Active Roles 7.4.1 - Administration Guide

Scenario: Implementing a Birthday attribute

This scenario illustrates how to create and use a virtual attribute to store information on the birthdays of users.

To create the Birthday attribute

1. In the console tree, expand Configuration | Server Configuration.
2. Under Server Configuration, right-click Virtual Attributes, and select New | Virtual Attribute.
3. Click Next.
4. In the Common-Name and LDAP Display Name boxes, type Birthday, as shown in the following figure.

   Figure 119: Attribute identification

   

5. Click Next.

   The Attribute Syntax page should look as shown in the following figure.

   Figure 120: Attribute syntax

   

6. Click Next.
7. On the Object Classes page, select the check box next to User, as shown in the following figure.

   Figure 121: Object classes

   

8. Click Next.
9. On the Attribute Storage window, select the Store values of this virtual attribute in the Active Roles Administration database check box.
10. Click Next, and then click Finish to complete the wizard.

To enable the new attribute, reconnect to the Administration Service: right-click the console tree root and click Reconnect.

In the Active Roles console, you can manage the Birthday attribute on a user account as follows:

1. Right-click the user account and select All Tasks | Advanced Properties.
2. In the Advanced Properties dialog box, select both the Show all possible attributes and Include attributes with empty values check boxes.
3. Click Birthday in the list of properties, and then click Edit.
4. In the Value box, type a birthday date.
5. Click OK.

You can also manage the Birthday attribute via the Active Roles Web Interface.

First, you need to add the Birthday field to a form that displays user properties, and associate that field with the Birthday attribute. You can accomplish this by customizing the form. For instructions on how to add a field to a form, refer to the Active Roles Web Interface Administration Guide.

Then, the Birthday attribute can be managed by accessing user properties in a Web Interface site. For example, users can view and modify this attribute via Site for Self-Administration, provided that you have self-administration implemented (see Scenario 2: Implementing Self-administration in the Role-based Administration chapter earlier in this document).

Examining client sessions

The Active Roles console displays comprehensive information about client sessions. With the console connected to a given Administration Service, you can examine which clients are using that Service. Session information provided by the console includes the following:

• User  Logon name of the account used by the session to connect to the Administration Service.
• Active Roles Admin  Whether or not the client is logged on as a member of the Active Roles Admin account, and thus has administrator rights on the Administration Service.
• Client Version  Client application, such as MMC Interface or Web Interface, and its version.
• Last Access Time  Date and time that the Administration Service was last accessed within this session.
• Logon Time  Date and time that the session was opened.
• Client Host  DNS name of the computer running the client application.
• Client Site  Network site of the computer running the client application.

To display a list of client sessions on the Administration Service

1. Connect to the Administration Service you want to examine for the client sessions.
2. In the console tree, expand Configuration | Server Configuration, and select Client Sessions.

   As a result, the details pane lists the client sessions for the Administration Service to which the console is connected.

By using the shortcut menu on a client session, you can also perform the following tasks:

• Send e-mail to the session user.
• Disconnect the session from the Administration Service.
• View additional information about the session.

For example, to view additional information about a session, right-click the session in the details pane and click Properties.

The Properties dialog box for a client session includes the following tabs:

• General  Information about the session user, client version, client host, and client site.
• Client Activity  Information about logon time, last access time, and the number of operations performed within the session, grouped by operation type.
• Member Of  List of all security groups computed due to a transitive group membership expansion operation on the session user at the moment of session start.
• Domain Controllers  Information about the domain controllers used to retrieve and update directory data within the session.

Monitoring performance

Active Roles includes a set of performance counters to monitor various aspects of the Administration Service’s performance. Counters are grouped into performance objects that include the following:

• Requests  Counts data management requests submitted to the Administration Service.
• LDAP operations  Counts LDAP requests issued by the Administration Service.
• Permissions propagation  Counts changes to Active Directory security made by the Administration Service.
• External changes  Counts data changes polled by the Administration Service from Active Directory, and changes made to the Administration Database.
• Script modules  Counts the average execution time of Active Roles script modules, the number of times a particular script module was executed, and number of script module instances being currently executed.
• Miscellaneous  Counts the number of clients connected to the Administration Service and the number of queued post-policy processing operations.

To examine Administration Service performance counters, you can use the Performance tool on the computer running the Administration Service:

1. Start the Performance tool: click Start and select All Programs | Administrative Tools | Performance.
2. In the console tree, select System Monitor.
3. Click in the details pane, and then press CTRL+I to display the Add Counters dialog box.
4. From the list in the Performance object box, select any name that begins with the prefix AR Server. For example, you might select AR Server:Requests.
5. Select an item from the list of counters. For example, you might select Requests/sec.
6. Click Add and then click Close.

As a result, the Performance tool displays the output of the counter you have selected.

Customizing the console

The Active Roles console provides a convenient way to customize object creation wizards and property pages found in the console, and to customize display names for object types and object properties. Customization is performed through the use of Active Directory objects called display specifiers.

Each display specifier object holds information describing the various user interface elements for a particular object type. These elements include (but not limited to) creation wizard pages, property pages, and names to use for object types and properties in user interfaces.

The following sections summarize the customization-related features that are based on the use of display specifiers:

• Other Properties page in the object creation wizard
• Other Properties tab in the Properties dialog box
• Customizing display names