Last Updated on February 10, 2022 by Rakesh Gupta

Big Idea or Enduring Question:

Want to quickly create a new user by cloning an existing user with Public Group, Queue, and Permission Set? 

To Clone a record means to replicate it. Salesforce provides an out-of-the-box feature to clone object records – thereby, saving time and enhancing productivity. Generally, if someone wants to clone an Account with an Opportunity they would opt for an Apex Trigger But, we know better! Oh, Ya!

Salesforce provides ‘Clone with Related‘ action. The action makes it simple to create recurring Opportunities and Campaigns.  By using the action, your Account reps will spare themselves from the trouble of finding and adding related items one–by–one to re-create the records. Unfortunately, Salesforce doesn’t have ‘Clone with Related‘ action for the User object Therefore, in this article, I will show you how to configure a deep clone feature in your org.

In the past, I have written a few articles on automating User creation pre and post-process. Why not check them out while you are at it?! 

1. Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 24 (Automatically Assign Permission Sets to New User)
2. Getting Started with Process Builder – Part 19 (Automatically Add New User to Public Group or Queue)
3. Getting Started with Process Builder – Part 28 (Auto Freeze Users Account)
4. Getting Started with Process Builder – Part 43 (Auto Assign package license to New user)
5. Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 36 (Automatically Add New Users to a Chatter Group)
6. Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 50 (Welcome New Users by Default – Auto Follow them in Chatter!)
7. Getting Started with Process Builder – Part 22 (Discover How to Auto Populate Delegated Approver Field on a New User Record!)

Objectives:

After reading this article, you will be able to:

• Use Flow to deep clone User with Public Group, Queue membership, and associated Permission Sets
• Understand the difference between a Permission Set that is owned by a User (User created) and a permission set that is owned by a Profile (System generated)
• Learn how to use a Decision element to find whether a Record variable or a Record collection variable, contains a record
• Find out how to use the Loop element to create multiple records (or clone records)
• And, last but not least, discover how to use the Create Records element to create multiple records at once (Bulk Safe)

Business Use Case

Steven Greene, a Lead System Administrator at Universal Containers (UC), received a requirement to create an automation that would allow System Administrators to quickly create users by cloning an existing user. In addition, the solution should also allow the Administrators to clone public group and queue memberships including associated permission sets.

To get started we will copy the following fields from an existing User‘s Record:

1. TimeZone
2. Language
3. Locale
4. Profile
5. Role
6. UserLicense
7. Email Encoding
8. Manager

Allow System Administrators to populate the following fields:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Email
4. Username
5. Alias
6. Nickname

Steven envisioned the new Flow screen similar to the following screenshot: 

Automation Champion Approach (I-do):

While this can be solved using various automation tools like Apex, etc, we will use Screen Flow.

Before proceeding, you have to understand the PermissionSet objects in Salesforce. It represents an association between a User and a PermissionSet. There are two types of Permission Sets:

1. Permission Set that is Owned by User (User created).
2. Permission Set that is owned by Profile (System Generated) – Every profile is associated with a permission set that stores the profile’s user, object, and field permissions, as well as setup entity access settings. Permission sets that are owned by profiles can be queried but not modified. 

By default, every user will be assigned to a Permission Set that is owned by the Profile, and this Permission Set will not be visible in the User Interface. If you query the Permission Set Assignment object through Workbench, you will retrieve the list of users who are not assigned to any Permission Set (User created). However, know that it is not possible to assign a PermissionSet to a user when the permission set is owned by a profile. 

Field Name	Details
ProfileId	If the permission set is owned by a profile, this field returns the ID of the Profile.
IsOwnedByProfile	If true, the permission set is owned by a profile

Take a moment to understand PermissionSetAssignment objects in Salesforce. It represents an association between a User and a PermissionSet.

Field Name	Details
AssigneeId	The id of the user to assign the permission set.
PermissionSetId	The Id of the PermissionSet to assign to the user.

Take a moment to understand Group objects in Salesforce. It represents a sets of users. They can contain individual users, other groups, the users in a particular role or territory, or the users in a particular role or territory plus all the users below that role or territory in the hierarchy.

Field Name	Details
Name	Name of the group
Type	Type of the group. One of the following values: Queue Public group

Now familiarize yourself with the GroupMember objects in Salesforce. It represents a User or Group that is a member of a public group.

Field Name	Details
GroupId	The ID of the Group.
UserOrGroupId	The ID of the User or Group that is a direct member of the group.

Before diving further, let me show you a diagram of a Process Flow at a high level. Please spend a few minutes to go through the following Flow diagram and understand it. 

