Authentication and Signon PeopleCode

You can store PeopleSoft passwords in the PSOPRDEFN PeopleTools table. You can also store and maintain user passwords and the rest of the user profile data in an LDAP directory server. PeopleSoft applications retrieve the information stored in an external directory server using a combination of the User Profiles component interface and Signon PeopleCode.

If you decide to reuse existing user profiles stored in a directory server, you don’t need to perform dual maintenance on the two copies of the user data—one copy in the LDAP server and one copy in PSOPRDEFN. PeopleSoft applications ensure that the user information stays synchronized. If you configure LDAP authentication, you maintain your user profiles in LDAP and not in PeopleTools Security.

Signon PeopleCode copies the most recent user profile data from a directory server to the local database whenever a user signs in. PeopleSoft applications reference the user information stored in the PeopleSoft database rather than making a call to the directory server each time the system requires user profile information. Signon PeopleCode ensures the local database has a copy of the most current user profile based on the information in the directory. Each time the user signs in, Signon PeopleCode checks to see if the row in the user profile cache needs to be updated.

The sign in process occurs as follows:

  1. The user enters a user ID and password on the sign in page.

  2. PeopleTools attempts to authenticate the user against the PSOPRDEFN table.

  3. Signon PeopleCode runs.

    The default Signon PeopleCode program updates the user profile based on the current data stored in the directory server.

You can use Signon PeopleCode and business interlinks to synchronize the local copy of the user profile with any data source at sign in time; the program that ships with PeopleTools is designed to synchronize the user profile with an LDAP directory server only. Because the sign in program is PeopleCode, you can modify it, incorporating any of the PeopleSoft integration technologies that PeopleCode supports.

To edit the Signon PeopleCode program, you open the LDAP function library record and use the PeopleCode editor to customize the PeopleCode programs. Developers who modify the Signon PeopleCode program need to have a good understanding of PeopleCode and the integration features it offers.

Note:

Only users who sign in through PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture or three-tier Microsoft Windows clients take advantage of Signon PeopleCode.