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Users

Introduction to users​

The Users screen contains an overview of all users and user-related information, such as group memberships, effective rights and session logs. To grant a user access to a Thinkwise application, the user needs to be added to the Intelligent Application Manager first.

Add users​

main administrator user administrator

To add a new user:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form

Add new user Add a new user

Add general user information​

main administrator user administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group General

  1. If necessary, add a Tenant.

  2. The User id is the login name of the user. Depending on the Authentication type, this could be the Windows domain user, database user, Kerberos user or an identifying name.

  3. The Visitor field can be checked to indicate whether a user is an external visitor of the application (as opposed to an internal or hired employee).

Add an email, telephone number, company, ID​

main administrator user administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group User info

Here you can provide additional user information, such as the company a user belongs to and the company-specific employee ID.

Add a start and end date​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Period

Define a start and end date to control a user's access to applications. Upon reaching the end date and time, the user's access to all applications will be automatically denied.

Editing these fields does not automatically update the fields Begins on and Ends on of related tables, like User Groups and Administrator screens.

note

Main administrators are not restricted by start and end dates to ensure they always have access for management purposes. When a record is inserted, the user is considered a Main administrator until the record is deleted.

Configure user preferences​

main administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group User preferences

Here you can specify the default language and time zone for the user and which level of user preferences should be available. For information about copying, importing, and exporting user preferences, see User preferences.

  1. Select a Configuration or create a new configuration using the lookup pop-up . Available configurations are:

    • None - No user preferences are stored and the user preferences ribbon is hidden.
    • Resize - Users can collapse and expand their menu and ribbon. Furthermore, they can change the sort sequence and column width in a grid view.
    • Move - Resize plus the option to configure their start objects and set the sort sequence of all subjects. For more information, see Add start objects.
    • OnOff - All options except for changing screen types.
    • Complete - All user preferences options are available to the user.

  2. Select an Application language.

  3. Select the Time zone that should be used for a user. The default is 'Etc/UTC'. It is also possible to add time zone claim mappings for users through OpenID Connect provisioning.

Add start objects for a user​

main administrator group administrator

Start objects are screens, tasks, reports, or processes that are automatically loaded during start-up.

To add start objects for a user:

menu Authorization > Users > tab User preferences > tab Start objects > tab Form

  1. Add start objects and put them in the preferred order.
note

Start objects for a user group are executed first, followed by the start objects for users. However, the GUI shows the start object that was last executed by the user first.

Authentication​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Authentication

The Thinkwise Platform provides various authentication types: RDBMS, Windows, Kerberos, IAM and External.

For an overview of the different authentication types, see Authentication.

Country, location, and department​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab Master data

This tab contains information about the user's country, location or department. This information is also available in the IAM analysis tools.

User tags​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab User tags

On the tab User tags, you can maintain information about users that is not already available in the Intelligent Application Manager.

When you copy a user, the tags will be copied with it.

Sessions​

Session expiration​

Indicium main administrator

By default, sessions in the Thinkwise platform expire after 30 minutes of user inactivity. When the session expires, the user must re-authenticate to access the Thinkwise environment. If a user selects the option Stay signed in, the session expires after 14 days of inactivity.

To change the session expiration time:

menu Settings > Global Settings > tab Form

  1. Enter a value in the field Session expiration. This value specifies how long users can remain idle before the session expires and re-authentication is required to access the Thinkwise environment.

    note

    Users authenticated via OpenID use the session expiration configured at the OpenID provider in IAM. It makes sense to align this setting with the OpenID identity provider expiration settings, see Register an OpenID identity provider.

  2. Enter a value in the field Extended session expiration. This value specifies how long users can remain idle before the session expires and re-authentication is required when the option Stay signed in is selected.

Exclude from maximum number of sessions​

main administrator user administrator

A user can only have a limited number of concurrent sessions in a specific application. This limit is set for all users in IAM. See Applications.

Service accounts are subject to this limit by default. However, you can allow a service account an unlimited number of sessions for any application to which it has rights. Other users' sessions are still limited.

To remove this limit for a service account:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Login

  1. Select Exclude from max. # sessions.

Login and password​

Allow creation of personal access tokens​

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For more information, see Personal Access Tokens.

Two-factor authentication​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Login

  1. In field Login verification, select if a user is required to use two-factor authentication:

    • Password - the user logs in with a password only.
    • Password and SMS - the user logs in with a password and a code that is sent by SMS. For additional settings, see Indicium SMS configuration or Web GUI SMS configuration.
    • Password and email - the user logs in with a password and a code that is sent by email. For additional settings, see Emails.
    • Password and TOTP token - the user logs in with a password and a code that is generated by a TOTP authenticator

TOTP​

main administrator user administrator

If TOTP authentication is used, the user receives a secret key code on first login. This code needs to be registered in a TOTP authenticator app, like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator, by entering the key or scanning the QR code. If the user has successfully registered their TOTP device, the TOTP device registered checkbox will be checked.

