Role-based management of computer resources
Active Roles provides the ability to delegate administration of computer resources, such as services and printers. Delegated administrators can use the Active Roles Web Interface to manage computer resources with a single, consolidated tool. Active Roles, along with the Web Interface, enables the delegation of administrative tasks on the following computer resources:
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Services: Start or stop a service, view or modify properties of a service.
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Network File Shares: Create a file share, view or modify properties of a file share, stop sharing a folder.
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Logical Printers: Pause, resume or cancel printing, list documents being printed, view or modify properties of a printer.
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Documents being printed (print jobs): Pause, resume, cancel or restart printing of a document, view or modify properties of a document being printed.
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Local groups: Create or delete a group, add or remove members from a group, rename a group, view or modify properties of a group.
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Local users: Create or delete a local user account, set a password for a local user account, rename a local user account, view or modify properties of a local user account.
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Devices: View or modify properties of a logical device, start or stop a logical device.
Active Roles provides a comprehensive set of Access Templates that are available out of the box for delegating computer management tasks. By applying Access Templates of the Computer Resources category to a computer account, the rights of delegated administrators can be specified on the corresponding computer’s resources.
Delegated administrators should use the Web Interface rather than the Active Roles Console to manage computer resources. Although the console provides certain tools for computer resources management, the console user needs the native administrator rights on the computer in order to use those tools. The rights specified through Computer Resources Access Templates have no effect in the tools provided by the console for computer resources management.
View mode
In the Active Roles console you can choose view mode—Basic, Advanced, or Raw. Changing view mode makes it possible to filter out advanced objects and containers from the display.
Basic mode displays Active Directory objects and Managed Units, and filters out objects and containers related to the Active Roles configuration. Basic mode should normally be used by delegated administrators and help-desk operators.
Advanced mode displays all objects and containers except those reserved for Active Roles internal use. Advanced mode is designed for administrators who are responsible for configuring the system and managing Active Roles proprietary objects.
Raw mode displays all objects and containers defined in the Active Roles namespace. This mode is primarily designed for troubleshooting.
With Raw mode, the console displays all data it receives from the Administration Service. With Basic or Advanced mode, some data is filtered out. For example, the Configuration folder is not shown in the console tree with Basic mode. Another example is the Configuration Container folder used to display the Active Directory configuration naming context, which is displayed with Raw mode only. In addition, there are some commands and property pages that are only displayed when the console is in Raw mode.
In short, when you choose Raw mode, the snap-in displays everything it is able to display. Otherwise, some items are hidden. Note that changing view mode does not modify any items. Rather, this only shows or hides particular items from the display.
To change view mode, click Mode on the View menu. In the View Mode dialog box, click Basic Mode, Advanced Mode, or Raw Mode.
Controlled objects
The Active Roles Console provides for visual indication of the objects to which Access Templates or Policy Objects are linked. The console marks those objects by adding an arrow icon at the lower-left corner of the icon that represents the object in the console tree or details pane. As a result, the icon looks similar to the following image: .
To enable this feature, click Mark Controlled Objects on the View menu, and select check boxes to specify the category of object to be marked.
Using Managed Units
Active Roles offers these key security and administration elements:
- Trustees: Users or groups that have permissions to administer users, groups, computers, or other directory objects.
- Permissions and Roles: Permissions are grouped in Access Templates (roles) to define how a Trustee can manage directory objects.
- Managed Units: Collections of directory objects delegated to Trustees for administration.
The directory administrator defines which users or groups are designated as Trustees, which roles and permissions are assigned to Trustees, and what objects are included in Managed Units.
Managed Units are used to determine the directory objects that a Trustee can administer. As a Trustee, you can administer Managed Units for which you have assigned permissions. Managed Units containing objects you are authorized to administer are displayed under Managed Units in the Console tree.
When you select a Managed Unit in the Console tree, the details pane displays a list of objects included in that Managed Unit. To administer objects, select them from the list and use the commands on the Action menu.
If a Managed Unit includes a container, such as an Organizational Unit, the container is displayed under the Managed Unit in the Console tree. When you select a container in the Console tree, the details pane lists all child objects and sub-containers held in that container.