Security Module: Step 2 - Creating A Security Profile

Each user in your system will need to be associated with a specific Security Profile. The best way to think of a Profile is of a group of users, or a group of employees. Lets use the following example.

Profile 1 - Management
Profile 2 - Technicians
Profile 3 - Temporary Workers

Profile 1 for Management would more than likely retain access to all parts of the software. Profile 2 would need access to most things, except they may not need access to purchase orders, or certain reports. Profile 3 would be limited to doing only a few specific tasks. 

When you think of it in this manner, it's easy to figure out how many Security Profiles you'll need to setup, based on the types of users accessing the software. You can be as specific or as broad as you like. There's not a limit to how many profiles you have, though we recommend not having too many so that it's easier to apply changes later.

Creating A Security Profile

Make sure you are logged in with the admin/ims user from the end of step 1, as they have full access to everything. On the top menu click on Security and choose Manage User Profiles:

The next window brings us directly into the Profile Permissions tab:

On the top you will see Profiles: with a drop down box. This box may be empty if you're just starting out, as no profiles have been created yet. Click on the blue +New button to setup a new profile. You'll get a pop-up asking for a profile name. Make it something easy to identify.

Note: Clicking on More Actions allows you to Edit, Clone, or Delete the profile that's selected in the drop down. Edit and Delete are pretty straight forward. Clone allows you to create a brand new profile that is a copy of whatever profile is currently pulled up. This is useful if you want to create a new profile that is very similar to an existing one.

Now that you've created a profile, you'll notice the drop down populates with the profile name you select. Also, notice that all of the checkboxes are empty.

Editing Security Profile Permissions

Using the check boxes is how we designate what is allowed/not allowed for users attached to this security profile.

Everything that is unchecked is blocked.
Everything that is checked is allowed.

There are a large number of items that you can check and uncheck on this screen. By default, every new profile has all items unchecked/blocked. Make sure to go through each category and sub-category on the left and check everything that you would like this profile to have access to.

On the top right there is a Select All and Unselect All button. These buttons will check or uncheck everything in the category that is highlighted on the left hand side. Please note, these buttons are per category and do not check/uncheck everything in the profile, just the highlighted category.

Make sure to click on each category and sub category and set your permissions appropriately. Note that some categories, such as People, will highlight the category underneath when you click on them. This is normal.

Once you are done setting up all of your check boxes, you can click on +New at the top to add another profile, or you can click on Close on the bottom right. Closing out of this window automatically saved everything that was added or changed.

In Step 3 we will learn how to create usernames and passwords and assign them to the profiles we've created.