Guided Practice (We-do):

There are 2 steps to solve Steven’s business requirement using Screen Flow and Custom Button. We must:

1. Salesforce Flow Steps: (Screen Flow)
   1. Create a text variable to store existing user Id 
   2. Add a Get Record element to find the old user details
   3. Add a screen to capture the data for new user
   4. Add a Create records element to insert a new user
   5. Add a Decision element to check if a user has been selected to clone permission sets assignments
      1. Add a Get record element to find the permission set assignments 
      2. Add a Decision element to check the Record collection variable (from step 1.5.1)
      3. Add a loop element to extract Ids from the record collection variable (from step 1.5.1) 
      4. Add a Decision element to eliminate permission sets that are owned by the profile 
      5. Add an Assignment element to Assign the values into the Record variable
      6. Add an Assignment element to add the Record variable to a Record collection variable.
   6. Add a Decision element to check if a user has been selected to clone Public groups and Queue memberships 
      1. Add a Get record element to find the Public Group and Queue Membership 
      2. Add a Decision element to check the Record collection variable (from step 1.6.1)
      3. Add a Loop element to extract records from the Record collection variable (from step 1.6.1)
      4. Add a Decision element to determine whether to select Queue vs Public Group Membership based on user selection 
      5. Add an Assignment element to Assign the values into the Record variable
      6. Add an Assignment element to add the Record variable to a Record collection variable
   7. Add a Create records element to add a new user to public groups and queues
   8. Add a Create records element to add permission sets to the new user 
2. Create a custom button on the user object

Step 1.1: Salesforce Flow – Add a Text Variable to Store Existing User Id

1. Click Setup.
2. In the Quick Find box, type Flows.
3. Select Flows then click on the New Flow.
4. Select the Screen Flow option and click on Next and configure the flow as follows: 
   1. How do you want to start building: Freeform
5. Under Toolbox, select Manager, then click New Resource to store the user Id of an existing user. 
6. Input the following information: 
   1. Resource Type: Variable
   2. API Name: recordId
   3. Data Type: Text
   4. Default Value: {!$GlobalConstant.EmptyString}
   5. Check Available for Input
   6. Check Available for Output
7. Click Done.

Step 1.2: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Get Record Element to Find the Old User Details 

The next step is to use the Get Records element to find the old user details like Name, RoleId, ProfileId, etc.

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Get Records element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Select the User object from the dropdown list.
5. Select All Conditions Are Met (AND). 
6. Set Filter Conditions
   1. Row 1:
      1. Id: Name
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!recordId}
7. How Many Records to Store:
   1. select Only the first record
8. How to Store Record Data:
   1. Choose the option to Automatically store all fields. 
9. Click Done.

Step 1.3: Salesforce Flow – Add a Screen Element to Capture the Data for New User

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Select the Screen Flow option and click on Create.
3. Under Toolbox, select Elements. Drag and drop Screen onto the canvas. 
4. Input the following information:
   1. Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
5. And then, follow the steps as shown in the video:
6. Click Done. 

In the end, Steven’s Screen will look like the following screenshot: 

Step 1.4: Salesforce Flow – Create Records – Insert a New User

The next step is to create a new user. For this will use the Create Records element. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Elements. Drag and drop Create Records onto the canvas. 
2. Input the following information:
   1. Enter Label the API Name will auto-populate.
   2. How Many Records to Create: One
   3. How to Set the Record Fields: Use separate resources, and literal values
   4. Object: User
   5. Set Field Values for the User
      
      1. Row 1:
         1. Field: Alias
         2. Value: {!Alias}
      2. Add Field
      3. Row 2
         1. Field: CommunityNickname
         2. Value: {!Nickname}
      4. Add Field
      5. Row 3
         1. Field: Email
         2. Value: {!EmailAddress.value}
      6. Add Field
      7. Row 4
         1. Field: EmailEncodingKey
         2. Value: {!Old_User.EmailEncodingKey}
      8. Add Field
      9. Row 5
         1. Field: FirstName
         2. Value: {!$Name.FirstName}
      10. Add Field
      11. Row 6
          1. Field: LanguageLocaleKey
          2. Value: {!Old_User.LanguageLocaleKey}
      12. Add Field
      13. Row 7
          1. Field: LastName
          2. Value: {!$Name.LastName}
      14. Add Field
      15. Row 8
          1. Field: LocaleSidKey
          2. Value: {!Old_User.LocaleSidKey}
      16. Add Field
      17. Row 9
          1. Field: ProfileId
          2. Value: {!Old_User.ProfileId}
      18. Add Field
      19. Row 10
          1. Field: TimeZoneSideKey
          2. Value: {!Old_User.TimeZoneSidKey}
      20. Add Field
      21. Row 11
          1. Field: UserRoleId
          2. Value: {!Old_User.UserRoleId}
      22. Add Field
      23. Row 12
          1. Field: Username
          2. Value: {!Username.value}
3. Click Done.

