Using temporal group memberships
By using temporal group memberships, you can manage group memberships of objects such as user or computer accounts that need to be members of particular groups for only a certain time period. This feature of Active Roles gives you flexibility in deciding and tracking what objects need group memberships and for how long.
This section guides you through the tasks of managing temporal group memberships in the Active Roles console. If you are authorized to view and modify group membership lists, then you can add, view and remove temporal group members as well as view and modify temporal membership settings on group members.
Adding temporal members
A temporal member of a group is an object, such as a user, computer or group, scheduled to be added or removed from the group. You can add and configure temporal members using the Active Roles console.
To add temporal members of a group
- In the Active Roles console, right-click the group and click Properties.
- On the Members tab in the Properties dialog box, click Add.
- In the Select Objects dialog box, click Temporal Membership Settings.
- In the Temporal Membership Settings dialog box, choose the appropriate options, and then click OK:
- To have the temporal members added to the group on a certain date in the future, select On this date under Add to the group, and choose the date and time you want.
- To have the temporal members added to the group at once, select Now under Add to the group.
- To have the temporal members removed from the group on a certain date, select On this date under Remove from the group, and choose the date and time you want.
- To retain the temporal members in the group for indefinite time, select Never under Remove from the group.
- In the Select Objects dialog box, type or select the names of the objects you want to make temporal members of the group, and click OK.
- Click Apply in the Properties dialog box for the group.
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NOTE:
- To add temporal members of a group, you must be delegated the authority to add or remove members from the group. The appropriate authority can be delegated by applying the Groups - Add/Remove Members Access Template.
- You can make an object a temporal member of particular groups by managing properties of the object rather than properties of the groups. Open the Properties dialog box for that object, and then, on the Member Of tab, click Add. In the Select Objects dialog box, specify the temporal membership settings and supply the names of the groups as appropriate for your situation.
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Viewing temporal members
The list of group members displayed by the Active Roles console makes it possible to distinguish between regular group members and temporal group members. It is also possible to hide or display so-called pending members, the temporal members that are scheduled to be added to the group in the future but are not actual members of the group so far.
To view temporal members of a group
- In the Active Roles console, right-click the group and click Properties.
- Examine the list on the Members tab in the Properties dialog box:
- An icon of a small clock overlays the icon for the temporal members.
- If the Show pending members check box is selected, the list also includes the temporal members that are not yet added to the group. The icons identifying such members are shown in orange.
The list of group memberships for a particular object makes it possible to distinguish between the groups in which the object is a regular member and the groups in which the object is a temporal member. It is also possible to hide or display so-called pending group memberships, the groups to which the object is scheduled to be added in the future.
To view groups in which an object is a temporal member
- In the Active Roles console, right-click the object and click Properties.
- Examine the list on the Member Of tab in the Properties dialog box:
- An icon of a small clock overlays the icon for the groups in which the object is a temporal member.
- If the Show pending group memberships check box is selected, the list also includes the groups to which the object is scheduled to be added in the future. The icons identifying such groups are shown in orange.
Rescheduling temporal group memberships
The temporal membership settings on a group member include the start time and end time settings.
The start time setting specifies when the object is to be actually added to the group. This can be specific date and time or an indication that the object should be added to the group right away.
The end time setting specifies when the object is to be removed from the group. This can be specific date and time or an indication that the object should not be removed from the group.
You can view or modify both the start time and end time settings using the Active Roles console.
To view or modify the start or end time setting for a member of a group
- In the Active Roles console, right-click the group and click Properties.
- In the list on the Members tab in the Properties dialog box, click the member and then click the Temporal Membership Settings button.
- Use the Temporal Membership Settings dialog box to view or modify the start or end time settings.
The Temporal Membership Settings dialog box provides the following options:
- Add to the group | Now Indicates that the object should be added to the group at once.
- Add to the group | On this date Indicates the date and time when the object should be added to the group.
- Remove from the group | Never Indicates that the object should not be removed from the group.
- Remove from the group | On this date Indicates the date and time when the object should be removed from the group.
Regular members have the Add to group and Remove from group options set to Already added and Never, respectively. You can set a particular date for any of these options in order to convert a regular member to a temporal member.
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NOTE:
- You can view or modify the start time and end time settings by managing an object rather than groups in which the object has memberships. Open the Properties dialog box for that object, and then, on the Member Of tab, select the group for which you want to manage the object’s start or end time setting and click Temporal Membership Settings.
- On the Members or Member Of tab, you can change the start or end time setting for multiple members or groups at a time. From the list on the tab, select two or more items and click Temporal Membership Settings. Then, in the Temporal Membership Settings dialog box, select check boxes to indicate the settings to change and make the changes you want.
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