Using Wildcards in LDAP userSearch queries
Platform notice: Server and Data Center only. This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Server and Data Center platforms.
Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
This article only applies to Bamboo versions below 6.6
Problem
Writing LDAP userSearch queries for multiple Active Directory groups with memberOf filters can quickly become a long string of OR-concatenated filters.
Shortening these should be possible with wildcards *, but this will not work when configured in Bamboo's atlassian-user.xml file.
Cause
Unfortunately, the LDAP services themselves do not support wildcarding of memberOf and other "Distinguished Name" attributes.
From Active Directory: LDAP Syntax Filters - TechNet Articles (TechNet Wiki):
The wildcard character
*is allowed, except when the<AD Attribute>is a DN attribute. Examples of DN attributes aredistinguishedName,manager,directReports,member, andmemberOf.
Resolution
Since the wildcards are not supported, the only solution is to use longer LDAP userSearch queries.