Installation and Upgrade Guides › Policy Server Installation Guide › Installation Overview › Administrative User Interfaces Overview

Administrative User Interfaces Overview

There are two graphical user interfaces (GUIs), which configure specific SiteMinder policy objects, as follows:

• SiteMinder Administrative UI (Administrative UI)—The Administrative UI is a web-based administration console that is installed independent of the Policy Server. The Administrative UI is the tool for configuring most tasks related to access control, such as authentication and authorization policies, Enterprise Policy Management (EPM), reporting and policy analysis.

  Use the Administrative UI to view, modify, and delete all Policy Server objects, except objects related to Federation Security Services. All federation-related configuration tasks can be managed using the FSS Administrative UI.

• SiteMinder Federation Security Services Administrative UI (FSS Administrative UI)—The FSS Administrative UI is an applet-based application that is installed with the Policy Server. Federation Security Services components consist of the affiliates (consumers, service providers, resource partners) and SAML authentication schemes that you configure to support federated communication between two partners. Use the FSS Administrative UI to configure only SiteMinder Federation Security Services.

  The intent of the FSS Administrative UI is to let you manage SiteMinder Federation Security Services. If you are familiar with previous versions of the SiteMinder Policy Server User Interface, you will notice that all SiteMinder objects appear in the FSS Administrative UI. The only objects that do not appear are objects related to Enterprise Policy Management (EPM) and reports. You can use the FSS Administrative UI to manage the SiteMinder objects. If you need information while using the FSS Administrative UI, consult the FSS Administrative UI online help system.

  Note: Although installed with the Policy Server, the FSS Administrative UI must be registered with the Policy Server before it can be used. Registering the FSS Administrative UI requires the use of the Administrative UI. Therefore, install and configure the Administrative UI before registering the FSS Administrative UI. If your organization is not federating with a partner, you can safely leave the Federation Security Services on the Policy Server host system without registering it.