The administrator's account Your responsibilities as administrator The administrator's account The administrator's Desktop The admin menu The administrator's Control menu Checking the administrator’s email Subadministrators Subadministrator restrictions Creating subadministrator accounts Adding additional security Finding existing subadministrators Allowing users to maintain or monitor the FirstClass server Your responsibilities as administrator You can use the admin account to send and receive mail in your official capacity as administrator. To avoid data loss, we recommend that you add a personal user account for yourself for day-to-day use, and use the administrator account only for your official duties as administrator. The icons on the administrator’s Desktop represent most of the functions you will perform in your FirstClass system. Don’t forget, however, that you have several other responsibilities not represented by those icons. As FirstClass administrator, your responsibilities fall into the following four categories: •       installing and configuring the FirstClass server, and its required components and modules •       planning your FirstClass environment •       creating your FirstClass environment •       maintaining your FirstClass environment. These tasks are described throughout this online help system. Top The administrator's account The FirstClass installation application adds a special user account for the administrator: •       The user ID is admin. •       The password is admin. •       The name is Administrator. Note To preserve the security of your system, change the password for the administrator account as soon as you log in by choosing Collaborate > Change Password. Keep the new password confidential. Do not save the password in your settings file.         Warning You can change the name, password, and user ID associated with the administrator account, but never delete this account. If you do, you won’t be able to log in as the administrator, and you will have to re-install your server. In addition to the standard objects that all users see, the administrator's Desktop contains its own set of standard objects. Do not delete or rename any objects on the administrator’s Desktop. If you do, you might not be able to perform necessary administrative tasks. These objects are protected by default to avoid mistakenly deleting them.         Warning If you delete one of the standard user icons from the administrator's Desktop, that object and all its contents will be deleted and it may be impossible to restore the administrator's link. If you accidentally delete an object, recover it by choosing View > Show Deleted Items and using the undelete feature before audit runs. Top The administrator’s Desktop In addition to the standard objects that all users see, the administrator's Desktop contains its own set of standard objects. The administrator’s Desktop looks like this: Do not delete or rename any objects on the administrator’s Desktop. If you do, you might not be able to perform necessary administrative tasks. These objects are protected by default to avoid mistakenly deleting them.         Warning If you delete one of the standard user icons from the administrator's Desktop, that object and all its contents will be deleted and it may be impossible to restore the administrator's link. If you accidentally delete an object, you can recover it using the undelete feature before audit runs. Desktop objects Mailbox This is the administrator’s Mailbox where system messages will be automatically sent. We suggest the administrator create a personal user account for non-administrative duties and personal email. Admin Help A folder containing all online help files. The administrator’s help is only accessible from the administrator’s Desktop, and by users in the Sub Admin and Webmasters groups. Help A folder containing the end user online help files. You can add information to this folder if your users require additional online help material for your system setup. FirstClass Registration This is the form that needs to be completed and sent to Open Text to register your server. Conferences A conference in which you can add conferences that every user on your system has access to. Conferences is a standard object on all users' Desktops. General Conferences A folder in which you can add conferences so users can collaborate effectively. These conferences are only visible to users when you subscribe a user to a conference, add a conference to a user group’s Model Desktop, or put a link to a conference in a public place. Groups A folder containing all the user and conference groups defined on your server. FC Update Service (formerly FC Control) A conference used to automatically receive FirstClass product updates from FirstClass. Object Templates A conference containing all the templates required for FirstClass Desktop applications. FirstClass Applications A folder containing the Application Configuration form, required to create new FirstClass Applications. Core Services A folder containing the Server Monitor and Server Control forms, as well as the Session Monitor, and the Tasks Monitors. FC Resource Registry A folder which allows you to store resources such as forms, icons, and sounds on the server, for all your users to access. Reports A folder containing Statistics folder, the Log Files folder, and the Statistics Control form. For more information about the statistics and log files contained in these folders, see