diff --git a/config/auth_conf.xml.sample b/config/auth_conf.xml.sample
index 70d7db0e7a0..34d30693b72 100644
--- a/config/auth_conf.xml.sample
+++ b/config/auth_conf.xml.sample
@@ -25,6 +25,22 @@
             <!-- Whether users are allowed to change their password. Default is
                  False. -->
 <!--        <allow-password-change>False</allow-password-change>
+-->
+            <!-- Whether roles should be automatically created if
+                 the attribute specified under auto-register-roles can be found.
+                 Default is False. -->
+<!--        <auto-create-roles>False</auto-create-roles>
+-->
+            <!-- Whether groups should be automatically created if
+                 the attribute specified under auto-register-roles can be found.
+                 Can be used in combination with auto-create-roles
+                 Default is False. -->
+<!--        <auto-create-groups>False</auto-create-groups>
+-->
+            <!-- If set, roles will be assigned to the auto generated groups,
+            not to the individual users. Can only be used if auto-create-roles and
+            auto-create-groups are True. Default is False. -->
+<!--        <auto-assign-roles-to-groups-only>False</auto-assign-roles-to-groups-only>
 -->
 
             <!-- LDAP-specific options -->
@@ -88,12 +104,14 @@
             <bind-password>{password}</bind-password>
             <auto-register-username>{sAMAccountName}</auto-register-username>
             <auto-register-email>{mail}</auto-register-email>
+            <auto-register-roles>{gidNumber}</auto-register-roles>
 -->
             <!-- For OpenLDAP: -->
 <!--        <bind-user>{dn}</bind-user>
             <bind-password>{password}</bind-password>
             <auto-register-username>{uid}</auto-register-username>
             <auto-register-email>{mail}</auto-register-email>
+            <auto-register-roles>{gid}</auto-register-roles>
 -->
 <!--    </options>
     </authenticator>
diff --git a/config/galaxy.yml.sample b/config/galaxy.yml.sample
index b49f9cff6b5..2070698798b 100644
--- a/config/galaxy.yml.sample
+++ b/config/galaxy.yml.sample
@@ -1218,6 +1218,10 @@ galaxy:
   # Allow administrators to log in as other users (useful for debugging)
   #allow_user_impersonation: false
 
+  # When using LDAP for authentication, allow administrators to pre-
+  # populate users using an additional form on 'Create new user'
+  #show_user_prepopulate_form: false
+
   # Allow users to remove their datasets from disk immediately
   # (otherwise, datasets will be removed after a time period specified
   # by an administrator in the cleanup scripts run via cron)
diff --git a/doc/source/admin/galaxy_options.rst b/doc/source/admin/galaxy_options.rst
index d508627f824..47b6f824ca2 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/galaxy_options.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/galaxy_options.rst
@@ -2562,6 +2562,17 @@
 :Type: bool
 
 
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+``show_user_prepopulate_form``
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+:Description:
+    When using LDAP for authentication, allow administrators to pre-
+    populate users using an additional form on 'Create new user'
+:Default: ``false``
+:Type: bool
+
+
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 ``allow_user_dataset_purge``
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/auth/__init__.py b/lib/galaxy/auth/__init__.py
index c751be8afd3..52ceb7e7d2d 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/auth/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/auth/__init__.py
@@ -3,11 +3,10 @@ Contains implementations of the authentication logic.
 """
 
 import logging
-import xml.etree.ElementTree
-from collections import namedtuple
 
-from galaxy.security.validate_user_input import validate_publicname
-from galaxy.util import plugin_config, string_as_bool
+from galaxy.auth.util import get_authenticators, parse_auth_results
+from galaxy.exceptions import Conflict
+from galaxy.util import string_as_bool
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -16,39 +15,7 @@ class AuthManager(object):
 
