Configuring Profiles


Overview

Tasks

Included with

Tivoli Service Desk

Overview

What profiles do

Profiles control which system actions appear in the menu and toolbar for a user. This control extends to all Tivoli Service Desk applications.

When a user logs in to any of the Tivoli Service Desk applications, a toolbar and menu appear that correspond to the profile assigned to that user. The user sees only the menu commands and toolbar buttons belonging to the assigned profile.

If the user does not have a profile, Tivoli Service Desk uses the profile assigned to the user's primary group. If this primary group does not have a profile, the system uses the default system profile.

Warning: If Tivoli Service Desk cannot find a user or group profile for a user and you have not designated a default system profile, then the user cannot log in to any of the Tivoli Service Desk applications.

Security

Profiles and security rights enable you to control access to Tivoli Service Desk.
  • If a system action does not belong to the profile assigned to a user, you cannot place it on the menu or toolbar that the user sees.
  • If users do not have the required security rights for a system action, they receive an error message telling them they are not authorized to use this function when they select the menu command or toolbar button for this system action. See Maintaining Security Rights and Configuring user rights.
  • Some buttons in certain dialog boxes are available only to users with the appropriate rights. For more information, see Maintaining Dialog Box Button Rights.

What profiles contain

Profiles contain:
  • Action Groups: An action group is a collection of related system actions. Each profile contains one or more action groups. For example, the Tivoli Problem Management Administrator profile contains the Diagnostic Administration action group which includes all the system actions necessary to maintain and configure Diagnostic Aids. See Configuring Action Groups.
  • System actions: System actions invoke Tivoli Script routines. System actions can also run external applications, such as word-processing or spreadsheet programs. Security rights can be specified for any system action. A user must have the required rights in order to invoke a system action. See Configuring System Actions.
  • Toolbar: You can create a custom toolbar for each profile. System actions appear as toolbar buttons on this custom toolbar. See Configuring Toolbar Buttons.
  • Menus: You can also create custom menus for each profile. System actions appear as menu commands. You specify the order of the menus and the names of the menus and commands. See Configuring Menu Items.

How profiles are used

You can assign a profile to any of the users or groups who access Tivoli Service Desk applications. Users or groups assigned to the same profile see the same Tivoli Service desk menu and toolbar.

Default system profile

You can designate one of the profiles as the default system profile. The default system profile defines toolbars and menus for all users and groups that are not assigned a specific profile.

A default system profile is not required. A default system profile enables users who do not have a user or group profile to log in to Tivoli Service Desk applications.

Note: Only one profile can be designated as the default system profile. If you have already designated a default system profile and select and save a second profile as the default, the Default System Profile check box is automatically cleared on the first profile.

System-defined profiles

Tivoli Service Desk includes profiles which you can assign to users and groups. These system-defined profiles include pre-defined menus and toolbars.

System administrator profile

Before you can access system administrator functions in Tivoli Service Desk, you must assign yourself the appropriate administrative profile. This enables you to log in to Tivoli Service Desk and ensures that the necessary system administration menu commands and toolbar buttons are available.

Creating new profiles

The following steps are a broad outline of the process used to create new profiles.

To create a new profile:

  1. Determine what you want the user or group to be able to do.
  2. Determine which system actions enable users to do this.
  3. If any of these system actions do not already exist, add any new system actions needed.
    Note: The System Actions tab of the Profile Configuration dialog box lists all the system actions included in the Tivoli Service Desk applications installed on your system. You need to create system actions only to run external applications or custom (Tivoli Script) routines.
  4. If the system actions do not already belong to an action group, add the system actions to an action group created by you.
    Note: You can add system actions only to the action groups that you create. You cannot add system actions to any of the standard action groups included with Tivoli Service Desk.
  5. Give the new profile a name.
  6. Add the necessary action groups to the profile you want to use for this user or group.
  7. Assign users or groups to the profile.
  8. Add the new profile to the list of available profiles.
  9. Create a custom toolbar and menu. Associate the new toolbar and menu with the new profile and save the toolbar and menu.
    Note: You can base your custom toolbar and menu on those included with Tivoli Service Desk.

Tasks

Adding a profile

If none of the standard profiles correspond to the job descriptions of a particular user or group of users, you can add your own profiles. Before you start to add a profile, see the process overview in Creating new profiles. If you want to base your new profile on an existing profile, see Copying a profile.