our online help. Mail Lists A folder containing all the public mail lists on your server. Internet Services A folder where you configure your Internet connections and services. Clustered Services A folder in which you configure multiple IS or VS clusters (if applicable). Gateways & Services A folder containing the gateways and FirstClass services defined on your server. Multi-Site Setup A folder containing forms used in setting up networks consisting of two or more servers, using the Directory synchronization feature. Hard Disk An external folder that gives you access to the other files on the hard disk containing the post office. Volumes Folders containing a list of all the volumes mounted on the server computer. MultiVol Conferences Folders containing a list of all the secondary volumes mounted on the server computer on which conferences have been created. Voice Services A folder where you configure your Voice Services connections and services (only applicable to FirstClass Unified Communications customers). Directory Services A folder where you configure your FirstClass Directory Services (FCDS) connections and services (only applicable to FirstClass Directory Services customers). Top The admin menu The administrator and subadministrators have a special menu. This is the admin menu. This dropdown menu allows the administrator to quickly perform many required day-to-day administration tasks. The options available from the admin menu are: •       List Directory - this gives access to the administrator's Directory. •       System Profile - this opens the System Profile form, used to set your system's default settings. •       Add user - this is used to quickly add a new user to your FirstClass system. •       Add - this is used to quickly add a gateway, user group, container template (conference) group, calendar group, public mail list, route, or remote name to your Directory. •       New Stationery - this is used to create a new standard stationary form •       Give Alias - this command creates an link to the selected object on a user's Desktop. The link will be placed in the same position on the user's Desktop as it appears on the administrator's Desktop. •       Broadcast - allows the administrator to send a broadcast message to all users who are currently logged in. This feature is described in Administrator tasks. •       Control - this submenu is described below. •       Session Monitor - this opens the session monitor, allowing the administrator to see all users who are currently logged in, the most recent action each has performed, and all objects the user currently has open.   Top The administrator's Control menu The Control menu on the administrator’s Desktop provides you with menu options for some of the most common server and Internet Services control tasks. These tasks are described further in our online help. Choose Admin > Control to access this menu. The following information describes these menu items and their functions: Audit Begins immediate full audit. Fast Shutdown Forces off all users and shuts down the server immediately. Other than the abrupt disconnect logged-in users will see, this should be considered safe at all times. Polite Shutdown Sends a message to users warning them and waits for them to log off before shutting down the server. Restart Initiates a full restart of the Windows operating system. This is not applicable to Mac OS X. Logoff All Users Disconnects all users without shutting down the server. Logoff Selected users Disconnects selected users without shutting down the server. Reset Server Modems Reset all modems for Windows environments only. This is not applicable to Mac OS X. Pause Mirroring Pauses all mirrors immediately. Continue Mirroring Resumes all paused mirrors. Top Checking the administrator’s email When certain events occur, FirstClass sends a message to the FirstClass administrator. These events include: •       completion of audit •       failure to reset a modem after 50 attempts •       gateway problems •       autoregistration of a new user •       gateway license conflicts •       duplicate aliases •       mirror failures •       messages regarding exceeding text-to-speech licensing limits for FirstClass Unified Communications customers. Log into the administrator account regularly to check for mail. The frequency you choose will depend on your system configuration and size. If you wish, you can set the preferences for the administrator’s account to autoforward or redirect mail to your personal account. To do so, choose Edit > Preferences > Messaging > Mail Rules (Windows) or FirstClass > Preferences > Mail Rules (Mac OS). You can choose to redirect or forward items to your personal Mailbox, or a subadministrator’s Mailbox. Top Subadministrators As administrator, you have to perform many tasks to set up and run your FirstClass system. While you are starting out, you may want to perform all these tasks on your own. Later on, however, you may want to share these responsibilities by adding subadministrators. You can even add a subadministrator account for yourself, under a different name. You might find this useful if you want to work in the system without appearing in Who’s Online as “Administrator”. Note If you are using FirstClass client software from an earlier release than your FirstClass server, upgrade your client software. To log in as a user with administrator privileges your client software must be from the same release as your server. Top Subadministrator