Account Management

[Morley Chalmers]

In FMP9 is there a way for an administrator to create accounts with passwords and have these pushed to all computers on an FMP Server network? And can we script this so we can provide the administrator with our own interface and record the accounts and passwords in a table located on the server?

Yes, I recognize there is a potential security hazard in doing so. However the downside is minimal and reasonable if access to the server room is sufficiently limited (as it should be in any case). The upside is considerable; we can script our own more powerful privilege system than FMP provides natively. With such a system we can provide administrators the option to make changes to individual access permissions on whim to layouts, buttons, fields and other objects.

Specifically we have in mind Matt Petrowsky's Permissions Template. Two things we don't like about Matt's system: it lets end users create new accounts without limit (messy), and he makes no provision for assigning passwords (insecure). Not sure any of our clients would like that.

Therefore we would like to provide administrators with a button which will allow them to create and delete accounts as well as change permissions for a suite of end users. Yes, another security risk, but administrative ease of use is also a very important attribute in a successful system.

Kind regards,

[Vaughan]

"In FMP9 is there a way for an administrator to create accounts with passwords and have these pushed to all computers on an FMP Server network?"

Passwords live in the FMP files not in the computers. The files should live on the server.

This is exactly the scenario that External Authentication is designed to solve.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

See the External Server Authentication Tech Brief on the FMI site. As Vaughan points out, what you are seeking to have happen is precisely what that feature does.

Steven

[Morley Chalmers]

"In FMP9 is there a way for an administrator to create accounts with passwords and have these pushed to all computers on an FMP Server network?"

Passwords live in the FMP files not in the computers. The files should live on the server.

This is exactly the scenario that External Authentication is designed to solve.

We are planning a two-file separation model, one file with the Environment (graphics, layouts, scripts), and another with all the Data. For performance reasons we'd like to place a copy of the Environment file onto each users computer and have our solution launched by launching that file.

Am I correct in assuming the following scenario would serve our purposes. When the administrator wishes make changes to accounts and privileges, they use a launcher file to log into a copy of the Environment file on the server and their changes. The revised Environment file is then automatically pushed to each of the end user computers to replace the existing copy.

Would this save us the necessity of learning and supporting Active Directory/Open Directory account management? Would this set up be prudent?

Kind regards,