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User Administration
Prior to version 4.x of openDCIM, there were separate tables for Users (people who log into the system and actually utilize openDCIM) and Contacts (names of people who are associated with devices, but don't necessarily use openDCIM). This required double entry for those who fit both categories, so those two functions have been combined into a single table, called fac_People.
There is a class in the classes\ folder called People.inc.php that contains all of the methods needed to manipulate records in this table.
Ownership of devices within openDCIM is something that only a Department can do, because people are transient within a company, while Departments rarely are. Susan might work in ITS today, but she is climbing the corporate ladder, and if a management position opens up in another area, she'll move. Or Billy might decide that he's tired of working at Company XYZ and leaves the organization completely. For this reason, you can list People as a Contact for a device, and you can attach them to a Department, but you can't set them as owners.
Starting in version 4.4, you can create a template profile with rights that you want any authenticated user to inherit the first time that they log in. Simply create a profile with the UserID of DEFAULT and assign the rights you want any new, authenticated user to have. That new user will copy the rights of the template - so that means if you change your template defaults, it won't change any users that were copied off of it, just like with Device templates. Only new users after the point of making a change will inherit the new rights.
If you've viewed the page on Department Contacts then you already know that Departments are the true "owners" of assets within the data center. The reasoning behind this is that when John in Accounting sets up a server, and then gets a job somewhere else a year later, the server doesn't leave with him. It really belongs to Accounting. For that reason, People are associated with a Department (and can even be listed for multiple departments) but the ownership itself goes to the Department.
Departments are represented in the fac_Department, and Contact associations to Departments are stored in fac_DeptContacts.
Following is a list of fields and their meanings:
- DeptID - Automatically assigned by the system, it is simply an auto_increment field within MySQL
- Name - The Display Name for the department. It can be as long as 255 characters, but if you make something really long then the canned reports won't line up very well. Basically stick to 40 characters or less and you won't have to rewrite your own reports.
- ExecSponsor - This is the "boss" for the department. It can be blank, but we typically use it to keep track of who to go to in a department if you need to escalate a business, rather than technical issue. For example, you are going to change your policies in the data center and need to communicate it on a business level.
- SDM / Service Delivery Manager - This is the account manager within your organization that would deal with this customer. It is still optional.
- Classification - An enumerated list that you specify in the Configuration screen - the default is "ITS", "Internal", "Customer". Some reports subtotal based upon these classifications.
If you've gotten this far, you probably already know that a Department is the entity used to assign ownership of assets within the data center. You will still need to know who to call when there is smoke coming out of the server in Cabinet AA17, Position 4, and that is done by assigning Contacts to a Department.
First of all, to assign Contacts to a Department, you first have to pull up the Department Management screen. Under the details for that Department, you'll see a button to Assign Contacts. Click that to get a picklist of all possible contacts - any of the currently unassigned contacts are listed on the left hand side, and currently assigned ones are on the right. Adjust the boxes as needed and click submit.
It is perfectly reasonable and possible to assign a Contact to multiple Departments. Simply assign them as needed.