Programmatically activate users I have a custom module that allows administrator users to review users, and then approve their registration. I can't figure out how to programmatically trigger the 'approve' process. 

Changing their role, or doing a regular user_save() with the new status doesn't seem to trigger rules associated with activating the user.

I'm sure there's a simple function for this, but I can't find it.
You have to rely on user_load to load the $user object, edit what's appropriate, in your case $user-&gt;status, then user_save the modified object.

You could also use db_query to update the users table directly if you know what you're doing.

As for triggering the rule, this post explains how to do it.