Users

Enable Authentication and Authorization

Spikemark will start with authentication and authorization disabled. To enable it, first ensure that any changes you’ve made to your show file are saved by pressing Ctrl+S.

Select Administration → Enable Authorized from the taskbar.

If this is your first time enabling authentication on the Spikemark computer, you’ll see the Create New Account popup. If you’ve turned on authentication before, you’ll see a Log In screen and you can enter your user credentials as usual.

Create the First User Account

The first time you are prompted to create a new account, the role will be Admin and cannot be changed until another admin is added. Simply fill out the username and password, and click ‘Create Account’. You will be directed to login with your new credentials.

Logging In

When opening Spikemark with Authentication enabled or after another user has logged out, you will be required to login. Simply input your username and password, and click Log In.

When no user is logged in, all other Spikemark features will be inaccessible.

If a user forgets their password, an admin must login and mark their account for a password reset. For more information on passwords, see Passwords and Security.

Logging Out

Once you’re ready to log out, make sure to first save your changes. If you’re ready to shutdown Spikemark, simply exit out of the application - you’ll automatically be logged out.

If you want to log out but leave Spikemark open, then select Administration → Log out from the menu. You’ll be prompted to confirm that you want to proceed.

Select Log out. Spikemark will return to the Login screen.

User Management (Admin-Only)

Spikemark Admins are able to access the User Management window, where they can edit and delete users on this Spikemark computer. To access the User Management pop-up, select Administration → User Management from the menu.

On the left side of the window is the list of all users in the system. On the right side is the user editing pane. The selected user from the users list will show on the editing pane. The following actions are available:

1. Undo Changes - if you’ve made any changes to the user since the last save, you can restore the last saved version of the user. If there are no unsaved changes, this button will be grayed out

2. Save - Save any changes you’ve made to the selected user. This does not save changes for all users, just the current user in the editing pane.

3. Delete - Permanently deletes this user. The deletion is automatically saved, and cannot be undone.

Once you are done editing users, close the User Management window to return to Spikemark. Any unsaved changes will be discarded once the window is closed.

User Properties

A Spikemark user contains a few key properties, some of which can be manipulated through the User Management editor pane.

1. Name - the username for the user. This must be unique, and cannot be changed

2. Role - the editable role that is assigned to this user. Each Role has a set of permissions that governs what users can and can’t do in Spikemark. A user must have exactly one role assigned to them.

3. Force Reset Password - the editable flag to indicate if a user needs to reset their password. When checked, the user will be prompted to reset the password the next time they login.

4. Password Not shown - the password that the user or admin sets for the account. This can be set on account creation, and reset through the reset password process. For more details, see Passwords and Security.

Creating a New User

Only admins are able to add new users to the Spikemark system. To create a new user, select Administration → Create Account from the menu.

In the Create New Account pop-up, enter the username and password for the new user. Select the role you would like the user to have. If you would like the user to set their own password, leave the password field blank and then toggle the Force Reset Password field on the User Management screen after you’ve created the account.

Once you’ve filled out all the fields, select Create Account to save the new account.

The new user will appear in the User Management window.

Passwords and Security

Resetting Passwords

Passwords can be reset by an admin. The admin should open Administration → User Management and select the Force Reset Password option for the user, then save their changes. See User Management for more info.

Once an admin has marked the user for password reset, the admin should log out (Administration → Log Out). The user should then enter their username (the password can be left blank) and click Login.

The Reset Password popup will appear. Enter and confirm the new password, and click Save. The user will be directed to the Login screen again, and should be able to login with their username and new password.

Disable Authentication and Authorization (Admin-Only)

To turn of user authentication and authorization, select Administration → Disable Authorization.

You will be prompted to confirm that you want to disable authentication and restart Spikemark. Select Yes. After you confirm, you’ll be given a chance to save any unsaved changes to your show.

Spikemark will restart automatically, and open up with authentication disabled. Spikemark will return to its fully accessible state. Authentication will remain off until re-enabled.