     def __init__(self, app):
         self.__app = app
-        import galaxy.auth.providers
-        self.__plugins_dict = plugin_config.plugins_dict(galaxy.auth.providers, 'plugin_type')
-        auth_config_file = app.config.auth_config_file
-        # parse XML
-        ct = xml.etree.ElementTree.parse(auth_config_file)
-        conf_root = ct.getroot()
-
-        authenticators = []
-        # process authenticators
-        for auth_elem in conf_root:
-            type_elem = auth_elem.find('type')
-            plugin = self.__plugins_dict.get(type_elem.text)()
-
-            # check filterelem
-            filter_elem = auth_elem.find('filter')
-            if filter_elem is not None:
-                filter_template = str(filter_elem.text)
-            else:
-                filter_template = None
-
-            # extract options
-            options_elem = auth_elem.find('options')
-            options = {}
-            if options_elem is not None:
-                for opt in options_elem:
-                    options[opt.tag] = opt.text
-            authenticator = Authenticator(
-                plugin=plugin,
-                filter_template=filter_template,
-                options=options,
-            )
-            authenticators.append(authenticator)
-        self.authenticators = authenticators
+        self.authenticators = get_authenticators(app.config.auth_config_file)
 
     def check_registration_allowed(self, email, username, password):
         """Checks if the provided email/username is allowed to register."""
@@ -72,7 +39,7 @@ class AuthManager(object):
                 break
         return message, status
 
-    def check_auto_registration(self, trans, login, password):
+    def check_auto_registration(self, trans, login, password, no_password_check=False):
         """
         Checks the username/email & password using auth providers in order.
         If a match is found, returns the 'auto-register' option for that provider.
@@ -83,30 +50,29 @@ class AuthManager(object):
         else:
             email = None
             username = login
+        auth_return = {
+            "auto_reg": False,
+            "email": "",
+            "username": ""
+        }
         for provider, options in self.active_authenticators(email, username, password):
             if provider is None:
                 log.debug("Unable to find module: %s" % options)
             else:
-                auth_result, auto_email, auto_username = provider.authenticate(email, username, password, options)
-                auto_email = str(auto_email).lower()
-                auto_username = str(auto_username).lower()
-                if auth_result is True:
-                    # make username unique
-                    if validate_publicname(trans, auto_username) != '':
-                        i = 1
-                        while i <= 10:  # stop after 10 tries
-                            if validate_publicname(trans, "%s-%i" % (auto_username, i)) == '':
-                                auto_username = "%s-%i" % (auto_username, i)
-                                break
-                            i += 1
-                        else:
-                            break  # end for loop if we can't make a unique username
-                    log.debug("Email: %s, auto-register with username: %s" % (auto_email, auto_username))
-                    return (string_as_bool(options.get('auto-register', False)), auto_email, auto_username)
-                elif auth_result is None:
+                options['no_password_check'] = no_password_check
+                auth_results = provider.authenticate(email, username, password, options)
+                if auth_results[0] is True:
+                    try:
+                        auth_return = parse_auth_results(trans, auth_results, options)
+                    except Conflict:
+                        break
+                    return auth_return
+                elif auth_results[0] is None:
+                    auto_email = str(auth_results[1]).lower()
+                    auto_username = str(auth_results[2]).lower()
                     log.debug("Email: %s, Username %s, stopping due to failed non-continue" % (auto_email, auto_username))
                     break  # end authentication (skip rest)
-        return (False, '', '')
+        return auth_return
 
     def check_password(self, user, password):
         """Checks the username/email and password using auth providers."""
@@ -157,9 +123,6 @@ class AuthManager(object):
             raise
 
 
-Authenticator = namedtuple('Authenticator', ['plugin', 'filter_template', 'options'])
-
-
 def _get_allow_register(d):
     s = d.get('allow-register', True)
     lower_s = str(s).lower()
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/auth/providers/ldap_ad.py b/lib/galaxy/auth/providers/ldap_ad.py
index 7917225d2ab..2476f0b046d 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/auth/providers/ldap_ad.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/auth/providers/ldap_ad.py
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@ from galaxy.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 from galaxy.util import string_as_bool
 from ..providers import AuthProvider
 
