Configuring access to Enterprise servers

You use the Server Access page to configure the access that users have to your Enterprise servers.

To access the Server Access page, click Server Access in the sidebar.

Server Admin uses Microsoft Active Directory to help determine which users have access to which Enterprise servers. In Active Directory, you have a structure of security groups and users. You can specify the servers to which your users have access in the following ways:

  • By creating security groups in Server Admin, each one corresponding to a security group in Active Directory, and assigning Enterprise servers to the security groups.
  • By creating individual Asta Powerproject users in Server Admin, each one corresponding to a user in Active Directory, and assigning Enterprise servers to the Asta Powerproject users.
  • Using a combination of security group and individual Asta Powerproject user assignments.

Each of these methods is described below. The examples assume that you have the following security groups set up in Active Directory:

Security group North South East West
Users

mrana

 

eprice

 

zglasgow

elightfoot

 

hpugh

 

ogowan

ljones

 

ecornish

 

dbleach

lcooper

 

fnielson

 

ibeet

And that you have the following Enterprise servers set up in Server Admin:

  • North.
  • South.
  • East.
  • West.

This approach works best if your Active Directory security group structure corresponds to the Enterprise server permissions you want to grant to your users.

This would be the best approach to take if you wanted to give:

  • The members of the 'North' security group access to the 'North' server.
  • The members of the 'South' security group access to the 'South' server.
  • The members of the 'East' security group access to the 'East' server.
  • The members of the 'West' security group access to the 'West' server.

To do this, you would create four security groups in Server Admin - 'North', 'South', 'East' and 'West' - and assign the corresponding Enterprise server to each security group.

This gives each user access to the Enterprise server(s) to which their security group is assigned.

This would also be the best approach to take if you wanted to give:

  • The members of the 'North' security group access to the 'North', 'South' and 'East' servers.
  • The members of the 'South', 'East' and 'West' security groups access to the 'West' server.

To do this, you would:

  • Create four security groups in Server Admin - 'North', 'South', 'East' and 'West'.
  • Assign the 'North', 'South' and 'East' Enterprise servers to the 'North' security group.
  • Assign the 'West' Enterprise server to the 'South', 'East' and 'West' security groups.

As the Active Directory security group structure corresponds exactly to your Enterprise servers, there is no need to create individual Asta Powerproject users in Server Admin.

Once the server location is configured in each user's Asta Powerproject client, each user can then access the Enterprise servers that have been assigned to their security group.

  1. In the Security Groups section of the page, click Create New. The Create Security Group page appears.
  2. Enter the name of the security group in the Name field. The name must match exactly the name of the corresponding security group in Active Directory.
  3. If you are a Company Admin user, a Company field appears on this page. Select the company to which the security group belongs in this field.

    If you are an Admin or Server Admin user, this field does not appear, as you can only create security groups within your own company.
  4. Select the Enterprise server - or servers - to which members of the security group should have access in the Available servers field. You can select multiple Enterprise servers by CTRL or SHIFT-selecting servers in this field.
  5. Click Create. You return to the Server Access page, where the new security group appears in the list.

You may want to edit the name of a security group if its name does not match exactly the name of the corresponding security group in Active Directory. You can also change the Enterprise servers to which a security group is assigned.

To edit a security group:

  1. Click the security group that you want to edit. The Edit Security Group page appears.
  2. Edit the name of the security group in the Name field.
  3. Select the Enterprise server - or servers - to which members of the security group should have access in the Available servers field. You can select multiple Enterprise servers by CTRL or SHIFT-selecting servers in this field.
  4. Click Save. You return to the Server Access page.

To delete a security group:

  1. Click Delete to the right of the security group that you want to delete. A popup appears, asking you to confirm whether you want to delete the security group.
  2. Click OK to continue, or click Cancel to cancel the deletion. You return to the Server Access page and unless you have cancelled the deletion, the security group is deleted.

This approach works best if your Active Directory security group structure does not correspond to the Enterprise server permissions you want to grant to your users.

This would be the best approach to take if you wanted to give:

  • The 'mrana' user from the 'North' security group access to the 'North' and 'South' servers.
  • The 'elightfoot' user from the 'South' security group access to the 'East' server.
  • The 'ljones' user from the 'East' security group access to the 'North', 'East' and 'West' servers.
  • And so on.

To do this, you would create individual Asta Powerproject users in Server Admin - one corresponding to each user in Active Directory - and assign the appropriate Enterprise server(s) to each Asta Powerproject user.

