Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Managing Aliases

why do we need aliases in BusinessObjects?

If a user has multiple accounts in BusinessObjects Enterprise, you can link the accounts using the assign alias feature. This is useful when a user has a third-party account that is mapped to Enterprise and an Enterprise account. By assigning an alias to the user, the user can log on using either a third-party user name and password or an Enterprise user name and password.

Thus, an alias enables a user to log on via more than one authentication type. You can also reassign an alias in BusinessObjects Enterprise. For example, after you map your third-party accounts to BusinessObjects Enterprise, you can use the Reassign Alias feature to reassign an alias to a different a user. In CMC, the alias information is displayed at the bottom of the properties page for a user. A user can have any combination of BusinessObjects Enterprise, LDAP, AD, or NT aliases

Creating a user and a third-party alias When you create a user and select an authentication type other than Enterprise, the system creates the new user in BusinessObjects Enterprise
and creates a third-party alias for the user.

Note: For the system to create the third-party alias, the following criteria must be met:

The authentication tool needs to have been enabled in CMC.
The format of the account name must agree with the format required for the authentication type.
The user account must exist in the third-party authentication tool, and it must belong to a group that is already mapped to BusinessObjects Enterprise.

􀁘 To create a user and add a third-party alias

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click New User.
The New User Properties page appears.

3. Select the authentication type for the user, for example, Windows NT.
The New User Properties page appears.

4. Type in the third-party account name for the user, for example, bsmith.

5. Select the connection type for the user.

6. Click OK

Creating an alias for an existing user

You can create aliases for existing BusinessObjects Enterprise users. The alias can be an Enterprise alias, or an alias for a third-party authentication tool.

Note: For the system to create the third-party alias, the following criteria must be met:

The authentication tool needs to have been enabled in CMC.
The format of the account name must agree with the format required for the authentication type.
The user account must exist in the third-party authentication tool, and it must belong to a group that is mapped to BusinessObjects Enterprise.

􀁘 To create a new alias for a user

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click the link for the user that you want to add an alias to.

3. Click New Alias.
The New Alias page appears.

4. Select the authentication type for the user, for example, Windows NT.

5. Type in the account name for the user.


6. Click OK.

An alias is created for the user. When you view the user in CMC, at least two aliases are shown, the one that was already assigned to the user and the one you just created.

Assigning an alias

When you assign an alias to a user, you move a third-party alias from another user to the user you are currently viewing. You cannot assign or reassign Enterprise aliases.

Note: If a user has only one alias and you assign that last alias to another user, the system will delete the user account, and the Favorites folder, personal categories, and inbox for that account

􀁘 To assign an alias from another user

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click the link for the user you want to assign an alias to.

3. Click Assign Alias.

The Assign Alias page appears.

4. Select the alias you want in the list of available aliases.

5. Click the > arrow.

Tip:
To select multiple aliases, use the SHIFT+click or CTRL+click combination.
To search for a specific alias, use the Look For field.

6. Click OK.

Reassigning an alias

When you reassign an alias, you move a third-party alias from the user that you are currently viewing to another user. You cannot assign or reassign Enterprise aliases.

Note: If a user has only one alias and you reassign that alias to another user, the system will delete the user account, and the Favorites folder, personal categories, and inbox for that account.

􀁘 To reassign an alias to another user

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click the link for the user whose alias you want to reassign, for example, bsmith.

3. Click the Reassign Alias button for the alias. he Reassign Alias page appears.

4. In the list, click the name of the user that you want to assign the alias to, for example, jbrown.

5. Click OK.

The alias for bsmith has now been assigned to the user jbrown, and the Properties page for user jbrown is displayed. The user jbrown can now log on using the third-party user account and authentication method. The user bsmith can no longer use this alias.

Deleting an alias

When you delete an alias, the alias is removed from the system. If a user has only one alias and you delete that alias, the system automatically deletes the user account and the Favorites folder, personal categories, and inbox for that account.

􀁘 To delete an alias

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click the link for the user whose alias you want to delete.

3. Click the Delete Alias button for the alias.

The alias is deleted from the system.

Note: Deleting a user’s alias does not necessarily prevent the user from being able to log on to BusinessObjects Enterprise again. If the user account still exists in the third-party system, and if the account belongs to a group that is mapped to BusinessObjects Enterprise, then BusinessObjects Enterprise will still allow the user to log on.

Whether the system creates a new user or assigns the alias to an existing user, depends on which Update Options you have selected for the authentication tool in the Authentication management area of CMC.

Disabling an aliases

You can prevent a user from logging on to BusinessObjects Enterprise using a particular authentication method by disabling the user’s alias associated with that method. To prevent a user from accessing BusinessObjects Enterprise altogether, disable all aliases for that user.

Note: Deleting a user from BusinessObjects Enterprise does not necessarily prevent the user from being able to log on to BusinessObjects Enterprise again. If the user account still exists in the third-party system, and if the account belongs to a group that is mapped to BusinessObjects Enterprise, then BusinessObjects Enterprise will still allow the user to log on. To ensure a user can no longer use one of his or her aliases to log on to BusinessObjects Enterprise, it is best to disable the alias.

􀁘 To disable an alias

1. Go to the Users management area of the CMC.

2. Click the name of the user whose alias you want to disable.

3. In the Alias area on the Properties page, clear the Enabled check box for the alias you want disable.
Repeat this step for each alias you want to disable.

4. Click Update.

The user can no longer log on using the type of authentication that you just disabled.

2 comments:

  1. Very well documented and easy to understand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Does anyone know how to restrict the ability to assign alias accounts?

    ReplyDelete