+try:
+    import ldap
+except ImportError as exc:
+    ldap = None
+    ldap_import_exc = exc
+
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -71,35 +77,51 @@ class LDAP(AuthProvider):
     """
     plugin_type = 'ldap'
 
-    def authenticate(self, email, username, password, options):
-        """
-        See abstract method documentation.
-        """
-        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: email is %s" % email)
-        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: username is %s" % username)
-        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: options are %s" % options)
+    def __init__(self):
+        super(LDAP, self).__init__()
+        self.auto_create_roles_or_groups = False
+        self.role_search_attribute = None
+        self.role_search_option = 'auto-register-roles'
 
+    def check_config(self, username, email, options):
+        ok = True
         failure_mode = False  # reject but continue
         if options.get('continue-on-failure', 'False') == 'False':
             failure_mode = None  # reject and do not continue
 
         if string_as_bool(options.get('login-use-username', False)):
-            if username is None:
+            if not username:
                 log.debug('LDAP authenticate: username must be used to login, cannot be None')
-                return (failure_mode, '', '')
+                return ok, failure_mode
         else:
-            if email is None:
+            if not email:
                 log.debug('LDAP authenticate: email must be used to login, cannot be None')
-                return (failure_mode, '', '')
+                return ok, failure_mode
 
-        try:
-            import ldap
-        except ImportError:
-            log.debug('LDAP authenticate: could not load ldap module')
-            return (failure_mode, '', '')
+        auto_create_roles = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-create-roles', False))
+        auto_create_groups = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-create-groups', False))
+        self.auto_create_roles_or_groups = auto_create_roles or auto_create_groups
+        auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-assign-roles-to-groups-only', False))
+        if auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only and not (auto_create_roles and auto_create_groups):
+            raise ConfigurationError("If 'auto-assign-roles-to-groups-only' is True, auto-create-roles and "
+                                     "auto-create-groups have to be True as well.")
 
-        # do LDAP search (if required)
-        params = {'email': email, 'username': username, 'password': password}
+        self.role_search_attribute = options.get(self.role_search_option, None)
+        return ok, failure_mode
+
+    def ldap_search(self, email, username, options):
+        config_ok, failure_mode = self.check_config(username, email, options)
+        if ldap is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("Failed to load LDAP module: %s", str(ldap_import_exc))
+
+        if not config_ok:
+            return failure_mode, None
+
+        if self.auto_create_roles_or_groups and self.role_search_attribute is None:
+            raise ConfigurationError("If 'auto-create-roles' or 'auto-create-groups' is True, a '%s' attribute has to"
+                                     " be provided." % self.role_search_option)
+
+        params = {'email': email, 'username': username}
 
         try:
             ldap_options_raw = _get_subs(options, 'ldap-options', params)
@@ -116,7 +138,7 @@ class LDAP(AuthProvider):
                 ldap.set_option(*opt)
         except Exception:
             log.exception('LDAP authenticate: set_option exception')
-            return (failure_mode, '', '')
+            return (failure_mode, None)
 
         if 'search-fields' in options:
             try:
@@ -140,23 +162,63 @@ class LDAP(AuthProvider):
                 # parse results
                 if suser is None or len(suser) == 0:
                     log.warning('LDAP authenticate: search returned no results')
-                    return (failure_mode, '', '')
+                    return (failure_mode, None)
                 dn, attrs = suser[0]
                 log.debug(("LDAP authenticate: dn is %s" % dn))
                 log.debug(("LDAP authenticate: search attributes are %s" % attrs))
                 if hasattr(attrs, 'has_key'):
                     for attr in attributes:
-                        if attr in attrs:
+                        if attr == self.role_search_attribute[1:-1]:  # strip brackets
+                            # keep role names as list
+                            params[self.role_search_option] = attrs[attr]
+                        elif attr in attrs:
                             params[attr] = str(attrs[attr][0])
                         else:
                             params[attr] = ""
+
+                if self.auto_create_roles_or_groups and self.role_search_option not in params:
+                    raise ConfigurationError("Missing or mismatching LDAP parameters for %s. Make sure the %s is "
+                                             "included in the 'search-fields'." %
+                                             (self.role_search_option, self.role_search_attribute))
+                log.critical(params)
                 params['dn'] = dn
             except Exception:
                 log.exception('LDAP authenticate: search exception')
-                return (failure_mode, '', '')
-        # end search
+                return (failure_mode, None)
 
