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Active Roles 7.2.1 - Administrator Guide

Introduction About Active Roles Getting Started Rule-based Administrative Views Role-based Administration
Access Templates as administrative roles Access Template management tasks Examples of use Deployment considerations Windows claims-based Access Rules
Rule-based AutoProvisioning and Deprovisioning
About Policy Objects Policy Object management tasks Policy configuration tasks
Property Generation and Validation User Logon Name Generation Group Membership AutoProvisioning E-mail Alias Generation Exchange Mailbox AutoProvisioning Home Folder AutoProvisioning Script Execution User Account Deprovisioning Group Membership Removal Exchange Mailbox Deprovisioning Home Folder Deprovisioning User Account Relocation User Account Permanent Deletion Group Object Deprovisioning Group Object Relocation Group Object Permanent Deletion Notification Distribution Report Distribution
Deployment considerations Checking for policy compliance Deprovisioning users or groups Restoring deprovisioned users or groups Container Deletion Prevention policy Picture management rules Policy extensions
Workflows
Understanding workflow Workflow activities overview Configuring a workflow
Creating a workflow definition Configuring workflow start conditions Configuring workflow parameters Adding activities to a workflow Configuring an Approval activity Configuring a Notification activity Configuring a Script activity Configuring an If-Else activity Configuring a Stop/Break activity Configuring an Add Report Section activity Configuring a Search activity Configuring CRUD activities Configuring a Save Object Properties activity Configuring a Modify Requested Changes activity Enabling or disabling an activity Enabling or disabling a workflow Using the initialization script
Example: Approval workflow E-mail based approval Automation workflow Activity extensions
Temporal Group Memberships Group Family Dynamic Groups Active Roles Reporting Management History
Understanding Management History Management History configuration Viewing change history
Workflow activity report sections Policy report items Active Roles internal policy report items
Examining user activity
Entitlement Profile Recycle Bin AD LDS Data Management Managing Configuration of Active Roles
Connecting to the Administration Service Adding and removing managed domains Using unmanaged domains Evaluating product usage Configuring replication Using AlwaysOn Availability Groups Using database mirroring Creating and using virtual attributes Examining client sessions Monitoring performance Customizing the console Using Configuration Center Changing the Active Roles Admin account Enabling or disabling diagnostic logs Active Roles Log Viewer
Using regular expressions Administrative Template Communication ports

The replication group

Managing Configuration of Active Roles > Configuring replication > Understanding the replication model > The replication group

The Publisher and its Subscribers constitute a replication group. Every replication group must include a single Publisher and may include any number of Subscribers. The members of a replication group are referred to as replication partners.

Each member of a replication groups (replication partner) maintains a separate, writable copy of the Administration Service’s configuration data. Replication copies and distributes data from one member database to another, and synchronizes data between the databases for consistency. When changes are made on the Publisher, the Publisher replicates these changes to each Subscriber. When data changes are made on a Subscriber, the Subscriber propagates the changes to the Publisher, which in turn replicates them to the other Subscribers.

This replication process ensures the same configuration for all Administration Services that use the database servers belonging to the replication group.

When initially set up, the Administration Service database server is configured as a standalone database, that is, it does not have replication partners and does not belong to any replication group. The Administration Service that uses a standalone database server is referred to as standalone Administration Service.

It is possible to add a standalone database server to any replication group that already exists. When you do that, the database server becomes a Subscriber. Each Administration Service database server may belong to only one replication group. Once removed from a replication group, it can be added to a different group.

To create a new replication group, a standalone database server must be designated as the Publisher. The new replication group will then have a single member—the Publisher. Later, you may add Subscribers to the group.

If there are any replication failures in Active Roles, the Active Roles console provides a visual indication of this issue by modifying the icon of the Server Configuration and Configuration Databases containers in the console tree: a label with the exclamation point appears next to each of the containers. This allows the administrator to detect a replication failure without examining individual replication partners.

Configuring SQL Server

Managing Configuration of Active Roles > Configuring replication > Configuring SQL Server

To ensure that SQL Server is properly configured for Administration Service replication, ensure that the SQL Server Agent service is started and configured properly.

