Administration Guide › Troubleshooting › General Troubleshooting › Can I Rename Users?

Can I Rename Users?

You can rename users, but the process is complicated and depends on how your CMS policy handles new users.

The first determinant is the Use Microsoft Windows User Authentication? policy setting. If CA DataMinder is configured to use Microsoft Windows user authentication, verify that any changes to a CA DataMinder user name or its corresponding native Windows user name are closely co-ordinated. If CA DataMinder is not configured to use Microsoft Windows user authentication, verify the renamed user is aware that their account name has changed!

The second determinant is the Account Handling for New Users policy setting. This controls how the CMS handles new (or unrecognized) users. This setting becomes important if, after renaming a user, you fail to meet the requirements described above.

The relationships between these two policy settings when you rename a user are summarized below:

If Account Handling for New Users is set to 'Create New User Account' and:

• Use Microsoft Windows User Authentication? is True, see Scenario 1.
• Use Microsoft Windows User Authentication? is False, see Scenario 3.

If Account Handling for New Users is set to 'Disable Applications' or 'Ignore' and:

• Use Microsoft Windows User Authentication? is True, see Scenario 2.
• Use Microsoft Windows User Authentication? is False, see Scenario 4.

Microsoft Windows User Authentication Is Used

If your CA DataMinder installation does use Microsoft Windows user authentication, you must synchronize any name changes for CA DataMinder users with identical changes for the corresponding native Windows users.

This is because CA DataMinder generates and maintains a mapping between each CA DataMinder user account and its corresponding native Windows user account. This means that users do not have to log on to CA DataMinder each time they start up their browser or e-mail application.

If you fail to synchronize these account name changes (that is, you rename one but not the other), the mapping will be broken. To restore this mapping, you must apply the missing name change as soon as possible. Specifically, you must do this before the user next logs on to CA DataMinder (when they start up their browser or e-mail application). If you fail to do so, the consequences depend on how the Account Handling for New Users setting is configured:

• Scenario 1: 'Create New Account': CA DataMinder no longer recognizes the user’s native Windows credential and so creates a new CA DataMinder user account in the default user group. It is not possible to merge this new user account with the existing account.
• Scenario 2: 'Disable Applications' or 'Ignore': CA DataMinder no longer recognizes the user’s native Windows credential and so either waives policy management and allows unrestricted Web and e-mail usage or disables the user’s browser and e-mail application.

Ideally, we recommend that you rename the CA DataMinder user account before renaming the native Windows user account. This minimizes the risk of suffering the consequences described above. In practice, the native Windows user name may have changed first, in which case you must rename the CA DataMinder user as soon as possible.

Microsoft Windows User Authentication Is Not Used

If your CA DataMinder installation does not use Microsoft Windows user authentication, CA DataMinder user accounts exist independently of any native Windows user account. This means you can safely rename any CA DataMinder user but you must ensure that the user knows their new account name (and password) before they next log on to CA DataMinder by starting up their browser or e-mail application.

If the user attempts to log on to CA DataMinder using their old credentials (user name and password), then the consequences depend on how the Account Handling for New Users setting is configured:

• Scenario 3: 'Create new account': CA DataMinder no longer recognizes the user’s old credentials and so creates a new CA DataMinder user account in the default user group. It is not possible to merge this new user account with the existing account.
• Scenario 4: 'Disable applications' or 'Ignore': CA DataMinder no longer recognizes the user’s old credentials and so either waives policy management and allows unrestricted Web and e-mail usage or disables the user’s browser and e-mail application.

As soon as the user logs on to CA DataMinder using their new user name (and password), their user policy resumes normal operation.