restrictions Although subadministrators can perform many administrative functions, they are limited in several ways: •       A subadministrator has access to the administrator menu but not to the administrator’s Desktop. •       A subadministrator cannot change the administrator’s account or assign administrator privileges to other users. •       Only the administrator can turn off the Secure All Desktops feature. •       Some FirstClass scripting commands can be issued only by the administrator. •       A subadministrator can use FirstClass scripting only with a password designated by the administrator. (The administrator can use FirstClass scripting without a password.) You can assign subadministrator privileges to all members of a user group, or to an individual person. Top Creating subadministrator accounts The default FirstClass network store contains a pre-configured user group called Subadmin Users. This group is in the Configuration Groups section of the Groups folder on the administrator’s Desktop. To give a user subadministrator privileges, simply make the user a member of the Subadmin Users group. This will add the Subadministrator and Does not expire features to the user, which gives him the ability to perform most administrative tasks, and guarantees that his account will not expire. Adding a user to the Subadmin Users group will add the Subadmin folder to the user’s Desktop, giving him all the privileges required to perform his duties as subadministrator. The following is what the subadministrator will see when he opens the Subadmin folder: This folder contains all of the objects on the administrator’s Desktop that a subadministrator requires. Objects that exist only on the administrator’s Desktop are the administrator’s Mailbox and Contact manager, the Hard Disk folder, the FC Resource Registry folder, the Gateways and Services folder, and the Multi-site setup folder. These objects contain passwords to perform the functions associated with them and have been left off. If you want to include any of these objects in the Subadmin folder, do the following: 1       Select the object you want to add to the Subadmin folder. 2       Choose Collaborate > Add to Desktop. 3       Drag the copy of the object into the Subadmin folder and arrange it where you like. Note You can delete any object, or add any objects in the Subadmin folder, as required. Top Adding additional security Subadministrators can see everything on the system. Their view of the Directory cannot be filtered. However, there are ways to make access more difficult. To add some additional security, you can remove two objects from the Subadmin folder: the Groups and General Conferences folders. This way, subadministrators cannot readily see confidential conferences (like management and human resources areas). However, they can still see these objects using the List Directory function available to all subadministrators. Additionally, subadministrators do not have the authority to change the "Secure" field on the Group Privileges or User Information forms, nor do they have the authority to use the EXPORT command to retrieve conference or Mailbox items.         Warning We said “more difficult”. Since nothing can be truly hidden from an administrator (even a subadministrator), there are ways for them to see the conferences on the managers’ Desktops, but this will at least make it more difficult. The safest route to a secure system is to choose administrators and subadministrators carefully. Top Finding existing subadministrators There are two ways to find existing subadministrators: •       If you created subadministrators by adding them to the Subadmin Users group, simply search the Directory to list all members of that group. •       To find users who have the subadministrator privilege selected on their User Information forms, view the Disk Usage report (double-click Reports, then Statistics Folder, and choose DISKUSE.TXT). The last field describing a subadministrator contains an “A” (this report will only show those users who were specifically granted the subadministrator privilege on their User Information form, not those who are granted this privilege through group membership). Note Hold down the Shift key while opening the report to open it with the table manager. Then click on the column header to group all the A's together. In this Disk Usage report, for example, user jgerb has administrator privileges. This document provides more information about the Disk Usage report, and the meaning of the fields. Top Allowing users to maintain or monitor the FirstClass server If you want to give a group of users the ability to perform maintenance tasks or to monitor your system, but you don't want to give them full subadmin status, consider using the Maintenance or Monitor privileges on the Group Privileges or User Info forms. The Monitor privilege allows users to toggle debugging and logging options and other commands that dump information, as well as open all server monitors and get server statistics. The Maintenance privilege allows users to do anything accessible to those with Monitor server privilege, plus: •       start or stop an audit •       request fast and polite shutdowns •       send broadcasts •       force logoff non-admin/maint/mon users •       start gateways •       reset services and modems •       disable and enable logins •       change server priority •       pause, continue, resync mirrors •       request a snapshot hold or release Top