-        # bind as user to check their credentials
+        return failure_mode, params
+
+    def authenticate(self, email, username, password, options):
+        """
+        See abstract method documentation.
+        """
+        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: email is %s" % email)
+        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: username is %s" % username)
+        log.debug("LDAP authenticate: options are %s" % options)
+
+        failure_mode, params = self.ldap_search(email, username, options)
+        if not params:
+            return failure_mode, '', ''
+
+        # allow to skip authentication to allow for pre-populating users
+        if not options.get('no_password_check', False):
+            params['password'] = password
+            if not self._authenticate(params, options):
+                return failure_mode, '', ''
+
+        attributes = {}
+        if self.auto_create_roles_or_groups:
+            attributes['roles'] = params[self.role_search_option]
+        return (True,
+                _get_subs(options, 'auto-register-email', params),
+                _get_subs(options, 'auto-register-username', params),
+                attributes)
+
+    def _authenticate(self, params, options):
+        """
+        Do the actual authentication by binding as the user to check their credentials
+        """
+        import ldap
         try:
             l = ldap.initialize(_get_subs(options, 'server', params))
             l.protocol_version = 3
@@ -174,12 +236,9 @@ class LDAP(AuthProvider):
                     raise RuntimeError('LDAP authenticate: anonymous bind')
         except Exception:
             log.warning('LDAP authenticate: bind exception', exc_info=True)
-            return (failure_mode, '', '')
-
+            return False
         log.debug('LDAP authentication successful')
-        return (True,
-                _get_subs(options, 'auto-register-email', params),
-                _get_subs(options, 'auto-register-username', params))
+        return True
 
     def authenticate_user(self, user, password, options):
         """
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/auth/util.py b/lib/galaxy/auth/util.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b256fc29ec2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/galaxy/auth/util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import logging
+import xml.etree.ElementTree
+from collections import namedtuple
+
+import galaxy.auth.providers
+from galaxy.exceptions import Conflict
+from galaxy.security.validate_user_input import validate_publicname
+from galaxy.util import plugin_config, string_as_bool
+
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+Authenticator = namedtuple('Authenticator', ['plugin', 'filter_template', 'options'])
+
+
+def get_authenticators(auth_config_file):
+    __plugins_dict = plugin_config.plugins_dict(galaxy.auth.providers, 'plugin_type')
+    # parse XML
+    ct = xml.etree.ElementTree.parse(auth_config_file)
+    conf_root = ct.getroot()
+
+    authenticators = []
+    # process authenticators
+    for auth_elem in conf_root:
+        type_elem = auth_elem.find('type')
+        plugin = __plugins_dict.get(type_elem.text)()
+
+        # check filterelem
+        filter_elem = auth_elem.find('filter')
+        if filter_elem is not None:
+            filter_template = str(filter_elem.text)
+        else:
+            filter_template = None
+
+        # extract options
+        options_elem = auth_elem.find('options')
+        options = {}
+        if options_elem is not None:
+            for opt in options_elem:
+                options[opt.tag] = opt.text
+        authenticator = Authenticator(
+            plugin=plugin,
+            filter_template=filter_template,
+            options=options,
+        )
+        authenticators.append(authenticator)
+    return authenticators
+
+
+def parse_auth_results(trans, auth_results, options):
+    auth_return = {}
+    auth_result, auto_email, auto_username = auth_results[:3]
+    auto_email = str(auto_email).lower()
+    auto_username = str(auto_username).lower()
+    # make username unique
+    if validate_publicname(trans, auto_username) != '':
+        i = 1
+        while i <= 10:  # stop after 10 tries
+            if validate_publicname(trans, "%s-%i" % (auto_username, i)) == '':
+                auto_username = "%s-%i" % (auto_username, i)
+                break
+            i += 1
+        else:
+            raise Conflict("Cannot make unique username")
+    log.debug("Email: %s, auto-register with username: %s" % (auto_email, auto_username))
+    auth_return["auto_reg"] = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-register', False))
+    auth_return["email"] = auto_email
+    auth_return["username"] = auto_username
+    auth_return["auto_create_roles"] = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-create-roles', False))
+    auth_return["auto_create_groups"] = string_as_bool(options.get('auto-create-groups', False))
+    auth_return["auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only"] = string_as_bool(
+        options.get('auto-assign-roles-to-groups-only', False))
+
+    if len(auth_results) == 4:
+        auth_return["attributes"] = auth_results[3]
+    return auth_return
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/config.py b/lib/galaxy/config.py
index 1569504df71..b7eb91a67d5 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/config.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/config.py
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ class Configuration(object):
         self.allow_user_deletion = string_as_bool(kwargs.get("allow_user_deletion", "False"))
         self.allow_user_dataset_purge = string_as_bool(kwargs.get("allow_user_dataset_purge", "True"))
         self.allow_user_impersonation = string_as_bool(kwargs.get("allow_user_impersonation", "False"))
+        self.show_user_prepopulate_form = string_as_bool(kwargs.get("show_user_prepopulate_form", "False"))
         self.new_user_dataset_access_role_default_private = string_as_bool(kwargs.get("new_user_dataset_access_role_default_private", "False"))
         self.collect_outputs_from = [x.strip() for x in kwargs.get('collect_outputs_from', 'new_file_path,job_working_directory').lower().split(',')]
         self.template_path = resolve_path(kwargs.get("template_path", "templates"), self.root)
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/security/__init__.py b/lib/galaxy/security/__init__.py
index 32c2d1481da..721c31d53b4 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/security/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/security/__init__.py
@@ -776,6 +776,36 @@ class GalaxyRBACAgent(RBACAgent):
                 return None
         return role
 
+    def get_role(self, name, type=None):
+        type = type or self.model.Role.types.ADMIN
+        # will raise exception if not found
+        return self.sa_session.query(self.model.Role) \
+            .filter(and_(self.model.Role.table.c.name == name,
+                     self.model.Role.table.c.type == type)) \
+            .one()
+
+    def create_role(self, name, description, in_users, in_groups, create_group_for_role=False, type=None):
+        type = type or self.model.Role.types.ADMIN
+        role = self.model.Role(name=name, description=description, type=type)
+        self.sa_session.add(role)
+        # Create the UserRoleAssociations
+        for user in [self.sa_session.query(self.model.User).get(x) for x in in_users]:
+            self.associate_user_role(user, role)
+        # Create the GroupRoleAssociations
+        for group in [self.sa_session.query(self.model.Group).get(x) for x in in_groups]:
+            self.associate_group_role(group, role)
+        if create_group_for_role:
+            # Create the group
+            group = self.model.Group(name=name)
+            self.sa_session.add(group)
+            # Associate the group with the role
+            self.associate_group_role(group, role)
+            num_in_groups = len(in_groups) + 1
+        else:
+            num_in_groups = len(in_groups)
+        self.sa_session.flush()
+        return role, num_in_groups
+
     def get_sharing_roles(self, user):
         return self.sa_session.query(self.model.Role) \
                               .filter(and_((self.model.Role.table.c.name).like("Sharing role for: %" + user.email + "%"),
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
index 689768eb72e..e4f1ead8bf8 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/config_schema.yml
@@ -1905,6 +1905,14 @@ mapping:
         desc: |
           Allow administrators to log in as other users (useful for debugging)
          
