External Authentication w/o Active Directory

[Dana G]

http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/166044/

The thread above has a post from Wim DeCorte where he mentions the ability to run external authentication without Active Directory.

Does anyone know how?

[Wim Decorte]

Sure.

If you set up accounts and groups on the FMS machine itself then FMS will use these if you configure FMS to use both intenal FM accounts and external accounts.

See the External Authentication white paper we wrote on the FileMaker website. It explains this scenario in great detail with lots of screenshots for both Windows and Mac.

If your FMS machine belongs to an Open Directory or Active Directory domain, then keep in mind that FMS will also look there for the accounts, not just on its own machine.

[Dana G]

I guess all of this is a little over my head.

The FMS computer is a Domain computer but it is not part of a directory service. All of our employees are already set up but the groups that they are set up is different from what I will need for FM.

Our IT guy tried to make the server, that FMS is on, a part of the directory service on our exchange server. That didn't work and he seems to be getting a little impatient with me. I read the TB on Server External Authentication but I'm kind of limited on what I can do. IT doesn't want me changing anything that is already set up. I guess I just don't know what to do from here.

Edited November 23, 2005 by Guest

[Wim Decorte]

If it is over your head, you'll probably need to consult a FM developer that knows this stuff and have him come in and sit down with you and the IT guy.

When you say "the fms computer is a domain computer but is not part of a directory service": a domain computer by definition belongs to a directory service (Active Directory is a DS). When you belong to a domain you get authenticated through the directory service.

Exchange server has nothing to do with being part of a domain or not.

These things are almost impossible to troubleshoot remotely without seeing the actual deployment. So I would seriously suggest getting in touch with FMI and asking them who the best FM developer in your area is that knows this stuff.

[apd183]

I don't know if this is the same whitepaper you spoke of above, but this tech brief was very helpful:

http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/pdf/techbrief_fm8_server_auth.pdf

It applies to FM7 as well.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

See the Tech Brief. And look at the resources now posted on the front page of FM Forums.

Steven