Groups

Groups Window

The Groups window lists group names that are available for use as a parameter to restrict license access (see License Details Window for more about using groups for license restrictions). Groups which have been created explicitly by an administrator (using right-click) will be listed here. When the KeyServer is configured to use an authentication method such as Win NT, its group list will be included here also.

If a group name is defined on an external authentication server (with the corresponding authentication method configured for use by KeyServer) and this same group name has membership conditions internally defined as described below, then membership will be determined by consulting the union of both internal and external group membership definitions. Note: some authentication methods (such as LDAP) do not allow its group names to be imported to this list - even though its group names can still be typed into a license restriction manually or added to the group list manually (using right-click).

Unlike many objects in the KeyConfigure interface, groups cannot be renamed once they are created. This is because of complications with externally defined groups, and the effect the name change would have on licenses that use the group as a restriction.

Group Details Window

Double-click on group name in the Groups window to expose its details. The Group Details Window shows the name of the group, and has four panes - Notes, Locations, Nodes, and Divisions.

Group membership is determined by an OR of various conditions. When a license is launched which has a group restriction, each condition for the group is checked, and if any of them are met, group membership is satisfied, and the license can be granted. Group membership can be given either because the computer is in a Location which is included in the group, or the computer is on the group's Node list, or the computer is in a Division included in the group. Furthermore, when KeyServer is configured to use an authentication module, then group membership is further augmented by satisfaction of its authentication requirements based on name, password, or computer name. Note: the Group Details Window does not have a detail pane to indicate when the group has its membership conditions extended by an external authentication server - of course this is only possible when KeyServer is configured to use one of its authentication modules.

The Notes pane contains a single item, which is a free-form text field. You can use it for any information you want. It can only be seen here in the KeyConfigure interface.

The Locations pane lists each Location which is included in the Group, as well as the type of the Location. Any computers in these locations on the network can be member of the Group. Location objects can be dragged from the Locations Window into this list.

The Nodes pane contains a list of computers included in the Group, along with the last user and time at which this group allowed the computer to use a license. Computers can be dragged from the Computers Window into this list.

The Divisions pane lets you include all the nodes of an entire Division just by referencing the Division name (as defined in the Computers window). Then any changes to a computer's Division affiliation will be automatically reflected in any Group that includes the Division.

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