Every time the user wants to log in, they need to enter the time-based code generated by the TOTP authenticator app. To allow a fallback to email-based two-factor authentication, for example if the user does not have access to their smartphone, check the Allow fallback to email option.

The Reset TOTP device task can be used to reset the TOTP secret key, for example when a user's smartphone is stolen.

Initial password (RDBMS)​

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menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Password

For RDBMS authentication you can specify an Initial password. This password is used to generate a script for creating users on the database. It can be used to keep track of the initial password and communicate this password to the users. This password cannot be used to log on to the application. Make sure to clear this field after RDBMS users are created or the password for IAM users is updated.

The system keeps track of how often a password is changed or reset (Changed/forgotten count). This number is incremented every time the user requests a new password or changes their password, and when the password is changed by an administrator.

Allow change password​

main administrator user administrator

To allow a user to change their own password:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Password

  1. Select the checkbox Allow change.

    See also the Universal GUI User manual.

Allow change password Allow change password

Password expiration period​

main administrator

To set the expiration period for an application's password:

menu Settings > Global settings

  1. Enter a number of days in the field Password expires in (days).

This setting is used in the expiration policy you can set for a user.

Password expiration Number of expiration days for a password

Password expiration policy​

main administrator user administrator

To set the expiration policy for a user:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Password

  1. Make sure to select the checkbox Allow change. This allows a user to change the password from the user interface.

  2. Select an Expiration policy:

    • Force expired - The user needs to change the password on the next login.
    • Default expiration policy - After the number of days specified, the user needs to change the password. If the field Password expires in (days) is empty, passwords with Default expiration policy will never expire.
    • Never expires - Use this for service accounts that never need to expire and have no user available to change the password.

Password expiration policy Password expiration policy

Password strength​

main administrator

To set the minimum password strength for IAM authenticated users:

menu Settings > Global settings

The following calculation is used to determine the password strength:

  • The total password length gives up to 3 points (at 10 characters)
  • Two uppercase characters and two lowercase characters gives 0.6 points
  • Two numbers gives 0.6 points
  • Two symbols gives 0.8 points

Setting the minimum password strength to 5 will require the user to match all the password requirements. Setting the minimum password strength to 4 allows the user to skip either symbols, numbers or varying casing.

When the user attempts a password change and the password strength is insufficient, they will be notified of the shortcomings of the desired password.

Password strength requirements for RDBMS accounts or Windows accounts is delegated to the database server or active directory.

warning

To ensure users are using a compliant password after increasing the minimum password strength, you can force each user to change their password. Go to the menu Authorization > Users > tab Form > group Password, select the checkbox Allow change, and set the Expiration policy to Force expired. See also Password expiration policy.

To change this setting for multiple users or all users at once: select the desired users, open the overflow menu and select Update (#). Select the fields Allow change and Password expiration policy, set to the appropriate values, and select Update.

E-mails for reset password and two-factor authentication​

Indicium main administrator

When users set or reset their password, or log in with two-factor authentication, Indicium needs to send an email with a new token.

note

If a user has not set a password yet, they can set it via email using the link 'Forgot your password' on the login page.

To set up an email provider for reset password and two-factor authentication in IAM:

menu Settings > Global settings > tab Email providers

  1. Enter the required settings for the email provider. See Email providers.

  2. Configure the templates for password reset and two-factor authentication. See Templates for reset password and two-factor authentication).

  3. Make sure the users' email addresses are configured in IAM. See Add users.

Templates for reset password en two-factor authentication​

Indicium main administrator

For each supported application language, templates for Password reset and Two factor token are available. Each template for each supported language contains a default text. In IAM, you can deviate from this text where necessary.

menu Settings > Global settings > tab Email templates > tab System email templates

  1. Select the tab with the type of email template that you want to add or edit.

  2. Enter or change the required data for each template that you want to use:

    • Email template/Notification email template - Select the template type from the drop-down list.

    • Language - Select the language of the email template.

    • Default template - Select whether this template is the default template. If a version for the user's language does not exist, Indicium will send an email in the language marked as default for that template type.

    • Title - Enter the email's subject.

