Browser-based Access & Management_AV
Parent page: Installation, Licensing & Management
In addition to connecting to an Altium Vault through Altium Designer, and interfacing to it through the Vaults panel, you can also connect to it through a dedicated browser interface. In fact, connection in this way is more than just a connection to the Vault itself. Rather it is a connection into the Altium Vault platform, with access to management interfaces for the various services available as part of the wider Vault installation. Indeed, with some of these services, your only interaction with them is through this browser-based interface.
Accessing the Interface
To access your local Altium Vault through its browser-based interface, simply use a preferred external Web browser and type the address for the Vault in one of the following formats:
http://<ComputerName>:<PortNumber>
http://localhost:<PortNumber>
- if accessing from the same computer on which the Vault is installed.
(e.g. http://designerhome:9780
, or http://localhost:9780, for an Altium Vault installed using the default port assignment). You will be presented with a Sign-in page.
Sign in through the browser interface using the same Vault credentials used to connect through Altium Designer. For a newly installed Altium Vault, there is a default administrative user with the credentials:
- Username: admin
- Password: admin
What's Provided?
The interface provides a number of key technologies and services, and can be coarsely divided into two groupings, as shown in the following image, and listed thereafter.
- Interface elements that can be accessed by any Vault user. Note that some sub-elements may be admin-only, and they will be highlighted in the detailed sections that follow. To access a page, simply click on its name in the header.
- Interface elements that can only be accessed by a Vault Administrator. A single, administrative user is provided, admin. This user, and any additional user, is bestowed administrative powers by membership to the role Administrators. To access a page, simply choose the required entry in the ADMIN drop-down menu.
General Access Interface Elements
The following sections summarize the elements of the Vault's browser interface that can be accessed by all users of the Vault - both administrators and standard users.
HOME
This page provides quick reference information, tailored to, and relevant for, the Vault user who is currently signed in through the interface.
The page presents two lists:
- Recent Activity - this is very much a reflection of the real-time notifications found on the STREAM page of the interface. Each message includes a link to the entity affected by the event, on the relevant page of the interface. The most recent event appears at the top of the list.
- My Projects - this is a listing of managed projects, complete with description (where available), that have been created by the signed-in user. The name of a project acts as a link to that project, on the PROJECTS page of the interface. The most recently created project appears at the top of the list.
USERS
Related pages: Managing Users, How to Configure LDAP Sync with the Altium Vault
This page provides the interface to the Identity Service (IDS), to define Vault (and other service) access, through specification of users and roles.
Controls are spread over the following sub-pages:
- Users - use this page to create and manage a list of users; people who are to have access to the Vault and/or the associated technologies installed with it.
- Roles - use this page to create and manage a list of roles; roles allow you to further organize your users according to, for example, the particular section of the organization in which they are involved, or the design team they are in. Roles also make the sharing of Vault content, and the configuration of other Vault-served technologies, more streamlined.
- LDAP Sync - use this page to configure and run an LDAP Sync task. This allows the administrator of your Altium Vault to leverage the network domain’s existing username and password credentials, so that user credentials do not have to be created manually one at a time on the USERS page. When setup correctly, the USERS page will automatically populate with user credentials, enabling any user listed to sign into the Vault using their regular corporate network username and password.
- Sessions - use this page to quickly assess which of your users are currently signed into the Altium Vault. Provision is made for an administrator to terminate a user's access to the Vault by effectively 'killing' their active session, thereby freeing connections to the Vault for use by others.
PROJECTS
Related page: Managed Projects
This page provides the interface to the Projects service, to create and manage projects in a central location, and share those projects for team collaboration as required. The page lists all Managed Projects for the organization. Managed Projects target the development stage of the project lifecycle, simplifying the creation and ongoing workflow for version controlled projects. From here you can create new projects, and open and manage existing ones. From this interface, a project can also be shared, or rather its access permissions configured.