Step 1.5: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check if a User has been Selected to Clone Permission Sets Assignments

Now we will use the Decision element to check if the system administrator who is cloning the user has been selected to clone permission sets assignments. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (YesClonePermisisonSet) the API Name will auto-populate.
   1. Update the Default Outcome, enter the Label to DONTClonePermisisonSet.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!PermissionSetAssignments}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.5.1: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Get Record Element to Find the Permission Set Assignments

The next step is to use the Get Records element to find the permission set assignments for the old user.

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Get Records element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Select the Permission Set Assignment object from the dropdown list.
5. Select All Conditions Are Met (AND). 
6. Set Filter Conditions
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: AssignedId
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!recordId}
7. How Many Records to Store:
   1. select All records
8. How to Store Record Data:
   1. Choose the option to Automatically store all fields
9. Click Done.

Step 1.5.2: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check the Record collection Variable (from step 1.5.1)

Now we will use the Decision element to check the Record Collection Variable from step 1.5.1 to find if it returns the record or not. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (PSAFound) the API Name will auto-populate.
   1. Update the Default Outcome, enter the Label to PSANotFound.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Find_Permission_Set_Assignment}
      2. Operator: Is Null 
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.False}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.5.3: Salesforce Flow –  Add a Loop Element to Retrieve Records from Collection Variable (from step 1.5.1) 

1. Drag-and-drop the Loop element onto the Flow designer. 
2. Enter a name in the Label (Loop Through PSA) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
3. For Collection Variable select {!Find_Permission_Set_Assignment}.
4. For Specify Direction for Iterating Over Collection select the option First item to last item.
5. Click Done.

Step 1.5.4: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Eliminate Permission Sets that are Owned by Profile 

Now we will use the Decision element to eliminate permission sets that are owned by the profile by checking IsOwnedByProfile field from the permission set. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (NotOwnedByProfile) the API Name will auto-populate.
   1. Update the Default Outcome, enter the Label to YesOwnedByProfile.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Loop_Through_PSA.PermissionSet.IsOwnedByProfile}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.False}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.5.5: Salesforce Flow – Adding an Assignment Element to Assign the Values into a Record Variable

1. Create a Record Variable varRPSA type Permission Set Assignment to link the user with the permission sets.
2. Drag-and-drop the Assignment element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (Map user to PSA) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Set Variable Values
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: {!varRPSA.PermissionSetId}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!Loop_Through_PSA.PermissionSetId}
   2. Add Assignment 
   3. Row 2:
      1. Field: {!varRPSA.AssigneeId}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!Create_a_New_User}
5. Click Done.

Step 1.5.6: Salesforce Flow – Adding an Assignment Element to Add the Record Variable to Record Collection Variable

1. Create a Record Collection Variable varRPSAs type Permission Set Assignment to store record variable (created in step 1.5.5) for the bulk process.
2. Drag-and-drop the Assignment element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (PSA to a List) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Set Variable Values
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: {!varRPSAs}
      2. Operator: Add
      3. Value: {!varRPSA}
5. Click Done.

Step 1.6: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check if a User has been Selected to Clone Public groups and Queue memberships

Now we will use the Decision element to check if the system administrator who is cloning the user has been selected to clone Public groups and Queue memberships.

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (YesCloneGroupMembership) the API Name will auto-populate.
   1. Update the Default Outcome, enter the Label to DONOTCloneGroupMembership.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Public_Group_Membership}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
   2. Add Condition
   3. Row 2:
      1. Resource: {!Queue_Membership}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.6.1: Lightning Flow – Adding a Get Record Element to Find the Public Group and Queue Membership

The next step is to use the Get Records element to find the Public Group and Queue Membership for the old user.

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Get Records element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Select the GroupMembership object from the dropdown list.
5. Select All Conditions Are Met (AND). 
6. Set Filter Conditions
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: UserOrGroupId
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!recordId}
7. How Many Records to Store:
   1. select All records
8. How to Store Record Data:
   1. Choose the option to Automatically store all fields
9. Click Done.

Step 1.6.2: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Check the Record collection Variable (from step 1.6.1)

Now we will use the Decision element to check the Record Collection Variable from step 1.6.1 to find if it returns the record or not. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (GroupMembershipFound) the API Name will auto-populate.
   1. Update the Default Outcome, enter the Label to GroupMembershipNOTFound.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Find_Membership}
      2. Operator: Is Null 
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.False}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.6.3: Salesforce Flow –  Add a Loop Element to Retrieve Records from Record Collection Variable (from step 1.6.1) 

1. Drag-and-drop the Loop element onto the Flow designer. 
2. Enter a name in the Label (Loop Through Membership) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
3. For Collection Variable select {!Find_Membership}.
4. For Specify Direction for Iterating Over Collection select the option First item to last item.
5. Click Done.

