> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.securepass.me/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.securepass.me/documentation/admin-user-guide/connect-sources-and-onboard-users.md).

# Connect sources and onboard users

Nothing else in SECUREpass works until the people are in it. Applications, groups, roles, access controls and approvals all attach to a user record, so this step comes before all of them.

## What this step does

It gets your identities into SECUREpass and gives each one a record on the Manage Users page.

There are three routes in, and most organisations use more than one.

| Route               | When it fits                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Connect a directory | Your users already live in Active Directory, OpenLDAP or Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD). SECUREpass reads them from the source. |
| Load a file         | You have a spreadsheet, or another system can export a list. Excel and JSON both work, and neither needs a directory.          |
| Add one person      | Someone is missing from the directory, or you are onboarding a single contractor.                                              |

Whichever route you take, the result is the same: a user record, with a **Source** showing where it came from.

## Before you start

{% hint style="warning" %}
Configure the email and SMS gateways first. Onboarding can generate welcome messages and initial passwords, and without a working gateway those are produced but never delivered — which is difficult to notice until users start calling.
{% endhint %}

## What happens after

A user record on its own grants nothing. It is the anchor the rest of the configuration hangs from.

| Next                                | Why it needs the user                                                                                                                         |
| ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Groups, departments and roles       | Grouping users is how access is granted to many people at once rather than one at a time                                                      |
| Register and configure applications | An application has to exist before anyone can be given access to it                                                                           |
| Access policies and approvals       | The access control form asks for a user, an application, a resource, a role and an authentication type together — the user is one of the five |

## On this page's sub-pages

| Page                            | What it covers                                                                                                         |
| ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ways to onboard a user          | The six onboarding methods side by side, and how to choose between them                                                |
| The Manage Users page           | Where every user record lands, and how the page is laid out                                                            |
| Importing users                 | The five bulk routes — Active Directory, OpenLDAP, Azure AD, Excel and JSON                                            |
| Creating a single user manually | Adding one person with Add User                                                                                        |
| Managing an onboarded user      | Viewing and editing a user, sharing the initial password, custom attributes, activating and deactivating, and deletion |

A person onboarded twice does not become two records. If someone already in SECUREpass is picked up again by a later import, the two are merged into one user record.