User accounts and permissions FAQ

  1. Where do I go to create user accounts for my team members?

    You create user accounts on the Manage Users dialog, accessed from Admin > Users.

  2. How are user account permissions handled?

    When the WhatsUp admin user account creates new user accounts, user rights are selected for the new user account. These user rights govern the actions the account can perform in WhatsUp. The WhatsUp administrator account has every right enabled. It is up to the administrator's discretion to choose the rights given to other accounts carefully, taking into consideration the amount of access each account requires and should be given.

  3. Can I create user groups?

    Yes. You can create user groups on the Manage Users dialog, accessed from Admin > Users.

  4. Are specific permissions needed to edit device groups?

    Yes. Along with user rights, accounts need specific device group access rights to see devices within particular device groups and to manage these devices and groups. By default, only the administrator user account can see and manage all network devices. As the administrator sees fit, these rights can be enabled on a per-right basis for other user accounts.

  5. How are device group rights carried from group to group?

    Each group has its own access rights, except in the case of subgroups. Group access rights are passed from parent group to subgroup—when a new group is create, all group access rights that exist in the parent group are copied to the new group. If the rights on a parent group are modified after subgroups have been created, you can propagate the changes to the subgroups within it by selecting Apply changes to all sub Device Groups recursively on the Device Group Properties dialog.

  6. What happens when a device belongs to more than one device group?

    When a device exists in multiple groups, the group access rights from all of the groups are added together to determine the rights granted to a user when accessing the device. This means that if a device is granted a right (Device Read, for example) in one group, it has that right from every group to which it belongs.

  7. How do user rights and device group access rights work together?

    When device group access rights are enabled, WhatsUp determines effective rights by first negotiating user rights, then group access rights. This means that, while device group access rights govern access to device groups, a user must first have user access rights to a device or group before access rights are considered. If a user does not have the Manage Devices user right, for example, then the Device Write group access rights are not honored.

  8. How do device group access rights work with dynamic groups?

    Group access rights cannot be assigned to dynamic device groups. However, every device within a dynamic device group belongs to at least one other device group. Therefore, when a user accesses a device accessed through a dynamic device group, the rights he or she is granted to the device are equal to the sum of the rights granted in each of the device groups to which the device belongs—if a device is granted one right in one group, it has the right in every group to which it belongs.

  9. Where do users go to change their password after initial login?

    Passwords are managed from the Preferences dialog, accessed from Admin > Preferences.

See Also

Frequently Asked Questions

Monitors and actions FAQ

Alert Center FAQ

Dashboard FAQ

Wireless FAQ

Flow Monitor FAQ

Admin FAQ

WhatsConfigured FAQ

APM FAQ