VAULT
Related page: Browsing Content from a Web Browser
This page gives you access to the structure of the Altium Vault, and is similar in presentation and layout to that of the Vaults panel. From here, you will be able to browse the folders and Items within the Vault. And although you can't create or edit Items from within the browser interface (you can remove them), you are able to create and edit folders, and so build the structure of the Vault, without having to be connected to that Vault through Altium Designer.
You can also define sharing from this interface - controlling who is able to see what content in the Vault, and whether other users can simply view a folder and its content, or also edit it (effectively releasing design data into it). A single Vault can be partitioned into various effective 'zones' of content, but with controlled permissions, the content can be made selectively visible, or hidden, as required - giving the right people, the right access, to the right data.
Content can also be downloaded from the Vault, directly from this interface.
PART REQUESTS
Related page: Part Requests
This page enables you to create and manage requests for new Vault components. An engineer can simply put in a request for one or more parts to be created, to a member of a librarian-nominated role, and get notified when that request has either been rejected (and why), or processed, and the component(s) made available. The requestor supplies as much key information to support their request as possible (manufacturer and part number(s), description(s), any relevant datasheet (PDF or URL)). Stub Component Items can even be created that the librarian can then run with (and finish off).
STREAM
This page provides a live feed of event notifications, applicable to, and relevant for, the Vault user who is currently signed in through the interface. The page can be accessed in two ways:
- By clicking the STREAM page header - this will list all notifications.
- By clicking the Inbox control, at the top-right of the interface - to the left of the button. This will list all unread notifications (The number next to the Inbox control reflects the number of currently unread messages in the stream).
Each message in the stream carries similar information:
- The name of the user whose action has resulted in the event.
- The time the event happened (in terms of how many minutes, hours, or days have elapsed since the event occured).
- An automated message describing the event. A link is also included to the entity affected by the event. This can be:
- A Managed Project (on the PROJECTS page of the interface).
- A Component Item Revision (on the VAULT page of the interface).
- An Item Revision at the center of a state transition approval request (on the VAULT page of the interface).
- A Part Request (on the PART REQUESTS page of the interface).
- An optional user-added note, where available, that gives extra information.
By default, all notification types are presented (unless accessed from the Inbox control, in which case only unread notifications will be listed). To change this, click on the All control and choose a particular notification type to display. Supported notification types are:
- All
- Unread Notifications
- Projects:
- Projects (Create)
- Projects (Update)
- Projects (Delete)
- Projects (Commit)
- Projects (Release)
- Projects (Revision State Change)
- Projects (Access Rights Grant)
- Projects (Access Rights Remove)
- Components:
- Components (Create)
- Components (Release)
- Components (Revision State Change)
- Components (Delete)
- Approval Request:
- Approval Request Create
- Approval Request Assignee Change
- Approval Request Complete
- Approval Request Cancel
- Approval Request Remind
- Part Request:
- Part Request Create
- Part Request Update
Admin-Only Interface Elements
The following sections summarize the elements of the Vault's browser interface that can only be accessed by Administrative users of the Vault - those who are part of the Administrators role. Access to these elements is through the dedicated ADMIN menu, located to the far right of the standard page headers.
VCS
Related page: Local Version Control Service
This page (ADMIN » VCS) provides the interface to the Vault installation's local Version Control Service, for managing the SVN-based Design Repositories that designers in the organization can validly access and use while working on design projects. Repositories can be created through this service, or external repositories can be connected to.
PART PROVIDERS
This page (ADMIN » PART PROVIDERS) enables you to define a list of Part Sources - facilitating centralized supply chain management, with designers across the entire organization using the same approved list of Part Sources, with which to source supply chain intelligence for parts used in their designs.
The available Part Sources in the Vault are:
- Altium Parts Provider - an aggregate supplier data service that provides access to live component information from a comprehensive range of parts suppliers. This Part Source is installed by default.
