Okta Certified Administrator · Part I

User Lifecycle Management

29% of the exam — the second-largest domain.

Module 1: Profile Sourcing & Write-Back Concepts

6 sub-topics · this deck covers sub-topic 2 of 6

The Exam Bullet

"Demonstrate knowledge of when profile sourcing is used"

A user's profile can be fed by more than one system. This sub-topic is about deciding which system actually gets to be the authority — for the whole profile, or just specific fields.

The Mechanism

Profile sourcing "lets you determine which application or attribute is a source of truth." That's the core decision every profile-sourcing setup makes.

Attribute-Level Sourcing

Instead of picking one app as the source for the entire profile, attribute-level sourcing lets you assign different sources for individual attributes.

Example shape: Workday owns department and cost center, while Active Directory owns manager — both feeding the same Okta profile, each attribute pulling from wherever it's actually authoritative.

The Management Tools

Configuring this involves five distinct controls:

Prioritization (which source wins) · Application designation (mark an app as a source) · Attribute mapping (map fields across systems) · End-user edit permissions · Source definition (which attributes pull from where)

The Exam Angle

Watch for scenario questions built around this trap:

→ "Department should come from Workday, but manager should come from AD, on the same user." = attribute-level sourcing, not whole-profile sourcing.

One Line To Remember

Profile sourcing decides which app or attribute is the source of truth. Attribute-level sourcing lets different attributes on the same profile come from different systems. Five controls: prioritization, app designation, attribute mapping, end-user edit permission, source definition.

Sources: help.okta.com — usgp-sourcing-main.htm

Next: Sub 3 →