Creating users

    You need to register, or "create," the users for whom you want to define explicit access privileges to your network services. A registered user is anyone for whom you've created a user account and assigned a user name and (optionally) a password that must be entered each time the user logs on to an AppleShare IP server.

    There are four ways to create users:
      Create new users one by one
    Duplicate an existing user
    Duplicate an existing user multiple times
    Import users & groups files

    After you've created your users, you can assign them different types of access privileges to different AppleShare IP services. For more information about setting service-specific access privileges, go to the server section (in the main table of contents) that has the services you want to provide to your users.


Creating a New User

  To create a new user, follow these steps:
1 Open the Web & File Admin program, if it's not already open.
2 Choose Show Users & Groups List from the Users menu.
The Users & Groups List window appears.
3 In the Users & Groups List window, click the New User button.
The button looks like this:
A new User window appears.
4 Select the current contents of the Name text box and type the new user's name.
The name can be up to 31 characters long. The user's name is not case-sensitive, so uppercase and lowercase letters do not matter when the user is logging onto your server.
5 If you want to require the user to enter a password before logging on, type a password in the Password text box.
Assigning a password is highly recommended. For increased security, use longer passwords or include a combination of letters and numbers. Avoid proper names or any other combination of characters that can be easily guessed.
A password can be up to eight characters long. For each character that you type, a dot appears, so it is important to remember what you type.
Passwords are case-sensitive, so users must enter their password exactly as you type it before they can log onto your server.
Note: If the user will be logging on to this server to retrieve mail, or use FTP or Web services, don't use the space character or special characters that are formed by pressing the Option key in combination with another key. Some client mail applications do not allow you to enter these characters.
6 If you want to allow this user to use an Internet alias, enter a name in the Internet Alias text box.
An alias is recommended if the User Name contains spaces or special characters. For added security, the name should consist of letters and numbers. The following characters are also valid:
! # $ % & ' * + - / = ? ` { } | ^ _ ~ .
For example, if the user's name was Ethan Smith, valid aliases for this user could be:
Ethan1 or Ethan_Smith
Note: The Internet alias cannot be the same as the name you enter in the Name text box of any User window. That is, you cannot have two users with the same name or Internet alias. If you want an individual user's name and Internet alias to be the same, don't enter anything in the Internet Alias text box but enter a valid Internet alias in the Name text box.
The alias is not case-sensitive. The user can use this alias to log on to the Web & File Server, but not to log onto the Print Server. The Mail Server uses this alias to identify the user when the user's client mail application logs on to the Mail Server over TCP.
7 If you want to allow this user to administer all of the AppleShare IP servers, click the "Enable user to administer the server" checkbox so that an X appears.
WARNING: Enabling other users to administer the AppleShare IP servers can pose a serious security risk. Administrators can modify access privileges set by other administrators and view everything on the server. Assign this privilege carefully.
8 If you want to allow the user to make links to programs running on your computer, click the "Program linking" checkbox so that an X appears.
When program linking is enabled, users can run applications that use Apple Events or program linking to communicate with applications running on any of the servers. These applications can gain access to data that you do not necessarily want to share, and may pose a security risk. Enable this feature only if the user will run an application that requires program linking to the server.
9 If you want to temporarily prevent the user from logging on to any of the servers, click the "User may log on" checkbox so that the X disappears.
You might use this attribute as a security measure, for example, if a student will be returning for the next school year, or if a temporary worker will be resuming work later.
When the account of an administrator is disabled, the administrator cannot log on to administer a service over the network, but he or she can log on to administer a service on the computer that is running AppleShare IP.
10 If you want to disable the user's account after a certain date, click the "Disable log on" checkbox so that an X appears.
The current date appears to the right of the "Disable log on" checkbox. Select the current date and use the arrow buttons to set the desired date. The account does not become disabled until the user attempts to log on after the specified date.
Note: If mail is enabled for this user, the Mail Server continues to accept mail for this user even when the user's log on is disabled. To allow the user to retrieve his or her mail, you must click the "User may log on" checkbox so that an X appears.
11 If you do not want the user to be able to change his or her password, click the "User may change password" checkbox so that the X disappears.
This attribute applies to users who log on to the Web & File Server via the Chooser and to users of client mail applications that allow users to change their passwords. Users who connect to the Print server or log on to the Web & File server via FTP or the Web, cannot change their passwords.
12 If you want to require the user to enter a new password the next time he or she logs on, click the "Require new password on next log on" checkbox so that an X appears.
When this attribute is enabled you can assign a simple password–such as the user's initials or first name–but require that the user change the password to something more secure when the user logs on to the Web & File Server via the Chooser. (The ability to require a new password only applies to AppleShare File Sharing services.)
IMPORTANT: The "Require new password on next log on" attribute should not be set for non-Mac OS users, or clients using the Print Server, Mail Server, FTP, or Web services. These users may not be able to receive messages indicating that a new password is necessary.
13 Click Save.
If you've created a group to which you'd like to add this user, continue to the next step. Otherwise, you're done registering this user. The information you've entered is saved in the Users & Groups Data File that's in the Preferences folder inside your System Folder.
If the group to which you want to add the user is not yet created, see Creating Groups.
14 Choose Group Memberships from the pop-up menu.
The user's group memberships list appears.
15 Click the Open Users & Groups List button. It looks like this:
16 To add the user to one or more groups, drag the group from the Users & Groups List window to the Group Membership list in the User window.
To remove a group from the list, select the group in the Group list, and click the Remove from List button (it looks like a Trash icon).
17 Click Save.
18 If you want to make any notes about this user's account, choose Comment from the pop-up menu in the User window, then type your comment in the Comment box.
For example, you may want to note the user's title, address, phone number, or initial password setting.
19