    • Email body - Enter the text for the email body. For System email templates only, you can use the following parameters that will be filled automatically:

      • {url} - this parameter contains the full URL to the reset password or two-factor authentication page, with the query strings filled in. The user can just follow the link and does not need to fill in the reset or the two-factor code manually.
      note

      If Indicium is hosted with two or more different domains, the {url} parameter will return to the domain from which it was called.

      • {resetToken} - This parameter contains the reset token that must be filled in to reset the user's password. It is only available for the Password reset template.
      • {twoFactorToken} - This parameter contains the two-factor authentication token that must be filled in to authenticate when logging in. It is only available for the Two factor token template.
Tips
  • It is possible to delete templates that you do not need. For example, if you do not want to specify or maintain a template for each language, you can delete all other languages and only keep a default language.
  • You can enter the sender's name (From name) and email address (From address) in the menu Settings > Global settings > tab Email providers.

email templates Templates for password reset and two-factor authentication

User preferences​

Introduction to user preferences​

main administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab User preferences

This tab contains the stored user preferences of the selected user. For example, the default platform, menu, and theme, but also screens, tables, columns, and prefilters.

User preferences

Copy user preferences from another user​

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You can copy the user preferences of a user account to another user account if it is in the same IAM environment. If a preference setting already exists, this value will NOT be changed.

tip

If the user accounts are in different IAM environments, you can first export the user preferences from the source environment, and then import them into the target environment.

menu Authorization > Users > tab User preferences > tab Global

To copy user preferences from one user's account to another:

  1. In the grid, select the target user account to which you want to copy the preferences.
  2. Start the task Re-apply all user preferences Copy preferences.
  3. In the dialog box, select the option Copy. The field To user is prefilled.
  4. Select the From tenant and From user information of the user account from which you want to copy the preferences.
  5. Click Execute. The user preferences of the To user are overwritten with the user preferences of the From user.

Export user preferences​

main administrator

You can export the user preferences of a user account to a JSON file. This file contains all the information that is included on the tab User preferences.

To export user preferences to a JSON file:

menu Authorization > Users > tab User preferences > tab Global

  1. In the grid, select the user account of which you want to download the preferences.
  2. Start the task Export all user preferences Download preferences.
  3. In the dialog box, specify the Model, Branch, and Application from which you want to download the data.
  4. Click Execute. The user preferences of the selected user are downloaded to your computer.

Import user preferences​

main administrator

You can import user preferences from a JSON file and apply them to a user account. This JSON file contains all the information that is included on the tab User preferences. Such a JSON file is generated when you export user preferences.

To import user preferences from a JSON file:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Global

  1. In the grid, select the target user account to which you want to import the preferences.
  2. Start the task Re-apply all user preferences Copy preferences.
  3. In the dialog box, select the option Import. The fields To user and To tenant are prefilled.
  4. Select the Model, Branch, and Application to which you want to import the data.
  5. Upload the JSON file that contains the user preferences.
  6. Click Execute. The user preferences of the To user are overwritten by the preferences in the JSON file.

Clean up unused preferences​

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You can clean up the user preferences of applications that no longer exist.

menu Optimization

  1. Execute the task Clean up unused preferences clean up.

Any unused preferences that are found are deleted automatically.

Re-migrate classic user preferences​

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The Thinkwise platform's user interfaces used to configure and store user preferences path-based before version 2024.1 (see Introduction to user preferences). This is called the classic structure. User preferences for user interfaces using Indicium (the Universal GUI) store user preferences per model object or model object variant.

During the upgrade to platform version 2024.1, the user preferences have been migrated automatically. If you have continued using a user interface from a version before 2024.1 after that, you can migrate your user preferences again later.

To migrate your classic user preferences:

menu Authorization > Users

  1. Start the task Re-migrate classic UP re-migrate.

  2. Limit the re-migration to a certain tenant, user, or user group, and to a certain model, branch, and application.

    warning

    Any previously migrated (or created) model-based user preferences for the chosen users will be removed to make room for the migration of path-based user preferences.

  3. Select Execute.

Alternatively, you can start the task Re-migrate classic UP from the menu Advanced > Administration to quickly pick a set of applications, users, or user groups to re-migrate.

Note that classic user preferences cannot always be migrated 1-to-1 to the new structure. If a conflict occurs, the migration will pick the most relevant path. This favors user preferences configured for more accessible paths over nested paths that reside deeper in detail and lookup structures.

Send a notification to users​

See User notifications.

User roles and rights​

Assign an administrator role to a user​

main administrator user administrator

To assign an administrator role to a user:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Administrators

See also Which role can assign another role?.

Add a user to a user group​

main administrator group administrator group owner

To add a user to a user group:

menu Authorization > Users > tab User groups

See also User groups.

