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About Oracle BI Presentation Services User Authentication

When users log on, they are authenticated by the Oracle BI Server using the authentication method specified in the Oracle BI Server configuration file NQSConfig.INI. For more information about NQSConfig.INI, see Oracle Business Intelligence Infrastructure Installation and Configuration Guide.

This section briefly describes the authentication methods that are relevant to Oracle BI Presentation Services users, in the context of Oracle BI Presentation Services. It contains the following topics:

• Oracle Business Intelligence LDAP or ADSI Authentication
• Oracle Business Intelligence External Table Authentication
• Oracle Business Intelligence Database Authentication
• Oracle Business Intelligence Internal Authentication

For detailed information about authentication options, read Oracle Business Intelligence Server Administration Guide.

Oracle Business Intelligence LDAP or ADSI Authentication

If you are using LDAP or ADSI authentication to provide Oracle BI Server access control, you may also configure your LDAP or ADSI server to provide other security information. For example, you could configure the name that is displayed in the Welcome text when the user logs on to Oracle BI Presentation Services, and is specific to the Presentation Services groups to which the user belongs. This information is contained in LDAP variables, which are passed to the Oracle BI Server session variables during the process of user authentication.

The variable USER is a system session variable that is used with LDAP or ADSI authentication. Whenever users log on to Oracle BI Presentation Services, their usernames and passwords are passed to the LDAP or ADSI server for authentication. After successful authentication, other system or non-system session variables for each user can be populated from information returned by the LDAP or ADSI server.

For more information about session variables, read About Presentation Services Groups and Session Variables.

Oracle Business Intelligence External Table Authentication

If you are using an external database table for authentication, the table can contain additional access control information. This includes the name that is displayed in the Welcome text when the user logs on to Oracle BI Presentation Services, and the Oracle BI Server group and the Presentation Services groups to which the user belongs.

Whenever users log in, their usernames and passwords are authenticated through SQL that queries this database table for authentication. After successful authentication, the results of this SQL query can be used to populate other system and non-system session variables for each user.

For more information about session variables, read About Presentation Services Groups and Session Variables.

Oracle Business Intelligence Database Authentication

The Oracle BI Server can authenticate users through database logons. When a user attempts to log on to Oracle BI Presentation Services, the Oracle BI Server attempts to use the logon name and password to connect to the authentication database, using the first connection pool associated with it. If this connection succeeds, the user is considered to be authenticated successfully.

Database authentication provides no mechanism to return additional access control information, such as the user's display name or Presentation Services group membership. If you are using database authentication, alone or in conjunction with external table authentication, you need to explicitly add users to the appropriate Presentation Services group.

NOTE:  Delivers does not work with database authentication. For more information, read About Delivers iBots and Impersonation.

Oracle Business Intelligence Internal Authentication

The Oracle BI Server internal authentication method has no way to return additional access control information. If you are using Oracle BI Server internal authentication, you need to explicitly add users to the appropriate Presentation Services group, because the GROUP variable is not used with internal authentication.