+      show_user_prepopulate_form:
+        type: bool
+        default: false
+        required: false
+        desc: |
+          When using LDAP for authentication, allow administrators to pre-populate users
+          using an additional form on 'Create new user'
+         
       allow_user_dataset_purge:
         type: bool
         default: true
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/controllers/user.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/controllers/user.py
index 5d2a0eae80d..638659cf031 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/controllers/user.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/controllers/user.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from sqlalchemy import (
     or_,
     true
 )
+from sqlalchemy.orm.exc import NoResultFound
 
 from galaxy import (
     model,
@@ -485,6 +486,77 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
                                    form_input_auto_focus=True,
                                    active_view="user")
 
+    def __handle_role_and_group_auto_creation(self, trans, user, roles, auto_create_roles=False,
+                                              auto_create_groups=False, auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only=False):
+        for role_name in roles:
+            role = None
+            group = None
+            if auto_create_roles:
+                try:
+                    # first try to find the role
+                    role = trans.app.security_agent.get_role(role_name)
+                except NoResultFound:
+                    # or create it
+                    role, num_in_groups = trans.app.security_agent.create_role(
+                        role_name, "Auto created upon user registration", [], [],
+                        create_group_for_role=auto_create_groups)
+                    if auto_create_groups:
+                        trans.log_event("Created role and group for auto-registered user.")
+                    else:
+                        trans.log_event("Created role for auto-registered user.")
+            if auto_create_groups:
+                # only create a group if not existing yet
+                try:
+                    group = self.sa_session.query(trans.app.model.Group).filter(
+                        trans.app.model.Group.table.c.name == role_name).first()
+                except NoResultFound:
+                    group = self.model.Group(name=role_name)
+                    self.sa_session.add(group)
+                trans.app.security_agent.associate_user_group(user, group)
+
+            if auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only and group and role:
+                trans.log_event("Assigning role to group only")
+                trans.app.security_agent.associate_group_role(group, role)
+            elif not auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only and role:
+                trans.log_event("Assigning role to newly created user")
+                trans.app.security_agent.associate_user_role(user, role)
+
+    def __autoregistration(self, trans, login, password, status, kwd, no_password_check=False, cntrller=None):
+        """
+        Does the autoregistration if enabled. Returns a message
+        """
+        skip_login_handling = cntrller == 'admin' and trans.user_is_admin()
+        autoreg = trans.app.auth_manager.check_auto_registration(trans, login, password, no_password_check=no_password_check)
+        user = None
+        success = False
+        if autoreg["auto_reg"]:
+            kwd['email'] = autoreg["email"]
+            kwd['username'] = autoreg["username"]
+            message = " ".join([validate_email(trans, kwd['email']),
+                                validate_publicname(trans, kwd['username'])]).rstrip()
+            if not message:
+                message, status, user, success = self.__register(trans, cntrller, False, no_redirect=skip_login_handling, **kwd)
+                if success:
+                    # The handle_user_login() method has a call to the history_set_default_permissions() method
+                    # (needed when logging in with a history), user needs to have default permissions set before logging in
+                    if not skip_login_handling:
+                        trans.handle_user_login(user)
+                        trans.log_event("User (auto) created a new account")
+                        trans.log_event("User logged in")
+                    if "attributes" in autoreg and "roles" in autoreg["attributes"]:
+                        self.__handle_role_and_group_auto_creation(
+                            trans, user, autoreg["attributes"]["roles"],
+                            auto_create_groups=autoreg["auto_create_groups"],
+                            auto_create_roles=autoreg["auto_create_roles"],
+                            auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only=autoreg["auto_assign_roles_to_groups_only"])
+                else:
+                    message = "Auto-registration failed, contact your local Galaxy administrator. %s" % message