- Custom Database Provider - for situations where parts supply data needs to be accessed from a local database, such as a company’s internal parts database, the Vault's Custom Database Provider feature offers interface connectivity for all common database systems (directly, or via an ODBC or OLE-DB interface). The connection can be established manually, through a nominated interface and connection string, or by using the Vault’s Connection Wizard. Any number of such connections can be defined.
The actual supply chain intelligence - comprising Manufacturer (and part number), Supplier (and part number), Description, Pricing and Availability - is sourced from the Vault's local Part Catalog and the relevant Part Source.
INSTALLATIONS
Related page: Network Installation Service
This page (ADMIN » INSTALLATIONS) provides the interface to the Network Installation Service, through which you can perform installations or updates to Altium products over your local network, and enables centralized control of software availability, configuration and its capabilities. Using NIS, you acquire software product files from Altium, and then assemble these into a configurable software deployment package. The locally stored package can then be deployed to networked workstations as a software installer executable (*.msi
), or as a direct installation using Microsoft’s Active Directory Group Policy.
Controls are spread over the following tabs:
- Products & Extensions - your view into the set of available Altium product and extension installers, available to you based on your provided AltiumLive credentials. These are stored in Altium's Cloud Vault.
- Deployment Packages - where you create and configure a Deployment Package, which stipulates how to install the chosen product and extensions. Once created, an associated Windows Installer Package file (*.msi) can be downloaded, and used to install the software on a target client machine, or on all client machines throughout the company.
- Updates - presents a convenient area in which to configure how you want your products and extensions, in your local Altium Vault, to be updated. You can configure them to either be updated manually, or automatically.
- Server Storage - lists what products and extensions are available in your local Altium Vault (those that you have previously acquired). A deployment package can only include products and extensions that are listed in this tab.
- Tasks - presents an Operations Log reflecting a task that is currently running, or has been run.
CONFIGURATIONS
Related page: Environment Configuration Management
This page (ADMIN » CONFIGURATIONS) provides the interface to the Team Configuration Center (delivered through the Vault installation as theTeam Configuration Service). The role of the Team Configuration Center (sometimes referred to as TC2) is simplicity itself - to give the organization centralized control over the environment its designers operate in. It achieves this through the definition and management of Environment Configurations. These are used to constrain each designer's Altium Designer working environment to only use company-ratified design elements, including schematic templates, output job configuration files, and workspace preferences. In other words, it facilitates Centralized Environment Configuration Management.
Any number of environment configurations may be defined through the Center's dedicated browser-based interface. The data used and enforced by each configuration - referred to as Configuration Data Items - are sourced from the Altium Vault. And by associating each environment configuration with a specific user role, and in turn assigning users to those roles, the correct working environment is loaded into Altium Designer as soon as the user signs in to the Altium Vault. Using this role-based approach ensures that a designer always gets the setup they are entitled to, no matter whether they have their own PC, or are sharing a single PC with fellow designers.
The interface allows for an administrator to craft one or more environment configurations, depending on the needs of the organization. Each configuration requires the definition of:
- Configuration Name - a meaningful name, perhaps reflective of the people whose working environment it is to govern.
- Configuration Data - the elemental constraints of the configuration. The revisions of supported data items that can be validly used by a user targeted by the configuration.
- Target Roles - specification of whom the environment configuration applies to. Roles themselves are simply groupings of users, defined and stored as part of the vault's Identity Service. These are the same roles that are defined and used by the vault to control access permissions.
STATUS
This page (ADMIN » STATUS) provides status-related information for the Vault, and quick access to log files. It is presented over three regions:
- Installed Services - providing version information for the current Altium Vault installation.
- Path to database and files - providing information about the installation paths for the database and data, including the type of database being used by the Altium Vault.
- Logs - providing information about the installation path to log files. For each distinct service, click on the associated icon to download a zip containing the relevant set of log files.
