Enabling users to log in automatically via Active Directory

By default, users may have to enter their usernames and passwords once or twice to log in to a project in Asta Powerproject:

Once to log in to the server (if there are server-level users defined).
Once to log in to the project (if there are project-level users defined, and if the project-level username does not match the server-level username).

The Asta Enterprise system offers support for the Active Directory® service. Active Directory catalogues information about all the objects on a network, including people, computers, and printers, and distributes that information throughout the network. Security is integrated with Active Directory through login authentication and access control.

If you use Active Directory to manage the users on your network, you can configure the Asta Enterprise system to allow users to log into servers and projects automatically, using the security and access control provided by Active Directory. Configuring the Asta Enterprise system to use Active Directory means that users do not have to enter user names and passwords when they log into their projects.

To enable user access to projects using Active Directory:

Structure your users within Active Directory so that they belong to security groups which can be associated with specific Enterprise servers. For example, if you want one set of users (A) to have access to the data sources associated with server 1 and another set of users (B) to have access to the data sources associated with server 2, structure your Active Directory security groups so that the users belonging to set A are in one security group and the users belonging to set B are in another.
Create data sources within Server Admin, associating each one with a server identification number, so that when you link an Active Directory security group with a server identification number, the users within the security group will have access to the projects within the data sources that are associated with a particular server. Note that when using Active Directory to enable users to log on automatically, you must always start each Enterprise server with a unique name and identification number that corresponds to the server identification numbers you apply to your data sources.
For each of your Enterprise servers, use the List of auto-login information dialog within Server Admin to specify the Active Directory security groups whose users you want to be able to log in automatically:
- Select the Set auto-login information command from the Server menu. The List of auto-login information dialog appears.
- Click Add. The Add Active Directory Group dialog appears.
- Select the domain on which the security group is located in the Domain field. The Active Directory security groups within the domain appear in the Group field, listed within their hierarchy.
- Select the security group whose users you want to be able to log in automatically in the Group field.
- Enter the identification number of the server to which you want the users of the selected security group to be able to log into automatically in the Server ID field.
- Click OK to confirm your selection, close the Add Active Directory Group dialog and return to the List of auto-login information dialog.
- Click OK to close the dialog.
Create projects within Asta Powerproject within the appropriate data sources. Within each of the projects, create project-level users that correspond precisely to the users that are defined within Active Directory. The user names of the users you create within your projects must be identical to the names of the corresponding user in Active Directory.
Within your Asta Powerproject, apply a unique password to each project-level user. The passwords, which do not have to correspond with anything within Active Directory, prevent users within the same security group from accessing projects using the user name of another user within the same security group.
Within your Asta Powerproject projects, select the Active Directory Filtering check box on the General tab of the Options dialog.
Within Server Admin, specify that the Asta Powerproject projects should be mounted each time the Enterprise server(s) starts.

Users within the selected security group can now log in automatically to the projects within the data sources that are associated with the specified Enterprise server. Note that you can select up to four separate security groups per server identification number, enabling their users to log in automatically.