Passwords Work Together with Denials
FirePoint contains a powerful password management system that is controlled from two areas; Password Administration and the Denials support file. Start by pressing the Maint button.
In the Password Administration area #5 press the Password Admin button.
Notice that passwords are made-up of users and groups. All FirePoint users belong to one or more of FirePoint's password groups. Privilege levels are assigned to password groups.
You may add to FirePoint's core list of users. This allows you to have a separate user name for each user in your system. You should not add to the eleven group levels that are "hardwired" into FirePoint.
Groups are displayed in descending order of privilege. Senior Staff, for example, should be assigned more privileges than Captains. Notice above, when you click on the Administrator user the word "Administrator" appears below the list of users (left-side) indicating the Administrator is a member of the Administrator group.
Similarly we can identify the users assigned to any one group of privileges. Above we have clicked once on the Captains group. All users assigned to the Captains group are listed in the lower-right scrolling box. In this case only the Captains user has been assigned to the Captains group.
As Administrator you can test privileges assigned to the Senior Staff, Captains, Secretaries, Registered and Guests groups by entering FirePoint via the User name you wish to test. If you wish to lock others out of these five user names, simply enter FirePoint via the name, open an application, like Incidents, from the Command Window then choose Change Password from the File menu.
Saving Password Users and Groups
Before going any further let's save a backup copy of the existing list of password users and groups. Under the Passwords menu item choose Save Groups....
When the file navigation box appears choose a location, name and save the file of original passwords. Repeat this process each time you edit your password system. Always keep a backup of your password system. Use Load Groups... to load a save password file.
FirePoint has shipped with seven core users and eleven group levels. The Designer user is owned exclusively by End2End, Inc. The Administrator user is assigned to the Administrator group. The Administrator may edit the Administrator user. The other five core users provide the Administrator with an example of how to assign users to one of the five remaining password groups. The Administrator cannot edit or delete these example users.
Editing a User
Let's start with the Administrator. We can edit the Administrator user name and password by double-clicking on it.
Here's a look at the Administrator. The Administrator name, like other predefined user names, should be left as is. You may, however, create and edit any new user names you wish to add.
The "Startup procedure" should always be left blank. "Last use" and "Number of uses" are incremented by FirePoint and may be reset. The area "Default owner of objects..." should be left set to "All Groups".
If you edit a password the next time the Administrator enters FirePoint the Administrator's password will be required. Remember your password and remember FirePoint's passwords are case sensitive.
To enter a new user under the Passwords menu select New User....
Once you've created a new user you can add the new user to a group simply by dragging his or her name from the users list on the left into one of the groups listed on the right. So adding is a simple "drag & drop" procedure.
Add as many users as you wish. You may assign new users to the Administrator, Senior Staff, Captains, Secretaries, Registered or Guests groups. If you need to define additional privilege groups Group1 through Group5 have been provided.
Users May Change Their Passwords
If a new user checks into FirePoint by double-clicking on his name (no password) he or she can change his or her own password. Here's how it's done.
From the Command Window start any FirePoint application. In this example, we'll start Incidents.
Select Change Password from the File menu. FirePoint will verify the user by requiring him or her to reenter their password. If the log-in is successful a change password dialog will appear. The user will be required to enter his or her new password twice. If the two passwords match and the OK button is pressed, the user will have a new password. Remember, FirePoint's passwords are case sensitive. Watch that Caps Lock key!
Password Administration Do's and Don't's
You may enter as many new users as you wish. You may also edit the existing Administrator user. Example users may not be edited. New users, entered by the Administrator, may be edited but not deleted. Instead of deleting unwanted users simply rename the users:
z_reuse01
This will cause the unwanted users to fall to the end of the password list. The name can then be reused when a new user is required.
Once your users and groups are defined you may create a password file which can be saved and loaded into any new FirePoint upgrades you may receive. You may load the password set created at one station into FirePoint Information Systems at other locations.
You should never edit a group. Group names are programmed into FirePoint. Do not add a group or change the name of a group.
Do not forget the Administrator's password. If you forget the Administrator's password you will be locked out of all configuration and system maintenance areas. Also, take care not to remove the Administrator user from the Administrator group. If this were to occur the Administrator would be denied access to the Maint button on the Command Window.
Once users have been entered and assigned to groups it's time to assign specific privileges to the groups. We do that via the Denials support file.