SETTINGS
This page (ADMIN » SETTINGS) provides a collection of sub-pages relating to configuration of options relating to various features and services provided by, and through, an Altium Vault installation.
The left-hand side provides a navigation tree with which to quickly access various sub-pages of settings. The following pages are available:
- General - use this page to change the Name and Description for the Vault.
- AltiumLive Credentials - when using the Network Installation Service (NIS), use this page to enter the credentials used to log into the Altium Cloud (AltiumLive) where the installers are to be sourced from. When using the Private License Service through the Vault, these credentials allow the Private License Service (PLS) to communicate directly with your Altium account for the initial acquisition of your company licenses.
- Session Lifetime - use this page to enter a value for the IDS Session Lifetime (in hours). This is how long a Vault user has to remain connected, in a single session, when using a seat of the applicable Vault Client Access License (CAL). By default, the session lifetime is 24 hours.
- License Manager - this page provides settings relating to using the Private License Service, and selection of its mode. A pre-set suitable default value is used for the Altium Cloud portal URL (http://portal2.altium.com/?cls=soap).
- Network Installation - when using the Network Installation Service (NIS), use this page to define the update checking interval. This is the frequency (in minutes) that the Automatic Updates feature will check for available new versions of the applicable software in the Altium Cloud Vault.
- Email Notifications - this page provides settings to enable and configure the Vault's email notifications feature. This facility flags a variety of events to key stakeholders, relating to Component Items, Managed Projects, Approval Requests, and Part Requests.
- Vault - not a page, but rather a structural entry for gathering together settings related to specific functionality within the Vault itself.
- Part Requests - not a page, but rather a structural entry for gathering together settings related specifically to the Part Requests feature:
- Librarians Role - use this page to specify which role (or roles) should be used to fulfill the role of Librarians for your organization. In essence, you are simply configuring a set of users of your Altium Vault, that can be assigned to a part request.
- Custom States - use this page to customize opened and closed states for the Part Request feature.
- Part Requests - not a page, but rather a structural entry for gathering together settings related specifically to the Part Requests feature:
- Lifecycle Definitions - use this page to define and manage your Vault's lifecycle definitions, complementing the ability to do this through Altium Designer. Providing better visibility of the states and transitions involved, each lifecycle is built in a graphical way, showing at-a-glance the flows involved.
- Permissions - this page provides a single option that allows Vault Components to be deleted from the Vault, even if they have been placed on a design document.
- Projects - use this page to specify the default path (within the Vault's folder structure) for newly-released projects.
LICENSES
Related pages: Altium Vault Licensing, Private License Service,
This page (ADMIN » LICENSES) provides the interface to obtain and manage licenses - both for the licensing of the Vault itself, and also for serving to client machines over the local network, through the appropriately configured Private License Service (PLS).
Three tabs are available:
- Licenses - provides a listing of all licenses currently available. At least two licenses will be required to actually license the Altium Vault (Altium Vault and Altium Vault CAL). Other licenses can be added for serving through the PLS. Licenses can be acquired either From cloud (choose from a list of licenses available to your company from the Altium portal), or From file (import existing
alf
license files from disk). - Roles - provides the ability to assign licenses to Roles of Users (or groupings of users). In Local PLS mode, the Vault PLS can selectively offer software licenses that have been assigned to a specific Role. By default (unless otherwise specified), all licenses acquired by the Vault are assigned to the All Users Role, and therefore available to any User that connects to the PLS.
- Reports - the Private License Service includes a range of license usage monitoring and reporting features that can be used to audit how licenses are used within an organization. This is useful for ensuring that the best use is being made of the available license seats, for anticipating future license requirements, and to determine the usage of individual Users. A range of reporting options are available, accessed by specific sub-tabs. Depending upon the type of information that's required for each report, the associated reporting filters can be applied to tailor the results to include specific Licenses, Roles, Users, and time periods. There is also an option to export the current report to disk in CSV format, compatible with Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet applications, for administration and accounting purposes.