Configuring User Privileges: Anonymous vs. Explicit Users

WinFrame for Web Computing supports two types of users: anonymous users and explicit users. An anonymous user is a special type of user unique to WinFrame Web Computing. By default, anonymous users have guest user privileges and belong to both the Anonymous and Guest user groups. If an application published on the WinFrame server can be accessed by guest users, the application can be configured (using the Application Configuration utility) to allow access to anonymous users. When a user starts an application that allows access to anonymous users, the WinFrame server does not require an explicit username and password. Instead, WinFrame selects an anonymous username (one that isn t currently being used) from a pool of anonymous usernames, and it logs on using that name. During WinFrame installation, an Anonymous user group is created and anonymous usernames are created. (WinFrame creates as many anonymous usernames as are allowed according to the product s licensed user count.) These usernames have the form Anonx, where x is a number in the series 000, 001, 002, and so on.

An anonymous user has guest access privileges.

Anonymous users are given minimal privileges, which differ from the default user (explicit user) configuration in the following ways:

• After 10 minutes of idle time (no user activity), the connection times out.
  
  
• The user is logged off on a broken connection or a time-out.
  
  
• No password is required.
  
  
• The user cannot change his or her password.

These configuration options can be manually changed by using User Manager For Domains utility.

An explicit user is a conventional WinFrame user who must supply a username and a password (in most cases). Explicit users are created and maintained by the system administrator using the User Manager For Domains utility. The main difference between explicit users and anonymous users, from a system administration standpoint, is that each explicit user must be individually created and configured using User Manager For Domains. This method gives an explicit user account the most versatility and configurability but requires additional maintenance by the system administrator.

An explicit user must supply a username and a password.