Defining Users and Groups

We proceed here with a Secure Database to show how to create additional Users, beyond the database creator and/or Administrator, and how to place those Users in Groups. The purpose is to take advantage of a variety of security options by assigning precise Meta Data and Fact Data privileges for Users or for a Group of Users.

Important

Remember that only users with Administrator privileges can define Users and Groups.

The examples that follow use a "secured" Avon Trading Company database, and the actions are performed by the user called Administrator.

The following are covered in this topic:

Add Users
Add Groups
Add Users to Groups
Delete Users
Delete User from a Group
Modify a User or Group Name
Change Password

Add Users

To add individual users:

1. In the PowerOLAP ribbon, go to Model tab, then in the Security control group select Users and Groups icon or Maintain Users & Groups command.
The Users & Groups dialog box appears.

2. Click Add on the Users side of the dialog box.
The Define User dialog box is displayed.

3. The general procedure for creating a new user is as follows:
Enter <User Name>, <Description (optional)>, <Password> in the appropriate boxes; retype the password in the Verify text box.
A Password must be at least eight (8) characters.
(In the following example, a User called Jack Admin has been added who we intend to have Administrator privileges.)

4. Click OK.
The new User is added to the Users list in the Users & Groups dialog box.

Repeat these steps, above, to add more Users.

5. Click OK to close the dialog.

Notes

The next topic concerns adding Groups, but there is no requirement that you add all Users first, before creating Groups—i.e., you can alternate creating Users and Groups.

Add Groups

The advantage of creating Groups of Users is to assign privileges for a number of users in one procedure, rather than assigning the same privileges repeatedly for each.

To add a User Group(s):

1. In the PowerOLAP ribbon, go to Model tab, then in the Security control group select Users and Groups icon or Maintain Users & Groups command.
The Users & Groups dialog box appears.

2. Click Add on the Groups side of the dialog box.
The Define User dialog box is displayed.

3. Enter <Group> and <Description (optional)> in the appropriate text boxes.
(In the following example, a Group called US Staff has been added who will participate in the 2002 budget process.)

4. Click OK.
The new Group is added to the Groups list on the right in the Users & Groups dialog box.

Repeat the steps above to create more User Groups.

5. Click OK to close the dialog.

Add Users to Groups

Once you have defined Users and Groups, you will want to select Users to add to a Group(s). The general procedure for adding a User(s) to a Group is as follows:

1. In the PowerOLAP ribbon, go to Model tab, then in the Security control group select Users and Groups icon or Maintain Users & Groups command to access the Users & Groups dialog box.

2. Select a User and drag and drop it into a Group.

The User is added to the Group and a "+" icon appears to the left of the group name.
To add several Users to a Group you can repeat this simple step, or select several Users by using Shift-click or Ctrl-click and move them to the Group in the list box.

Further, you can move a User(s) to a selected Group by clicking using the arrow key, , in the middle of the dialog box—e.g., select a Group on the right, then User(s) on the left; click button to put the selected User(s) in the selected Group.

As an example, as the preceding figure shows, the User Jack Admin has been placed in the Administrator Group—which immediately confers Administrator privileges (see tip below)—and the remaining Users have been placed in the US Staff Group.

3. Click OK to close the dialog.

Notes

The Administrator Group is unique in that by placing a User in this Group, you automatically confer ALL database privileges (i.e., Administrator privileges) on the User. As you will see, for all other Groups, you must define privileges—e.g., in the example above, the US Staff Group at this point has no privileges whatsoever, except for the fact that they can open the database, provided they know their User Name and Password!

You might also need to Modify or Delete a User; change a Password, etc. The general procedure for these is described in the following steps, which presupposes that a User with Administrator privileges is performing the action.

Delete Users

To delete a user:

2. Select a User from the User list box on the left.

3. Press Delete.
The User is deleted from the User list box and from the Groups in which he/she appeared in the Groups list on the right.

4. Click OK to close the dialog.

Delete User from a Group

To remove a user from a Group:

2. Select a User from a Group on the right in the Users & Groups dialog box.

3. Press Delete.
The User is deleted from the Groups in which he/she appeared in the Groups list on the right, but not from the User list on the left.

4. Click OK to close the dialog.

Modify a User or Group Name

To modify a user or group:

2. Select a User or Group from the Users & Groups dialog box.

3. Select the Modify button. The Define User or Define Group dialog appears.

4. To modify the User, you must enter a User Name and Password.
For the Group, enter a new Group Name.

5. Click OK.

6. Back in the Users & Groups dialog, click OK to close it.

Change Password

In this scenario, either an Administrator or a User who has successfully logged on may change his/her Password at any time from the main menu:

1. After opening the database, go to the PowerOLAP ribbon select Model tab then in the Security control group select the Change Password command.
The Change Password dialog appears.

2. Enter the correct information including the New Password in the dialog box:

3. Click OK.

4. Save the database.

Once you logout and login again, you will be required to login using the new password.