+            else:
+                message = "Auto-registration failed, contact your local Galaxy administrator. %s" % message
+        else:
+            message = "No such user or invalid password"
+        return message, status, user, success
+
     def __validate_login(self, trans, **kwd):
         """Validates numerous cases that might happen during the login time."""
         status = kwd.get('status', 'error')
@@ -499,26 +571,8 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
         )).first()
         log.debug("trans.app.config.auth_config_file: %s" % trans.app.config.auth_config_file)
         if not user:
-            autoreg = trans.app.auth_manager.check_auto_registration(trans, login, password)
-            if autoreg[0]:
-                kwd['email'] = autoreg[1]
-                kwd['username'] = autoreg[2]
-                message = " ".join([validate_email(trans, kwd['email']),
-                                    validate_publicname(trans, kwd['username'])]).rstrip()
-                if not message:
-                    message, status, user, success = self.__register(trans, 'user', False, **kwd)
-                    if success:
-                        # The handle_user_login() method has a call to the history_set_default_permissions() method
-                        # (needed when logging in with a history), user needs to have default permissions set before logging in
-                        trans.handle_user_login(user)
-                        trans.log_event("User (auto) created a new account")
-                        trans.log_event("User logged in")
-                    else:
-                        message = "Auto-registration failed, contact your local Galaxy administrator. %s" % message
-                else:
-                    message = "Auto-registration failed, contact your local Galaxy administrator. %s" % message
-            else:
-                message = "No such user or invalid password"
+            message, status, user, success = self.__autoregistration(trans, login, password, status, kwd)
+
         elif user.deleted:
             message = "This account has been marked deleted, contact your local Galaxy administrator to restore the account."
             if trans.app.config.error_email_to is not None:
@@ -670,12 +724,28 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
         subscribe_checked = CheckboxField.is_checked(subscribe)
         referer = trans.request.referer or ''
         redirect = kwd.get('redirect', referer).strip()
-        is_admin = cntrller == 'admin' and trans.user_is_admin
+        is_admin = cntrller == 'admin' and trans.user_is_admin()
+        show_user_prepopulate_form = is_admin and trans.app.config.show_user_prepopulate_form
         if not trans.app.config.allow_user_creation and not trans.user_is_admin():
             message = 'User registration is disabled.  Please contact your local Galaxy administrator for an account.'
             if trans.app.config.error_email_to is not None:
                 message += ' Contact: %s' % trans.app.config.error_email_to
             status = 'error'
+        elif show_user_prepopulate_form and params.get('prepopulate_user_button', False):
+            # pre-populate the user through a provider like ldap
+            csrf_check = trans.check_csrf_token()
+            if csrf_check:
+                return csrf_check
+            login = username if username else email
+            message, status, user, success = self.__autoregistration(trans, login, '', status, kwd,
+                                                                     no_password_check=True, cntrller=cntrller)
+            if success:
+                message = 'Prepopulated new user account (%s)' % escape(user.email)
+                trans.response.send_redirect(web.url_for(controller='admin',
+                                                         action='users',
+                                                         cntrller=cntrller,
+                                                         message=message,
+                                                         status=status))
         else:
             # check user is allowed to register
             message, status = trans.app.auth_manager.check_registration_allowed(email, username, password)
@@ -729,6 +799,7 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
                                    email=email,
                                    username=transform_publicname(trans, username),
                                    subscribe_checked=subscribe_checked,
+                                   show_user_prepopulate_form=show_user_prepopulate_form,
                                    use_panels=use_panels,
                                    redirect=redirect,
                                    redirect_url=redirect_url,
@@ -737,7 +808,7 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
                                    message=message,
                                    status=status)
 
