12.1.3 External mode: Storing all NNMi user information in a directory service

NNMi accesses a directory service for all user access information, which is defined externally to NNMi and is available to other applications. The NNMi user groups to which a user belongs is determined by the user's membership in one or more directory service groups.

The configuration and maintenance of NNMi user access information is a joint effort as described here:

• The directory service administrator maintains the user names, passwords, and group membership in the directory service.

• The NNMi administrator maps the directory service groups to NNMi user groups in the NNMi console.

• The NNMi administrator configures NNMi's LDAP configuration file to describe to NNMi the directory service database schema for user names and groups.

The figure below shows the information flow for this mode, which is appropriate for environments where the directory service can be modified to include user groups that align with the people who need access to NNMi.

Figure 12‒3: Flow of NNMi user sign-in information in the external mode

Because this option is an expansion of the mixed mode scenario, we recommend the following configuration process:

1. Configure and verify NNMi user name and password retrieval from the directory service.

2. Configure NNMi user group retrieval from the directory service.

For details about integrating with a directory service that stores all user information, see the rest of this chapter and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) to Control NNMi Access in NNMi Help.

To Page Top