Configuration Repositories

The Desktop Manager stores configuration data in a configuration repository. A configuration repository stores the following three types of configuration data:

• Organization structure: describes the structure of an organization. A single object of an organization structure is called an element. The configuration data for an organization structure provides the following information:

  • A tree that represents the Organization/Sub-Organization's structure. This includes a list of users that are part of the organization, as well as the location of the users in the organization structure.

  • A tree that represents the host Domain/Sub-Domain structure.

• Configuration profiles: define sets of configuration data, called configuration profiles, for applications or modules. Profiles can be assigned to organizations, domains, hosts, and users. A profile provides a default value for a configuration setting or enforces a value for a configuration key. A profile can also contain profiles that cover multiple applications.

  You can use configuration profiles to define default configuration settings for an organization, such as the default unit of measure for rulers in StarOffice Writer. However, a user can set preferences manually in an application to override such defaults.

  ---

  Note –

  You can change the value of a configuration setting to enforce a default setting in a profile, so that a user cannot change the setting manually.

  ---

  Configuration profiles are stored at an element node in an organization or domain structure.

  

  The assignment of profiles associates the configuration data that is contained in a profile to an element. You can only assign a profile to the element that stores the profile, or to elements that occur below the storage element in the hierarchy.

  

  The Desktop Manager also stores a priority with configuration profiles. Priorities determine the order that the profiles are assigned when you create the Profile Configuration Data (see Construction of the Profile Configuration Data). You cannot store more than one configuration profile with the same priority in an element.

  You can also use the Desktop Manager to store local, user-specific configuration profiles directly on desktop machines.

• Assignments: Assignments define the relationship between one or many elements of an organization and a profile. Assignments define the elements of the organization or domain that the configuration data can be applied to.

  Child elements inherit the assignments of the parent element in the organization hierarchy.

Available Configuration Repositories

There are three types of configuration repositories that can be implemented:

• LDAP: stores the configuration data on an LDAP directory server as additional entries. Desktop Manager supports the following LDAP directory servers:

  • Sun^TM Java Systems Directory Server

  • OpenLDAP

  • Microsoft Active Directory

  The access protocol to query this type of repository is LDAP. However, any other LDAPv3 compliant directory can be used as a repository.

• File: stores the configuration data in a filesystem. The Desktop Manager accesses this type of repository directly from the filesystem or through HTTP/HTTPS. For HTTP/HTTPS access, you need to configure a web server so that the Agent can access the configuration repository; the management tools require read/write access to the file system that stores the profiles and assignments.

• Hybrid: a hybrid repository reads the organizational structure of the company from an LDAP server, and then read/writes the configuration settings into a file system.

The LDAP Configuration Repository provides the best overall performance. The hybrid repository is best for when you do not have write access to the LDAP directory. The file-based repository is only useful for evaluation purposes.