Overview of effective user rights​

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An overview is available of all the effective access types that a user has.

To get a better understanding of the effective access type:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Effective user rights

  1. Execute the task Explain explain.

    The reason for the effective access type is explained in a pop-up. See also Access types.

Security checks (data accessibility)​

Introduction to security checks​

Which data is accessible to an end user depends on the configuration of various actors and settings, such as:

  • In the Software Factory:
    • The configuration of authorization prefilters
    • The configuration of rights granted by the roles
  • In the Intelligent Application Manager:
    • The account status of the user
    • The user groups to which the user has been added
    • The user group status
    • The roles which have been granted to each application
    • The application status
  • In the end application data:
    • The settings in operational data that determine the outcome of authorization prefilters

To ensure all actors and settings are aligned, you can use the security checks in IAM. A security check is configured for a user and revolves around the tables using a certain domain in an application. The checks are verified by simulating the user with the application data and the configured rights.

Examples of security checks:

  • The user b.hanssen may never see columns with value j.vandyk@competitor.com using the domain email in application 395 - myproduct.
  • The user s.harris may only see records with values 5, 6, and 7 for columns using the domain customer_id in application 395 - myproduct.
  • The user s.harris may not see records with values concept or null for columns using the domain invoice_status in application 395 - myproduct.

Configure a security check​

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To configure a security check:

menu Analysis > Security checks > tab Configuration

  1. Select an Application id.

  2. Select a Tenant.

  3. Select a User.

  4. Select a Domain.

  5. Select the condition for this domain:

    • The user may only see records which use these values.
    • The user may not see records which use these values.
    • The user may only see these values in columns.
    • The user may not see these values in columns.

  6. Enter the Query timeout in seconds. This is the maximum time in seconds that the query may take to execute. If it takes longer than the specified time, the query is aborted (the security check is not marked as failed).

  7. Optional. You can run the security check manually but also schedule it to run automatically. Select the checkbox Active to enable the schedule and set the No. of runs per day.

  8. Click Save.

  9. Go to the tab Values.

  10. Add the database values that are relevant for the security check. Include or exclude null or empty values.

Security check configuration Security check configuration

Configure an email notification for a scheduled security check​

main administrator

The following configuration is required to send an email notification:

To configure an email notification to be sent when a security check turns up with results:

menu Analysis > Security checks > tab Email notifications

  1. Select a Tenant.
  2. Select a User. This user will receive the email notification. No administrator role is required.

Manually run a security check​

main administrator

You can schedule a security check (see Configure a security check) to be executed a number of times per day but you an also run it manually:

menu Analysis > Security checks

  1. Execute the task Start security scan shield run. It may take up to 15 seconds before the execution of the security check starts.

    • The result of the security check is shown in tab List
    • The executed steps are shown in tab Steps
    • If you have configured an email notification, the assigned user will receive an email if the security check turns up with results.

Delete a user​

main administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab List

To delete a user:

  1. Make sure that you are viewing all users:
    • Universal GUI Turn off the prefilter Active or new active or new.
    • Windows GUI Turn off the prefilters Active users active users and Inactive users inactive users.
  2. Select the user(s) you want to remove.
  3. Delete the user(s).

Analyze user behavior and apply recommendations​

For each user, you can analyze their behavior and preferences.

menu Authorization > Users > tab Recommendations

  1. Select a user.
  2. Execute the task Start analysis start analysis.
  3. In the tab Form, in the field Apply, select whether you want to apply each recommendation (Yes or No).
  4. To apply the recommendations, execute the task Apply recommendations apply recommendations.

Logs​

Session analysis for all users​

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To inspect the session log for all users:

menu Analysis > Session analysis

  • Tab Cube contains a pivot table where you can select the fields, series, categories, and values to analyze.
  • Tab Chart shows the data in a chart format.

Session log for one user​

main administrator user administrator

To inspect the session log for one user:

menu Authorization > Users > tab Session log

  1. Select a user for whom you want to view the session log.

Change the session log retention period​

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Old session log data is automatically removed by a recurring system flow based on the selected retention period. To prevent the session log from growing too large, set a retention period:

menu Settings > Global settings > tab Form

  1. Select a retention period of 1 year, 5 years, or Indefinitely. For new IAM environments, the default value is 1 year.

Two-factor log​

main administrator user administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab Two-factor log

This is a log of when a user is logged in using SMS, email or TOTP two-factor authentication. An overview of the sessions for all the users is available from the menu Analysis.

Open ID log​

main administrator

menu Authorization > Users > tab Log actions

This tab contains a user's Open ID login actions. See OpenID.

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