Configuring users

Best Practice for
users not assigned to any groups

IMPORTANT! As of Version 5.2s of Questra IDM Application Suite, all new users must be assigned to at least one group. For users added prior to Version 5.2s and who are not currently assigned to any group, you must manually assign them; otherwise, upon signing in, those users will not see any groups (and their devices) at all. (See Assigning owners to a static group.)

All configuration tasks for users begin with the Users and Roles dialog. To open this dialog, locate the System Configuration tasks on the Action pane's Configuration panel and click Manage users.

You also assign the user to one or more groups (which control which devices he or she may interact with) and to a role (which grants him or her permissions to use specific system features).

Open the Users and Roles dialog. Above the Users list at the right, click Add

to open the User dialog. Complete the fields as needed. (You will need to scroll to bring all fields into view.) Click Add to save.

Best Practice for
administrator users

If more than one administrator user is required for the system, add multiple users and assign the System Administrator role to each of them. Avoid sharing passwords for a single administrator user account, as doing so renders user audit information useless.

An "extended property" for a user is simply additional information that you want to store about a user that you were not otherwise prompted for when you added the user on the User dialog. Examples of extended properties are cell phone numbers and alternative email addresses. Once you have saved a new user, you can then add extended property information about him or her.

Open the Users and Roles dialog and select the user on the Users list at the right. After a few moments, the Users and Roles dialog is refreshed with the user's profile appearing in the Profile tab.

Switch to the Properties tab and click Add

to open the Extended Property dialog. Type a name for the extended property, such as "Cell phone," and type the value of the property, such as the cell phone number. When finished, click Add. After a few moments, the Properties tab is refreshed to show the new extended property.

To delete an extended property from the user, select it on the Properties tab and click Delete

above the Extended Properties list. In response to the confirmation message that opens, click Yes.

You may assign a user to additional groups beyond the group you designated when you added the user.

Open the Users and Roles dialog and select the user on the Users list at the right. After a few moments, the Users and Roles dialog is refreshed with the user's profile appearing in the Profile tab.

Switch to the Groups tab and click Add

to open the Assigned Groups dialog. The hierarchy of groups is automatically expanded to show any groups belonging to the user's assigned parent group. To see other branches, expand the hierarchy by clicking on group names (not their folders). Select the name of the group (not necessarily a subgroup of the parent group) to which you want to assign the user and click Associate. After a few moments, the Groups tab is refreshed to show the additional owned group.

NOTE: If you need to designate that the user is to receive alerts for devices of an additional owned group, you must do so from the Manage groups task. On the Groups dialog, select the group. On the group's Owners tab, you will see listed all the owners of this group, with a read-only Receive Alerts check box. Click Add

to open the Group Owner dialog. Locate the user on the list, select the Receive Alerts check box, and click Add.

To remove the user assignment to a group, select it on the Groups tab and click Delete

above the Groups list. In response to the confirmation message that opens, click Yes.

You can assign alerts to a user. Assigning alerts to a user specifies the list of alerts the user will receive. Alerts that would otherwise be sent to the user (based on his or her group ownership, etc.) but that are not assigned to the user are filtered out.

Open the Users and Roles dialog and select the user on the Users list at the right. After a few moments, the Users and Roles dialog is refreshed with the user's profile appearing in the Profile tab.

Switch to the Alerts tab and click Add

to open the Available Alerts dialog. Select an alert and click Add. After a few moment, the Alerts tab is refreshed to show the alert assignment(s).

To remove the assignment of an alert from the user, select the alert on the Alerts tab and Delete

You can quickly search for users directly from the Users and Roles dialog. Click Search

above the Users list to open the Search dialog, which is preset to search for users only. Complete the desired fields. For a wildcard to represent any string or character, use *. Click Search to conduct the search. You can then load a found user's definition in the Users and Roles dialog by selecting it from the search results and clicking OK, or by double-clicking it.

When editing a user, you can change anything about the user except his or her user name (the name used to sign into the Questra IDM Application Suite).

Open the Users and Roles dialog. On the Users list at the right, select the user you want to edit. After a few moments, the user's definition appears on the Profile tab. Change the fields as needed. (You will need to scroll to bring all fields into view.) To save your changes, click Save.

To change the same user's extended properties, alert assignments, or group ownership, use the techniques described above.

You can upload an image of a user to the Questra IDM Application Suite and save it as part of his or her user profile. (See the Best Practice below for advice on image format and size.)

Open the Users and Roles dialog. On the Users list at the right, select the user whose image you want to upload. After that user's profile loads, click Upload on the Profile tab to open the Upload From Your Computer dialog. Complete this dialog as needed. When ready, click Upload.

Best Practice for
device type images

Valid file formats for the device type image are SWF (Flash) and non-interlaced JPG. The preferred format is SWF. The region dedicated to the device type image is 120 x 120 pixels. You should scale your device type pictures to avoid the download time for an unnecessarily large picture file.

NOTE: For security purposes, users cannot be deleted outright (that is, purged) in order to maintain the integrity of historical audit logs. Instead, they can be unregistered.

To unregister a user, open the Users and Roles dialog. On the Users list at the right, select the user you want to unregister. Click Delete

above the Users list. In response to the confirmation message that opens, click Yes. The user is now removed from the Users list. Keep in mind, however, that the user still exists in the Questra IDM Application Suite database.