Section 2.8.Allow Anonymous Users

2.8. Allow Anonymous Users

If your SharePoint site is used over the Internet, you may want to enable users who don't have Windows accounts on your server or network. This allows the general public access to some or all of your SharePoint site.

2.8.1. How to do it

SharePoint disables anonymous access when it is installed, so you must re-enable it in IIS and then authorize the anonymous user within the SharePoint site.

To enable anonymous access in IIS:

1. From your SharePoint server, start the IIS Services Manager. Select Start All Programs Administrative Tools Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

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3. Select the Directory Security Tab, then click Edit in the Authentication and access control section. IIS displays the Authentication Methods dialog (Figure 2-15).

   Figure 2-15. Enable anonymous access

   
   
   

4. Select Enable Anonymous Access. IIS maintains the anonymous user password, so don't worry about that. Click OK to close each of the open dialogs.

After enabling the default user in IIS, authorize that user for your SharePoint site. To do that:

1. From your SharePoint site, select Site Settings and click on Go to Site Administration. The Top-level Site Administration page diplays (Figure 2-16).

   Figure 2-16. Use Site Administration to enable anonymous access

   
   
   

2. Click Manage anonymous access. The Anonymous Access page displays (Figure 2-17). Select the level of access to provide anonymous users, and click OK.

Enabling anonymous access for the entire web site allows unauthenticated users to view all of the folders in your site. Allowing access to lists and libraries restricts anonymous users to folders that have anonymous access specifically enabled. This is the most practical setting for most SharePoint sites since they usually contain a mix of public, and not-so-public, information.

To enable anonymous access to a specific list or workspace:

1. Follow the previous two procedures and select Lists and libraries (Figure 2-17).

2. Navigate to the workspace or list on the SharePoint site and select Modify settings and columns. The Customization page displays (Figure 2-18).

3. In General Settings, select Change permissions for this document library. The Change Permissions page displays (Figure 2-19).

4. Select Change Anonymous access. The Anonymous Access page displays (Figure 2-20).

   Figure 2-17. Select the level of access to allow for anonymous users

   
   
   

5. Select the permissions for anonymous access and click OK.

Figure 2-18. Customize a workspace to enable anonymous access

Figure 2-19. Select Change anonymous access

Figure 2-20. Choose the level of access for anonymous users

2.8.2. How it works

Allowing anonymous access lets users view SharePoint site pages without being prompted for a user name and password. When a user tries to open a workbook from the SharePoint site, SharePoint displays the Windows authentication dialog (Figure 2-9), whether or not anonymous access is enabled. Anonymous users may cancel that dialog and the workbook opens in read-only mode. Users with valid accounts may enter their usernames and passwords to get read/write access.

SharePoint disables the anonymous access account in IIS during installation as a security measure. You must deliberately re-enable that account in IIS before SharePoint allows any anonymous access or even displays the anonymous access options through the site administration pages.

Anonymous access to the SharePoint site is tracked through the IIS anonymous user account (shown in Figure 2-15). That username has the form IUSR_ xxx . You can track access by that account to audit security using the Computer Management Console, as shown in Figure 2-21.

Figure 2-21. Track access by anonymous users to audit security

2.8.3. What about...

To learn how to	Look here
Administer a SharePoint site	Search www.microsoft.com/downloads for "SharePoint Administrator" and download Windows SharePoint Services Administrator's Guide