Administering Users and User Groups

User and Group Library (SETTINGS menu > Users & User Groups) is where you can create, modify, and remove individual user accounts or groups of users from WhatsUp Gold. Upon accessing the library, the list of current users is displayed along with any assigned group memberships and authentication type.

Managing users and groups

Use the following controls to administer WhatsUp Gold users and groups:

• Add User, Add Group. After configuring settings specific to the new user or group, click Save to proceed to Device Group Properties where you can configure applicable device group access rights.
• Edit. Edit settings for selected user or group. From here, you can make changes to account information or groups to which the user is assigned. Click Advanced User Rights Settings to enable/disable individual user rights.

  Note: When editing account information specific to an individual user, you have the ability to apply one or more policy settings to enhance account security. One of the more recent options added to enhance WhatsUp Gold is Session timeout policy. Selecting this option will cause the selected user to be logged out of WhatsUp Gold due to inactivity after the duration set in your IIS configuration. The user can remain logged into WhatsUp Gold by selecting Stay Logged-In when prompted.

  Important: The default admin user account created during WhatsUp Gold installation cannot be modified.

• Copy. Create a new user account using the settings and permissions for the selected account as a template.
• Delete. Delete the user from WhatsUp Gold entirely.

Apply device specific user access

To enable device group access rights, click Change in the upper-right corner of the User and Group library, then click Enable. When enabled, device group access rights will be applied throughout WhatsUp Gold. Device groups and individual devices will both respect the read/write access applied for each user account. Please note, device group access rights must be enabled prior to being configured.

Select a user or group, then select Configure Device Group Access Rights to allow the selected user to view and/or modify settings for specific groups and devices. This feature can be used when WhatsUp Gold manages administrative domains, each with their own devices, environment and level and scope of privilege. For such a case, any one user or administrator might need to view/edit/consume monitor data only for relevant devices. When Device Group Access Rights are enabled, responsible individuals can grant each user permissions for only those devices for specific device groups. Please note, to add a device to a group, a user must have Group Write rights to that group.

Important: When you enable Device Group Access Rights, WhatsUp Gold users will only have access to devices as configured using Device Group Properties. It is best practice to begin these users with read-only access to their home device group increase privilege as need warrants. Please note, a user can only edit access rights for their home device group using the Device Group Access Rights interface. To edit access rights for other device groups, the user must use the Device Group Properties interface.

Manage WhatsUp Gold user password policy

Click Account Policy Settings to manage settings specific to password usage with WhatsUp Gold including lockout, expiration, reuse, retention, notification, and complexity.

Important: WhatsUp Gold does not support unicode characters for passwords. The use of unicode characters in passwords could result in a possible security threat to your WhatsUp Gold environment.

Note: We recommend changing default passwords for both the admin and guest user accounts created automatically during WhatsUp Gold installation.

See Also Users and User Groups Managing User Accounts and User Groups Adding New User and User Rights