Implementing Policy › User Authentication › How CA SDM Authenticates Users

How CA SDM Authenticates Users

CA SDM authenticates users based on the user ID defined in their contact record. The product also does the following when a user requests access to the system:

1. If an external user ID is available (from HTTPD or Windows validation), CA SDM looks up the contact by login ID. If the contact is found and has an access type that permits external authentication, the user is allowed into the product.
2. If there was no successful external authentication, CA SDM prompts the user for a user ID and password. The product looks up a contact record for the user ID, obtains the access type, and then authenticates the user as specified by the access type.

Many installations find the predefined access types define authentication that is reasonable for that type of user; however, in some cases you may need to modify the authentication information for a predefined access type or define a new access type to handle a different authentication method for some of your users. You should review the authentication settings for the predefined access types to determine if they meet your needs, or if you need to modify them, or define additional types.