External Repository Authentication

Anonymous Authentication

You must set the Authentication setting to Anonymous for repositories that do not need to authenticate users at all.

Common Authentication

The administrator specifies credentials that are stored in the M-Files vault database in encrypted format. These credentials are used for every M-Files user when they access the external repository via M-Files.

Common is the recommended authentication type in two scenarios:

• The external repository contains data that can be accessed by every M-Files vault user or a certain subset of vault users. Using this authentication type saves users from having to log in to the repository manually.
• The external repository must be made accessible for users that do not have credentials to the external repository. This might be the case, for example, when an organization wants to grant external subcontractors access to a network folder via M-Files that they would otherwise not have access to.
  • Using common authentication for this purpose may also require that the external users are granted access to the content via named access control list, as the common authentication only allows the users to access the repository, not the actual content. Alternatively, the vault users that should be able to access the external content can be associated with the common external user.

Personal Authentication

When the type of authentication is set to Personal, the user is prompted to provide their credentials in the M-Files client when they access the external repository: