User Sources

Hybrid

Users in hybrid user sources authenticate against Active Directory, meaning that user names and passwords are checked against those stored in Active Directory. However, roles are stored either internally in Ignition or in a SQL database, so it is possible to make a role change without have to contact your Active Directory administrator.  This way, Active Directory can be consulted to see if a user is valid, but the management of roles does not require coordination with the IT department, who typically control the Active Directory system. This "best of both worlds" approach is popular for many users of Active Directory.

• Active Directory-Internal Hybrid - Users managed by Active Directory and roles stored to Ignition internally.
• Active Directory-Database Hybrid - Users managed by Active Directory and roles stored in an SQL database.

Fallback Cache

This User Source was developed specifically for a system that is using Local Client Fallback, and allows you to cache the login credentials from a remote user source. This means your users can still log in with their normal username/password on a Local Client Fallback project, even when the network connection is unavailable. 

More information can be found on the Fallback Cache Authentication page. 

Shared Functionality

Regardless of type, all User Sources have the following functionality:

• Failover Source: If the User Source is unavailable for authentication, then a backup User Source can be specified. The type of the fail-over User Source can differ from the primary, so configurations where an internal-type fails over to a database-type are possible.
• Schedule Restrictions: The User Source can prevent users from logging in when they are off schedule, meaning that the schedule assigned to the user determines when the user may login.

Main Properties

All User Sources have a section of properties that are categorized as "Main". Below is a description of these properties. 

Details on the Password Policy Properties can be found on the Internal Authentication page.

The Default User Source

When Ignition is installed for the first time, an internal User Source named 'default' is created. You can manage the default User Source by navigating to the Config > Security > Users, Roles section of the Gateway.

The manage users link next to the 'default' user source allows you to add new users, modify roles and passwords for existing users, remove users, and add/remove roles from the user source.

When you open the 'default' user source for the first time, you will see the first user that was created at installation. This is the administrator account that has full privileges.  If this user source has been modified before, a list of existing users is displayed.

Editing a User

Choosing to edit a user will bring you to the following page allowing you to make any necessary changes to that user.   Fill out the fields for that user then click Save Changes. 

Which User Source Controls What?

With potentially multiple User Sources defined, you need to understand which User Sources are controlling which aspects of Ignition. To determine what kind of User Source is governing what, do the following:

1. To manage users and passwords for logging into the Gateway Configuration section, you'll need to see what User Source is currently set as the Gateway's User Source. You can check this under Config > System > Gateway Settings by looking at the System User Source field and the Gateway Config Role(s) field. 
2. To manage users and passwords for logging into the Designer, you follow the same steps as in #1, except that you need to look at the Designer Role(s) field to see what roles are allowed to log into the Designer. 
3. To manage users and passwords for logging into a Vision Client or Perspective Session, go to the Config > System > Projects section. Look at the project in question and you can find its User Source listed under Authentication, or click edit and look at Authentication Profile. 
4. Now that you know what User Source you need to manage, you can find out what kind it is under in the Security > Users, Roles section.