Authentication Modes in P6 EPPM

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To manage how users can access your applications, use authentication and authorization mechanisms. Authentication is the process of validating user identity and authorization is how you control what resources and data your users can access.

P6 uses multiple settings to support authentication. These settings also control the authentication used for all P6 EPPM applications except P6 EPPM Web Services. You set authentication settings in the P6 Administrator application's Authentication tab.

Note: You can view P6 Progress Reporter authentication settings in the P6 Progress Reporter Administrator, but you must modify them in the P6 Administrator application.

P6 EPPM supports these authentication modes:

• Native is the default mode for P6 EPPM. In Native mode, the P6 EPPM database acts as the authority and the application handles the authentication of the user who is logging into that application.
• Single Sign-On (SSO) controls access to Web applications, specifically P6 Progress Reporter and P6. In SSO mode, P6 EPPM applications are protected resources. When a user tries to login to one, a Web agent intercepts the login and prompts the user for login credentials. The Web agent passes the user's credentials to a policy server, which authenticates them against a user data store. With SSO, once the users login, they are logged into all Web applications during their browser session (as long as all Web applications authenticate against the same policy server).
• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authenticates users through a directory and is available for all applications. You can LDAP referrals with Oracle Internet Directory and Microsoft Windows Active Directory. LDAP referrals allow authentication to extend to another domain. You can also configure multiple LDAP servers, which supports failover and enables you to search for users in multiple LDAP stores. In LDAP mode, an LDAP directory server database confirms the user's identity when they attempt to login to a P6 EPPM application.

  Note: For Oracle Internet Directory, referrals only work when you configure the directories to search anonymously.

Regardless of the authentication scheme you choose, the P6 EPPM database controls user authorization.