Credentials for the HCL VersionVault server process user on Linux and the UNIX system

Mixed environments in which dynamic views on Windows® access VOBs on Linux or the UNIX system require a special user account on Linux or the UNIX system to which the user credentials for the HCL VersionVault server process can be mapped.

About this task

The HCL VersionVault server process user account is a special Windows® domain account (see Domain user and group accounts) under whose identity the albd_server runs on Windows® computers. No server processes on Linux or the UNIX system run with the identity of this account. It is used only for credentials mapping when the HCL VersionVault server process user requests access to a VOB or dynamic view on Linux or the UNIX system.

You can create a new account for this purpose or use an existing one. Either way, the following guidelines apply:
  • The account must be a member of each group that owns a VOB or dynamic view hosted on a computer running Linux or the UNIX system that will be accessed from Windows®.
  • The account’s primary group must have the same name as the primary group designated for HCL VersionVault users on Windows®. (If it does not exist, you must create this group on the system running Linux or the UNIX system.)
    Note: On Windows® computers, the HCL VersionVault server process user is a member of a single group, the HCL VersionVault administrators group, which has special HCL VersionVault privileges but no special privileges in the operating system. Even though some HCL VersionVault server processes run as root on Linux and on the UNIX system, the HCL VersionVault server process user account should not be mapped to root. Privileged user status is not required for this account, and mapping it to root might create a security risk.
  • The account can have any name that is convenient, unless either of the following conditions are true:
    • Windows® computers use an NFS client to access VOBs and views on Linux and the UNIX system; that NFS client does not allow you to map the HCL VersionVault server process user account to a Linux or UNIX system-based account with a different name. (For more information, see NFS client products.)
    • VOB and view server hosts running Linux and the UNIX system run an SMB server to provide Windows® computers with access to VOBs and views, and you do not want to map the HCL VersionVault server process user account to an existing account on Linux or the UNIX system. (For more information, see SMB server products.)

    In either case, the account on Linux or the UNIX system must have the same user name as the HCL VersionVault server process user on Windows®.