To add a profile:

  1. In the Profile Configuration dialog box, choose the Profiles tab.
  2. To clear the boxes for data entry, in the Profiles tab, choose Clear.
  3. Choose the General tab.
  4. In the Profile Name box, type the name you want to assign to this profile.
    This is a short, descriptive name by which a profile is identified in Tivoli Service Desk.
  5. Do you want to designate this profile as the default system profile?
  6. Do you want to add an action group to the profile?
    Note: Multiple action groups can be assigned to one profile.
  7. Do you want to assign a user to this profile?
    Note: A user can be assigned to only one profile. The last assigned profile becomes the default profile for the user and the user is removed from any other profile.
  8. Do you want to assign a group to this profile?
    Note: A group can be assigned to only one profile. The last assigned profile becomes the default profile for the group and the group is removed from any other profile.
    • If yes, from the Type list, select Group, then do one of the following:
      • In the User/Group box, type the group ID.
      • Choose the Browse button to select one or more group IDs from the Choose Group dialog box.
        Tip: See Selecting from a list for information on selecting multiple action group IDs.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  9. In the Profiles tab, choose Add.

Note: To configure the menu or toolbar buttons associated with a profile, see Configuring Menu Items or Configuring Toolbar Buttons.

Copying a profile

You can base a new profile on an existing profile if you start by copying an existing profile.

To copy a profile:

  1. In the Profile Configuration dialog box, select the profile you want to copy.
  2. Choose the General tab.
  3. In the Profile Name box, type the name you want to assign to the new profile.
    This is a short, descriptive name by which a profile is identified in Tivoli Service Desk.
  4. In the Profiles tab, choose Add.
    Result: The new profile appears in the Profiles list in the Profiles tab. The action groups, toolbar buttons, and menu items are copied from the source profile to the new profile. However, the user and group IDs in the Assignments list and the selection in the Default System Profile check box in the General tab are not copied to the new profile. To make changes to the new profile, see Editing a profile.

Note: To edit the menu or toolbar buttons associated with a profile, see Configuring Menu Items or Configuring Toolbar Buttons.

Editing a profile

You can edit both the standard profiles distributed with Tivoli Service Desk and the profiles you create. You can:

You can assign action groups, users, or groups to a profile or remove them from a profile. You can also designate a default system profile or rename a profile.

To edit a profile:

  1. In the Profile Configuration dialog box, select the profile you want to edit.
  2. Choose the General tab.
  3. Do you want to change the profile name?
    This is a short, descriptive name by which a profile is identified in Tivoli Service Desk.
    • If yes, in the Profile Name box, type the new name for this profile.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  4. Do you want to designate this profile as the default system profile?
    • If yes, select the Default System Profile check box.
    • If no, clear the Default System Profile check box, if necessary.
  5. Do you want to add an action group to this profile?
    Note: Multiple action groups can be assigned to one profile.
    • If yes, under the Action Groups list, choose Add.
      Result: The Choose Action Group dialog box appears.
      • From the Choose Action Group list, select one or more action groups.
        Tip: See Selecting from a list for information on selecting multiple action groups.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  6. Do you want to remove an action group from this profile?
    • If yes, from the Action Groups list, select one or more action groups and choose Remove.
      Tip: See Selecting from a list for information on selecting multiple action groups.
      Result: The selected action group is immediately removed from the Actions Groups list.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  7. Do you want to assign a user to this profile?
    Note: A user can be assigned to only one profile. The last assigned profile becomes the default profile for the user and the user is removed from any other profile.
    • If yes, from the Type list, select User, do one of the following:.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  8. Do you want to assign a group to this profile?
    Note: A group can be assigned to only one profile. The last assigned profile becomes the default profile for the group and the group is removed from any other profile.
    • If yes, from the Type list, select Group, do one of the following:
      • In the User/Group box, type the group ID.
      • Choose the Browse button to select one or more group IDs from the Choose Group dialog box.
        Tip: See Selecting from a list for information on selecting multiple action group IDs.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  9. Do you want to remove a user or group from this profile?
    • If yes, in the Assignments list, select one or more user or group IDs, then choose Remove.
      Tip: See Selecting from a list for information on selecting multiple IDs.
    • If no, go to the next step.
  10. In the Profiles tab, choose Replace.

Note: To edit the menu or toolbar buttons associated with a profile, see Configuring Menu Items or Configuring Toolbar Buttons.

Deleting a profile

You can delete any profile, even the standard profiles distributed with Tivoli Service Desk.You cannot, however, delete profiles assigned to any users or groups. You must first remove users and groups assigned to a profile before you can delete it.

To delete a profile:

  1. In the Profile Configuration dialog box, select the profile you want to delete.
  2. In the Profiles tab, choose Delete.
  3. Result: The selected profile is removed from the Profiles list.