6.3 Allowing External Users Access to Your Filr Site

Users external to your organization can access the Filr site either as the Guest user, as a registered user (after performing an auto-registration process), or with their Google or Yahoo login (uses OpenID authentication). By default, these features are not enabled.

Users can auto-register or log in with their Google or Yahoo account only if sharing with external users has been enabled, if you have configured Filr to allow users to log in with OpenID, and if an item has been shared with them. Guest users can access the site at any time if Guest access has been enabled as described in this section.

6.3.1 Allowing Guest Access to Your Filr Site

When a person arrives at the Novell Filr site URL, the person is considered to be a Guest user on the site, as indicated by the username displayed in the upper right corner of the page:

This page is also the main Filr login page. Users with Filr usernames can log in to their My Files, and from there they can access any other locations where they have been granted access.

Guest Access Limitations

Guest access to the Filr site is not possible in the following situations:

Understanding the Guest User

As the administrator, you can choose whether you want people who do not have Filr usernames to be able to access information on the Filr site as the Guest user.

For example, a government organization such as a city might give Filr user accounts only to key city knowledge workers. However, it is critical that other city workers and regular citizens also access the site to see a listing of upcoming events, read city news, report complaints, and so forth. As a Filr administrator, you can allow guests to access Filr as the Guest User.

When people visit your Filr site as the Guest user they are presented with the following user experience:

  • Any user who knows the Filr site URL can access the Filr site as the Guest User and is immediately taken to the Shared with Me tab where they see all files and folders that are shared with the public.

  • If a Guest user uses the Search feature, the only information returned is information that the Guest user has been granted access to see.

Setting Up Guest Access for the Filr Site

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether or not you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8443
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you may not be required to enter the port number in the URL, and if you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  3. Under System, click User Access.

    Configure User Access page

  4. Select Allow Guest Access, then click Close.

    Now when users without a user account access the root page of your Filr site and the login dialog box is displayed, they can click Enter as guest on the login dialog box to enter the Filr site as the Guest user. Only items that have been shared with the public are available to the Guest user.

    If an item is shared with the public, recipients of that shared item are given the URL to the shared item, and no login is required.

  5. (Optional) Select Guest access is read only if you do not want the Guest user to be allowed to add files or make comments on files.

  6. Ensure that users are allowed to share with the public, as described in Section 3.2, Enabling Users to Share.

Monitoring Guest User Access

As the Filr site administrator, you can create a report of all locations on the Filr site that the Guest user can access. For instructions, see Section 21.2.7, User Access Report.

6.3.2 Allowing Users to Access the Filr Site with Google and Yahoo Accounts (OpenID)

This option allows users external to the organization who have received a shared item in Filr to log in to the Filr site using their Google or Yahoo accounts. If you do not enable this option, external users who receive a shared item must create a Filr account.

For more information about the user experience for external users accessing the Filr site, see Logging in As an External User to See a Shared Item in the Novell Filr 1.0.1 Web Application User Guide.

To allow external users to access the Filr site by using their Google and Yahoo accounts:

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether or not you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8443
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you may not be required to enter the port number in the URL, and if you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon Configure User Access page.

  3. Under System, click User Access.

    Configure User Access page

  4. Select Allow external user access through OpenID.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Ensure that sharing with external users has been enabled, as described in Section 3.2, Enabling Users to Share.