed from the source AD structure. Instead of deleting them immediately, these accounts are flagged in FileMaker, and the date of this action is recorded.
The customer used the demo as a template for implementation and incorporated it into their production application.
