The lastLogonTimestamp attribute in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager may not be accurate

This article describes a by design behavior that the lastLogonTimestamp attribute may not be updated as expected in Configuration Manager.

Original product version:   Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
Original KB number:   2679653

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager:

• Active Directory User Discovery is enabled in Configuration Manager.
• You use the lastLogonTimestamp attribute to determine the last logon for a user.

In this scenario, the exact time at which a particular user last logged on may not be accurate.

Cause

This behavior occurs because the design and default configuration of Active Directory may result in the value of the lastLogonTimestamp attribute being updated only when the current value in Active Directory is 9 to 14 days older than the time of logon.

References

For more information about the lastLogonTimestamp attribute, see the following articles:

• Last-Logon-Timestamp attribute
• "The LastLogonTimeStamp Attribute" - "What it was designed for and how it works"