Securing your help server

You can make help administration pages accessible only to users who log on locally to the help server, or you can enable remote access to the help server. When you enable remote access, you can create passwords for users to secure your help server.

About this task

Two security options exist for controlling access to help administration pages: The control for these options is stored in a config.ini file in the help .war file. If you do not have a browser that is installed on the help server, you can edit that config.ini file to grant remote access. Then, on the Help Administration page, you can grant access for specific users and passwords.

Procedure

  1. In a browser that is on the help server, open the Help Administration page by typing a URL that is in this format:
    http://localhost:port/help-name/updater/admin.jsp
    For Rational DOORS Web Access, the URL is typically http://localhost:8080/dwa-help/updater/admin.jsp.

    If a browser is not installed on the help server, you cannot use the localhost URL. Instead, do these steps:

    1. In a text editor, open the config.ini file that is in the help .war file here:
      DWA_install_directory\9.version\server\webapps\dwa-help.war\WEB-INF\configuration
    2. Add this line to the config.ini file:
      help.war.security=remote
    3. Save and close the config.ini file.
    4. Stop and start the Rational DOORS Web Access server.
    5. From a browser on a remote computer, open the Help Administration page by typing a URL that is in this format: http://server:port/help-name/updater/admin.jsp. To determine the server name, port, and help name, see Administering the help server.
  2. On the Help Administration page, from the Tools list, select Administrative Access Management. The default user, warupdateadmin, who uses warupdateadmin as the password is displayed.
  3. Select an authentication type.
    • Local access only: Only users who are logged on to the help server can access the help administration pages.
    • Role based security: Users can remotely access the help administration pages.
    When you select one of the authentication types on the Help Administration page, one of the following entries is added to the help config.ini file.
    • help.war.security=local
    • help.war.security=remote
    If you are working in a browser on the help server, you do not need to edit the config.ini file. You simply select the authentication type on the Help Administration page.

    If you selected Local access only, no further setup is needed. If you selected Role based security, continue to the next step.

  4. If you selected Role based security, create users who can remotely administer the help content.
    1. Click Add.
    2. Enter and confirm a password for the user. You cannot customize the user name.
    3. If commenting is enabled in your product documentation and you want a user to be able to manage the comments, select the Comment Administrator option.
    4. If you want to give a user the ability to create other users for help server administration, select the User Administration option. If the User Administration option is not selected, the user can update the help content, but cannot create help server users.

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