Security - Accounts |
The Web-Browser and Programmatic interfaces to the NetRS provide methods for modifying the controls and accessing the information in the NetRS, using the network based HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Without restrictions, these methods could be used by anyone with access to the NetRS's network. That may be undesireable, especially if the NetRS is plugged directly into the Internet. To solve this problem, the NetRS allows you to restrict access to the HTTP/HTTPS interfaces using a system of accounts and passwords. You can use this mechanism to set up accounts that restrict or allow access to several classes of controls and information.
The NetRS is shipped without HTTP/HTTPS security being enabled. This is not the recommended mode of operation. A security strategy that uses one or more accounts is recommended. This can protect not only against malicious attacks, but also against the accidental change of critical receiver settings that can affect day-to-day operation.
The HTTP/HTTPS security mechanism allows the creation of Accounts, each of which is associated with a name and a password. Each account also has a set of Access rights which provide permissions to use various parts of the HTTP/HTTPS interface. For example, an account might created that allows the user to access logged data files, but prevents that user from changing any of the control settings of the NetRS. A different account could be set up that would provide full access to all data and controls. See the help page for Security - Access Controls for a complete discussion of which features are enabled by the various access levels.
The Security - Accounts page is available through the Security menu on the browser interface's main menu. It shows a list of all currently defined accounts. In addition to the account names, the Access rights given to each account are shown. Links on this page can be used to edit existing accounts or create new ones.
Note that if the System Controls access mode is set to Restricted, then displaying the list of accounts will require a System Controls account name and password.
A new account can be created by clicking on the
Account names and passwords are case sensitive. Account names cannot use space characters or non-printable ASCII characters. The password entry fields will not show the actual characters that you type. The password must be entered twice to verify that it is entered correctly.
Existing accounts can be modified from the Security - Accounts page by
clicking on the name of the account. The Edit Accounts link can
also be used to start the process. Either of these will lead to a page
similar to that used for creating a new account. The
The password on an account can be modified using an alternate method
that does not require System Control access rights. The main menu item
Any existing account (except the sysadmin account) can be
removed from the system. Follow the process to edit an account and
click on the