uPortal includes a built-in directory portlet backed by the person directory. Directory results are filtered by the permissions of the searching user.
Search Attributes
To be able to search for a user via a particular attribute, that attribute must actually be listed as a search attribute in the person directory context, as well as in the list of directory queries. These two lists ensure that uPortal only performs directory search against the desired attributes, producing more performant and relevant results. The searching user must also have permission to view the search attribute in question.
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Finally, to ensure that the new mapped attribute is visible to end users, we would need to add permissions (see below).
Permissions
uPortal includes two key permissions that affect directory search results. First, the VIEW_USER permission controls whether a given user is visible to the searching user. For example, for Sally to be able to successfully view Jim, Sally (or a group Sally is a member of) would have to have the VIEW_USER on Jim (or a group Jim is a member of). If the searching user does not have permission to view a user, that user will not show up in the directory result list.
The VIEW_USER_ATTRIBUTE permission controls whether a given user attribute is visible to the searching user. For example, for Sally to be able to view a mobile phone number for any user, she (or a group she is a member of) would need to have the VIEW_USER_ATTRIBUTE permission on "mobile". As of the current release of uPortal, user attribute permissions cannot be granted in a more granular fashion. For example, it is not possible to grant Sally view permissions on the mobile attribute only for a single group.