Step 1.6.4: Salesforce Flow – Using Decision Element to Determine Whether to Select Queue vs Public Group Membership Based on User Selection

Now we will use the Decision element to determine whether to select Queue vs Public Group Membership based on what system administrator has been selected at the time of clone. 

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop Decision element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label field; the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Under Outcome Details, enter the Label (Public Group) the API Name will auto-populate.
5. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Loop_Through_Membership.Group.Type}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: Regular
   2. Add Condition
   3. Row 2:
      1. Resource: {!Public_Group_Membership}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
         
6. Under Outcome Details, click on the +
7. Enter the Label (Queue) the API Name will auto-populate.
8. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: All Conditions Are Met (AND)
   1. Row 1:
      1. Resource: {!Loop_Through_Membership.Group.Type}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: Queue
   2. Add Condition
   3. Row 2:
      1. Resource: {!Queue_Membership}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!$GlobalConstant.True}
9. Click Done.

Step 1.6.5: Salesforce Flow – Adding an Assignment Element to Assign the Values into a Record Variable

1. Create a Record Variable varRMembership type Group Member to add the user to Public Groups and Queues.
2. Drag-and-drop the Assignment element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (Add User to Public Group or Queue) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Set Variable Values
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: {!varRMembership.GroupId}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!Loop_Through_Membership.GroupId}
   2. Add Assignment 
   3. Row 2:
      1. Field: {!varRMembership.UserOrGroupId}
      2. Operator: Equals
      3. Value: {!Create_a_New_User}
5. Click Done.

Step 1.6.6: Salesforce Flow – Adding an Assignment Element to Add the Record Variable to Record Collection Variable

1. Create a Record Collection Variable varRMemberships type Group Member to store record variable (created in step 1.6.5) for the bulk process.
2. Drag-and-drop the Assignment element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (Add Memberships into a List) field – the API Name will auto-populate.
4. Set Variable Values
   1. Row 1:
      1. Field: {!varRMemberships}
      2. Operator: Add
      3. Value: {!varRMembership}
5. Click Done.

Step 1.7: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Create Records Element to Add a New User to Public Groups and Queues

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop the Create Records element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (Add Membership (Queues and Public Groups)) field- the API Name will auto-populate.
4. For How Many Records to Create select Multiple.
5. Map Record Collection: {!varRMemberships}
6. Click Done.

Step 1.8: Salesforce Flow – Adding a Create Records Element to Add Permission Sets to the New User

1. Under Toolbox, select Element. 
2. Drag-and-drop the Create Records element onto the Flow designer. 
3. Enter a name in the Label (Add Permission Sets) field- the API Name will auto-populate.
4. For How Many Records to Create select Multiple.
5. Map Record Collection: {!varRPSAs}
6. Click Done.

In the end, Steven’s Flow will look like the following screenshot:

Once everything looks good, perform the steps below: 

1. Click Save.
2. Enter Flow Label the API Name will auto-populate.
3. Click Show Advanced.
4. Type: Screen Flow
5. API Version for Running the Flow: 51
6. Interview Label: Clone a User {!$Flow.CurrentDateTime}
7. Click Save.

Almost there! Once everything looks good, click the Activate button. 

Now navigate to the flow details page and copy the Flow URL.

Step 2: Create a Custom Button on the User Object 

The next step is to create a custom button (Clone This User) on the User object to call the Flow. We will pass the value to recordId variable. 

1. Click Setup.
2. In the Object Manager, type User.
3. Select Buttons, and Links, then click New Button or Link.
4. Input the following information:
   1. Display Type: Detail Page Link
   2. Select Add Follower to Record as Flow.
   3. Select Field type: /flow/rakeshistomMVP/Clone_a_User?recordId={!User.Id}
5. Click Save.

In the end, make sure to add the button to the user page layout. 

Proof of Concept

Now Onwards, a system administrator can quickly create a new user by Cloning an existing user. 

1. Now click on the Clone This User Link.
2. Once the user is created, they are automatically added to the same Public groups, Queue, and also have the same permission set assigned, as shown in the following screenshot:

Formative Assessment:

I want to hear from you!  

What is one thing you learned from this post? How do you envision applying this new knowledge in the real world? 

Let me know by Tweeting me at @automationchamp, or find me on LinkedIn.