The SQL Server Agent service must be up and running on SQL Server that holds the role of the Publisher database server (Publisher SQL Server). It is recommended that the startup type for this service be set to Automatic.

The SQL Server Agent service should be configured to log on with a domain user account. The service logon account must have sufficient rights to connect to the Publisher SQL Server and to the Subscriber SQL Server (see “Replication agent permissions” in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide).

Creating a replication group

Managing Configuration of Active Roles > Configuring replication > Creating a replication group

To create a replication group, designate a standalone Administration Service database server as the Publisher. You can do that by using the Active Roles console:

  1. Connect to a standalone Administration Service.
  2. Promote the Administration Service database server to Publisher.

To connect to the Administration Service, use the instructions provided earlier in this chapter (see Connecting to the Administration Service).

Once connected to the Administration Service, perform the following steps to promote the Administration Server database server to Publisher:

  1. In the console tree, navigate to the Configuration/Server Configuration/Configuration Databases container.
  2. In the details pane, right-click the database and click Promote.

NOTE: The Promote command is only displayed if the Administration Service uses a standalone database server, that is, a database server that does not belong to any replication group.

After you click Promote, it takes several minutes to complete the operation. When the operation is completed, the new replication group has a single member—the Publisher. Once the replication group has been created, you can add replication partners—Subscribers.

If Active Roles does not have sufficient rights to perform the Promote operation on SQL Server, then the Active Roles console prompts you to supply an alternative account for that operation (see “Permissions for creating or removing the Publisher” in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide).

Adding members to a replication group

Managing Configuration of Active Roles > Configuring replication > Adding members to a replication group

To add a member to a replication group, designate a standalone database server as a Subscriber of the group’s Publisher. You can do that by using the Active Roles console:

  1. Connect to the Publisher Administration Service.
  2. Start and complete the New Replication Partner wizard.

Once connected to the Publisher Administration Service, display the contents of the Configuration Databases container. The details pane lists the names of the Publisher and its Subscribers. Right-click the Publisher and click Add Replication Partner. Then, follow the instructions in the New Replication Partner wizard.

On the Database Selection page, click Browse to select the Administration Service that uses the database server you want to designate as a Subscriber. Clicking Browse displays the dialog box similar to that described in the Connecting to the Administration Service section earlier in this chapter. Type the name of the computer running the Administration Service, or select it from the list.

The wizard automatically selects the database server that hosts the database of the Administration Service you specify. If Active Roles does not have sufficient rights to perform the Add Replication Partner operation on SQL Server, then the wizard prompts you to supply an alternative account for that operation (see “Permissions for adding or removing a Subscriber” in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide).

The next page of the wizard displays the database name and location retrieved from the specified Administration Service, and prompts you to select one of the following options that determine how the replication agent running on the Publisher SQL Server will connect to the Subscriber SQL Server:

  • Impersonate SQL Server Agent service account  Use this option if the SQL Server Agent service on the Publisher SQL Server is configured to log on as a Windows user account that has sufficient rights on the Subscriber SQL Server. If this option is selected, the replication agent connects to the Subscriber SQL Server under the logon account of the SQL Server Agent service running on the Publisher SQL Server.
  • Use SQL Server Authentication with the following login and password  Use this option if the SQL Server Agent service logon account cannot be configured to have sufficient rights on the Subscriber SQL Server. You are prompted to specify the SQL Server login and password that the replication agent running on the Publisher SQL Server will use to connect to the Subscriber SQL Server.

The account that the replication agent uses to connect to the Subscriber SQL Server must at minimum be a member of the db_owner fixed database role in the subscription database (Active Roles’ database on the Subscriber). For further details, see “Replication agent permissions” in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide.

The completion page of the wizard allows you to review summary information about the database server you are going to make a Subscriber. After you click Finish, the database server is added to the replication group. The replication process updates the database of the new Subscriber with the data retrieved from the Publisher.

IMPORTANT: The Publisher copies new data to the database, overwriting the existing data. If the database contains valuable information, such as custom Access Templates or Policy Objects, you should export those objects before designating the database server as a Subscriber, and import them back after the operation is completed.

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