Click Save.

The information is saved in the Users & Groups Data File.
The information in the Users & Groups Data File is critical to the operation of your servers. Make backup copies of this file regularly. For instructions, see Backing Up Your Users & Group Data File.

Creating a New User by Duplication


    After you've created at least one user, you can quickly create a similar new user by duplicating the first user.

    The user that you create by duplication can have the same general attributes, comment, and group memberships as the original user, but will not have a password or any mail settings.

    Note: If you want to create multiple new users with similar attributes, see Creating Multiple New Users by Duplication.

  To create a new user by duplicating an existing user, follow these steps:
1 Open the Web & File Admin program, if it's not already open.
2 Choose Show Users & Groups List from the Users menu.
The Users & Groups List window appears.
3 Select the name of the user you want to duplicate, then choose Duplicate User from the Users menu.
The user is duplicated and the copy appears in the Users & Groups List window. The duplicated user has the same name as the original user with the word "copy" appended.
4 To change the duplicated user's name and other settings, double-click the duplicated user name in the Users & Groups List window.
The User window opens. Make any desired changes. If necessary, refer to the steps in Creating a New User.


Creating Multiple New Users by Duplication


    You can use any registered user as a template for creating multiple new users.

    Multiple users created by duplication can have the same general attributes, comments, and group memberships as the original user, but will not have a password or any mail settings.

    Note: You can also create multiple new users by importing them. For details, see Importing User Files.

  To create multiple new users by duplicating an existing user, follow these steps:

1 Open the Web & File Admin program, if it's not already open.
2 Choose Show Users & Groups List from the Web & File Admin program's Users menu.
The Users & Groups List window appears.
3 Select the name of the user you want to duplicate. Then choose Duplicate User Multiple from the Users menu.
The Duplicate User Multiple window appears.
4 In the Name text box, type a name for the first new user you want to create.
The name can be up to 31 characters long. The user's name is not case-sensitive.
5 If you want to require the new user to enter a password before logging on, type a password in the Password text box.
A password can be up to eight characters long, and is case-sensitive. For each character that you type, a dot appears, so it is important to remember what you type.
6 Click the Add button.
The new user's name and password (represented by dots) appear in the list in the upper-right corner of the window.
7 Repeat steps 4 through 6 to create all the new users you want.
8 If you want all the general attributes of the new users to be the same as the existing user, click the Duplicate General Attributes checkbox in the bottom portion of the window so that an X appears.
When the Duplicate General Attributes checkbox is checked, each of the new users listed in the upper-right list has the same settings as the original user for these attributes:
• Enable user to administer the server
• User may log on
• Disable log on a specified date
• User may change password
• Require new password on next log on
• Program linking
If you do not check the Duplicate General Attributes checkbox, each new user will be created with the "User may log on" and "User may change password" attributes enabled.
9 If you want the new users' comment to be the same as the original user, click the Duplicate Comments checkbox so that an X appears.
If you do not check this attribute, the Comment box for the new users will be empty.
10 If you want the new users to belong to the same groups as the original user, click the Duplicate Group Memberships checkbox so that an X appears.
11 Click the Create button.
The new users are created and listed in the Users & Groups list window.
If a new user doesn't have a password, a warning appears. If you don't want to give the user a password, click OK. To assign this user a password now, click Re-enter, double-click the user, and assign a password.
Note: Access privileges to share points that are set for the original user are not transferred to the newly created users. However, if the Duplicate Group Memberships checkbox was checked, any group access privileges are transferred to the new users.
For more information on file sharing access privileges, see Setting Access Privileges.


Importing Users & Groups Files


    You can create users and groups by importing them from a file. You either export the Users & Groups Data File from an existing AppleShare server, or create your own Users & Groups Data File in a spreadsheet or word-processing program.

    For more information, see Importing User Files.
Table of contents