-    def __register(self, trans, cntrller, subscribe_checked, **kwd):
+    def __register(self, trans, cntrller, subscribe_checked, no_redirect=False, **kwd):
         email = util.restore_text(kwd.get('email', ''))
         password = kwd.get('password', '')
         username = util.restore_text(kwd.get('username', ''))
@@ -762,13 +833,14 @@ class User(BaseUIController, UsesFormDefinitionsMixin, CreatesUsersMixin, Create
                     except Exception:
                         log.exception('Subscribing to the mailing list has failed.')
                         error = "Now logged in as " + user.email + ". However, subscribing to the mailing list has failed."
+
             if not error and not is_admin:
                 # The handle_user_login() method has a call to the history_set_default_permissions() method
                 # (needed when logging in with a history), user needs to have default permissions set before logging in
                 trans.handle_user_login(user)
                 trans.log_event("User created a new account")
                 trans.log_event("User logged in")
-            elif not error:
+            elif not error and not no_redirect:
                 trans.response.send_redirect(web.url_for(controller='admin',
                                                          action='users',
                                                          message='Created new user account (%s)' % user.email,
diff --git a/lib/tool_shed/util/admin_util.py b/lib/tool_shed/util/admin_util.py
index c46f479e77c..4bee0fdb0c1 100644
--- a/lib/tool_shed/util/admin_util.py
+++ b/lib/tool_shed/util/admin_util.py
@@ -89,27 +89,8 @@ class Admin(object):
                 ok = False
             else:
                 # Create the role
-                role = trans.app.model.Role(name=name, description=description, type=trans.app.model.Role.types.ADMIN)
-                trans.sa_session.add(role)
-                # Create the UserRoleAssociations
-                for user in [trans.sa_session.query(trans.app.model.User).get(x) for x in in_users]:
-                    ura = trans.app.model.UserRoleAssociation(user, role)
-                    trans.sa_session.add(ura)
-                # Create the GroupRoleAssociations
-                for group in [trans.sa_session.query(trans.app.model.Group).get(x) for x in in_groups]:
-                    gra = trans.app.model.GroupRoleAssociation(group, role)
-                    trans.sa_session.add(gra)
-                if create_group_for_role_checked:
-                    # Create the group
-                    group = trans.app.model.Group(name=name)
-                    trans.sa_session.add(group)
-                    # Associate the group with the role
-                    gra = trans.model.GroupRoleAssociation(group, role)
-                    trans.sa_session.add(gra)
-                    num_in_groups = len(in_groups) + 1
-                else:
-                    num_in_groups = len(in_groups)
-                trans.sa_session.flush()
+                role, num_in_groups = trans.app.security_agent.create_role(
+                    name, description, in_users, in_groups, create_group_for_role=create_group_for_role_checked)
                 message = "Role '%s' has been created with %d associated users and %d associated groups.  " \
                     % (role.name, len(in_users), num_in_groups)
                 if create_group_for_role_checked:
diff --git a/templates/user/register.mako b/templates/user/register.mako
index 1565460bc46..ade5d8c5f85 100644
--- a/templates/user/register.mako
+++ b/templates/user/register.mako
@@ -128,6 +128,30 @@ def inherit(context):
     </script>
 
     <div id="registrationForm" class="toolForm">
+        ## only display the prepopulate form to admins
+        %if show_user_prepopulate_form:
+            <form name="registration" id="prepopulateform" action="${form_action}" method="post" >
+                <input type="hidden" name="session_csrf_token" value="${trans.session_csrf_token}" />
+                <div class="toolFormTitle">Pre-populate an account through LDAP</div>
+                <div class="form-row">
+                    <label>Email address:</label>
+                    <input id="email_input" type="text" name="email" value="${email | h}" size="40"/>
+                    <input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="${redirect | h}" size="40"/>
+                </div>
+                <div class="form-row">
+                    <label>Username:</label>
+                    <input id="name_input" type="text" name="username" size="40" value="${username |h}"/>
+                    <div class="toolParamHelp">
+                        Depending on your LDAP configuration in your auth_conf.xml you can either provide an
+                        email address or username.
+                    </div>
+                </div>
+                <div class="form-row">
+                    <input type="submit" id="prepopulate" name="prepopulate_user_button" value="Prepopulate"/>
+                </div>
+            </form>
+            <br />
+        %endif
         <form name="registration" id="registration" action="${form_action}" method="post" >
             <input type="hidden" name="session_csrf_token" value="${trans.session_csrf_token}" />
             <div class="toolFormTitle">Create account</div>