New Login Account

You can start creating a new login account by right-clicking on the Login Accounts in the left-side tree view of M-Files Admin and by selecting New Login Account...

The new login account creation dialog.

Windows authentication

Windows authentication can be used for authentication on M-Files Server, in which case the user logs in to the document vault with the same login information used to log in to Windows or the organization's domain.

Using the domain logins is the quickest and easiest authentication method. This means that new passwords and logins are not needed, which makes this a rather user-friendly method. For more information, refer to table Differences between the various user authentication methods.

Note: In case your organization is using federated identity management, refer to Using Federated Authentication with M-Files.

M-Files authentication

The M-Files authentication method allows the user to log in to M-Files only. If the organization does not have a Windows domain or the user is not to have access to it, it is a good idea to use M-Files authentication for the document vault.

Personal information

Enter an e-mail address and a full name for the login account. This information is used for sending notifications. For more information about notifications, refer to Notification Settings (M-Files Admin). If the authentication method used is Windows authentication, you can retrieve the personal information from the domain by clicking Update Information from Domain.

License type

Select a license type for the login account. The different license types are listed below. For more information about licenses, refer to License Management.

Named user license

Named user licenses are assigned to individual login accounts. This license allows the login account to use M-Files any time, independent of other users.

Concurrent user license

When a login account entitled to a concurrent user license logs in, one license of this type is taken up. When the login account logs out, the license becomes available for use by other login accounts that use this same license type.

Read-only license

Read-only licenses are assigned to individual login accounts. This license allows the login account to use M-Files at any time, independent of other users. The license is limited in the sense that not all M-Files features are available for use: the user is only able to read but not to create or modify documents.

External Connector license

External Connector licenses enable 3rd party systems to anonymously read M-Files database. The license type is needed for example when M-Files data is published programmatically in an intranet or extranet environment to an unrestricted number of users.

Account is disabled

This function provides an easy way to specify whether the user is allowed to log in to the server or not. This function is useful if you do not want to remove the login account altogether, but to disable it for the time being.

Server roles: System administrator

This role entitles the user to make any changes on the server level. These include changing the server logins and creating and deleting document vaults. In other words, a system administrator can perform any operation on a document vault.

See the table below for a comparison between the permissions of a system administrator and a vault administrator with a full control of a vault:

Operation	System administrator	Vault administrator
Create a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Attach a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Restore a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Detach a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Back up a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Copy a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Destroy a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Optimize the database	Allowed	Not allowed
Back up the master database	Allowed	Not allowed
Restore the master database	Allowed	Not allowed
Take a vault offline	Allowed	Not allowed
Rebuild the full-text search index	Allowed	Allowed
Reset thumbnail images in a vault	Allowed	Allowed
Verify and repair a vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Migrate to Microsoft SQL Server	Allowed	Not allowed
Create a cached replicate vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Create or import a login account	Allowed	Not allowed
Create a scheduled job	Allowed	Not allowed
Change M-Files Server notification settings	Allowed	Not allowed
Manage M-Files licenses	Allowed	Not allowed
Configure web and mobile access	Allowed	Not allowed
Shut down M-Files Server	Allowed	Not allowed
Log in to any vault	Allowed	Not allowed
Create and import users	Allowed	Not allowed
Import user groups	Allowed	Not allowed
Create user groups	Allowed	Allowed
See and read all vault content (including deleted objects)	Allowed	Allowed
See and undelete deleted objects	Allowed	Allowed
Destroy objects	Allowed	Allowed
Force undo checkout	Allowed	Allowed
Change permissions for all objects	Allowed	Allowed
Change metadata structure	Allowed	Allowed
Manage workflows	Allowed	Allowed
Manage user accounts	Allowed	Allowed
Manage common views and notification rules	Allowed	Allowed

Creating a Login Account

Steps

Open M-Files Admin.
In the left-side tree view, expand the desired connection to M-Files Server.
Highlight Login Accounts in the left-side tree view.
Click New Login Account... on the task area.
The New Login Account dialog is opened.
Enter a username.
Select an authentication method by clicking the appropriate radio button and enter authentication details in the fields below the selected authentication method.
Enter an email address and a full name in the personal information fields.
If you are using Windows authentication, you can click Update Information from Domain to retrieve personal information from the domain's directory service.
Select a license from the License type drop-down menu to set an appropriate license for the login account.
Optional: Check the Login account is disabled check box if you want to disable the login account for the time being.
Optional: Check the System administrator check box if you want to assign a system administrator role for the login account. This role entitles the user to make any changes on the server level, including changing the server logins and creating and deleting document vaults.
Click OK once you are done.

Results

You should now have a new login account and it should appear in the Login Accounts list when you highlight Login Accounts in the left-side tree view in M-Files Admin.