Each Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name. For example, if the user's Active Directory name is 'ecornish', their name in Server Admin must also be 'ecornish'.

As the Active Directory security group structure does not correspond to the Enterprise server permissions you want to grant, there is no need to create security groups in Server Admin.

Once the server location is configured in each user's Asta Powerproject client, each user can then access the Enterprise server(s) to which they have been assigned.

To create an Asta Powerproject user:

  1. In the Asta Powerproject Users section of the page, click Create New. The Create New Asta Powerproject User page appears.
  2. If you are a Company Admin user, a Company field appears on this page. Select the company to which the user belongs in this field.

    If you are an Admin or Server Admin user, this field does not appear, as you can only create users within your own company.
  3. Enter the Asta Powerproject user's Active Directory name in the Name field.

    Each Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name. For example, if the user's Active Directory name is 'ecornish', their name in Server Admin must also be 'ecornish'.
  4. Select the Enterprise server - or servers - to which the user should have access in the Available servers field. You can select multiple Enterprise servers by CTRL or SHIFT-selecting servers in this field.
  5. Click Create. You return to the Server Access page, where the new user appears in the list.

You may want to edit the name of an Asta Powerproject user if its name does not match exactly the name of the corresponding user in Active Directory. You can also change the Enterprise servers to which a Asta Powerproject user is assigned.

To edit an Asta Powerproject user:

  1. Click the Asta Powerproject user that you want to edit. The Edit Asta Powerproject User page appears.
  2. Edit the name of the Asta Powerproject user in the Name field.
  3. Select the Enterprise server - or servers - to which the user should have access in the Available servers field. You can select multiple Enterprise servers by CTRL or SHIFT-selecting servers in this field.
  4. Click Save. You return to the Server Access page.

To delete an Asta Powerproject user:

  1. Click Delete to the right of the user that you want to delete. The Delete User popup appears, asking you to confirm whether you want to delete the user.
  2. Click OK. You return to the Server Access page and the Asta Powerproject user is deleted.

This approach works best if your Active Directory security group structure mostly corresponds to the Enterprise server permissions you want to grant to your users, but with some exceptions.

This would be the best approach to take if you wanted to give:

  • The members of the 'North' security group access to the 'North' server.
  • The 'mrana' user from the 'North' security group access to the 'North', 'South' and 'East' servers.
  • The members of the 'South' security group access to the 'South' server.
  • The members of the 'East' security group access to the 'East' server.
  • The 'lcooper' user from the 'West' security group access to the 'North' server.
  • The 'fnielsen' user from the 'West' security group access to the 'South' server.
  • The 'ibeet' user from the 'West' security group access to the 'East' and 'West' servers.

To do this, you would:

  1. Create three security groups in Server Admin - 'North', 'South' and 'East' - and assign the corresponding Enterprise server to each security group. This gives all members of the 'North', 'South' and 'East' security groups access to the corresponding Enterprise servers.
  2. Create an Asta Powerproject user in Server Admin corresponding to the 'mrana' user and assign the 'South' and 'East' Enterprise servers to the user. The Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name - 'mrana' in this case. This gives the 'mrana' user access to the 'South' and 'East' Enterprise servers, in addition to the 'North' Enterprise server (to which they have access because of their membership of the 'North' security group).
  3. Create an Asta Powerproject user in Server Admin corresponding to the 'lcooper' user, and assign the 'North' Enterprise server to this user. The Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name - 'lcooper' in this case. This gives the 'lcooper' user access to the 'North' Enterprise server.
  4. Create an Asta Powerproject user in Server Admin corresponding to the 'fnielsen' user, and assign the 'South' Enterprise server to this user. The Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name - 'fnielsen' in this case. This gives the 'fnielsen' user access to the 'South' Enterprise server.
  5. Create an Asta Powerproject user in Server Admin corresponding to the 'ibeet' user, and assign the 'East' and 'West' Enterprise servers to this user. The Asta Powerproject user's name in Server Admin must be identical to the user's Active Directory name - 'ibeet' in this case. This gives the 'ibeet' user access to the 'East' and 'West' Enterprise servers.

Here, we have used security groups to assign Enterprise server permissions where possible, to avoid having to set up individual Asta Powerproject users for every single Active Directory user. Where this has not been possible - where the Active Directory security group structure does not correspond to the Enterprise server permissions you want to grant - we have set up individual Asta Powerproject users and used these to assign Enterprise server permissions.

Related Topics:

Working with Server Admin users