Manage Users

The setup of users in the Kentik portal is discussed in the following topics:

Note: If you would like assistance with any aspect of registering a user, please email us at support@kentik.com.

Manage settings for all users in your organization.
 

About Users

A user is anyone at your company that is given authorization to access Kentik. Kentik supports three levels of users:

  • Member: Can view settings and data, including traffic analytics and synthetic test results, in most portal modules, but can't add tests in Synthetics, edit settings for devices, cloud exports, users, etc., or edit properties in modules such as Interface Classification, Insights, Alerting, Mitigation, etc.
  • Administrator: Can perform all actions except resetting SSO options or turning other users into Super Administrators.
  • Super Administrator: Can perform all actions (see About Super Admin Users).

Note: An Administrator can apply a filter in the user settings of any other user (see User Filters).

 

Users Page

The Users page is home to the User List, which lists the users that are currently registered for your organization. To open the Users page, select Settings from the main menu, then Manage Users (under Access & Security). Details of the Users page are covered in the following topics:

Note: Members can view the information displayed on the Users page (the user’s full name, email address, user level, and last login), but cannot make any changes.

 
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Users Page UI

The Users page has the following main elements:

  • Filter field: Enter text to filter the User List. The Full Name and Email columns are checked for a match on the string entered in this field.
  • Add User button: Opens the Add User dialog (see User Admin Dialogs).
  • User List: A table listing your organization’s currently registered users (see User List).
 
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User List

The User List is a table that lists all existing users for a given customer. Click on a column heading to sort the list (ascending or descending). The information and actions displayed in the table depend on your user level.

User Information Columns

The following information columns are displayed to users of all levels:

  • Full name: The user's full name.
  • Email: The user's email address.
  • Level: The user's level: Administrator or Member (see About Users).
  • Last login: The date of the user's most recent login.

User Admin Actions

The following actions (far-right column) are available only to admin-level users:

  • Reset active sessions: Opens a confirming dialog that allows you to reset any active user sessions by logging the user out of the Kentik system.
  • Edit user: Opens an Edit User dialog that allows you to change the user’s information (e.g. email address, full name), permissions, and filters (see Edit a User).
  • Remove: Opens a confirming dialog that allows you to remove the user from the Kentik system.
A list of all users in your organization.
 

User Admin Dialogs

Adding or editing a user via the Kentik portal involves specifying information in the fields of the user admin dialogs, which are covered in the following topics.

Note:
- User admin dialogs are accessible only to users whose level is Administrator or above.
- Users can also be added and edited with the User API.

 
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About User Dialogs

The Kentik portal uses user admin dialogs to collect and display user information. The required information is entered into the fields of either of the following dialogs:

  • Add User when registering a new user with Kentik.
  • Edit User when editing an already registered user.
 
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User Dialogs UI

The Add User and Edit User dialogs share the same layout and the following common UI elements:

  • Close button: Click the X in the upper right corner to close the dialog. All elements will be restored to their values at the time the dialog was opened.
  • Cancel button: Cancel the add user or edit user operation and exit the dialog. All elements will be restored to their values at the time the dialog was opened.
  • Add User button (Add User dialog only): Save settings for the new user and exit the dialog.
  • Save button (Edit User dialog only): Save changes to user settings and exit the dialog.
  • General Settings tab: Add or modify a user’s email address, name, and API token.
  • Permissions tab: Set a user’s permission level (see User Permissions).
  • Filters tab: Add filters to limit the data seen by this user (see User Filters).
Specify settings for an individual user.
 
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User Field Definitions

User admin dialogs (Add User and Edit User) contain the elements shown in the following table.

Tab Element Type Description
General
Settings
Email address Editable field The user's email address.
General Settings Full name Editable field The user's full name.
General
Settings
API token
(Edit User only)
Text field
(non-editable)
A Kentik-generated string that is used to authenticate the user in an HTTP header (X-CH-Auth-API-Token).
General Settings Reset API Token Button Generate a new API token, which is displayed in the API Token field.
General Settings Disable 2-Factor Authentication
(Edit User only)
Button or text If 2-factor authentication is enabled (see Two-factor Authentication), the button disables it.
If it's not enabled the text indicates that it's disabled.
Permissions User level Drop-down menu Set the user level (Member, Administrator, or Super Administrator; see About Users).
Permissions Enable Permission Overrides Toggle Set user permissions for Synthetics and Connectivity Costs (see User Permissions).
Note: Available only to Super Administrators.
Filters Add Filters Button Apply filters that limit the traffic seen by the user (see User Filters).

 
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User Permissions

The controls on the Permissions tab of the Add/Edit User dialog address two distinct aspects of access by a given user to Kentik features and capabilities:

  • User level (Member, Administrator, or Super Administrator) determines whether a given user is primarily a consumer of displayed information (Member) or is also able to configure your organization's Kentik account (see About Users). Any user whose level is Administrator can determine whether a user is set as an Administrator or a Member; only a Super Administrator can designate another user as a Super Administrator.
  • User permissions enable Super Administrators to override default access settings, providing granular control over which (if any) capabilities a given user can access in the following parts of the portal:
    - Synthetics section (see Synthetics Overview): Individually enable/disable the ability to create, edit, and delete both tests and agents.
    - Connectivity Costs module (see Connectivity Costs): Individually enable/disable the ability to view and/or configure costs (which may involve sensitive financial information).

Note: Any changes made to a user’s settings will take effect at the user’s next login.

 
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User Filters

User-based filtering enables Administrators to restrict the data that can be viewed by a given user by applying filters that control the data that may be accessed by that user's queries. User filters are set from the Filters tab of the Add User or Edit User dialog using the Filtering Options Dialog. The name of the button used to open this dialog depends on your current location:

  • Add User dialog: Add Filters button.
  • Edit User dialog: Edit Filters button if filters are already exist for the user, otherwise Add Filters button.

Note: Both Saved and Ad Hoc Filters may be applied in user filters.

Once a user filter is associated with a given user, it is systematically appended (ANDed) with any query run by that user, including:

One use case for a user filter would be to allow certain Members to only query data from routers with a description that contains “backbone.” Another use case would be to allow certain Members to only query data for interfaces with a description containing CUSTOMER and that have been assigned to the sites Ashburn DC3 and Ashburn DC4 (see About Sites).

 

Add or Edit User

Users are added and edited on the Users page of the Kentik portal (choose Settings from the main menu, then select Manage Users under Access & Security). Only Administrators can add or edit users. Adding and editing users is covered in the following sections:

 
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Add a User

To register a new user on the Kentik portal:

  1. Open the Users page (Settings » Manage Users).
  2. Click the Add User button to open the Add User dialog.
  3. Specify the values of the fields in the dialog (see User Field Definitions).
  4. Set any desired User Permissions or User Filters.
  5. Save the new user by clicking the Add User button (lower right).
 
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Edit a User

To edit the settings for an existing user:

  1. Open the Users page (Settings » Manage Users).
  2. In the User List, find the row corresponding to the user you'd like to edit:
    - To remove the user from your organization's collection of Kentik users, click the Remove button (red trash icon) at the right of the row, then click Remove in the resulting dialog.
    - To change settings for the user, click the edit button at the right the row. The Edit User dialog will open.
  3. In the Edit User dialog:
    - Change any settings that you'd like to modify (see User Field Definitions), including any User Filters or User Permissions.
    - To reset the API token, click the Reset API Token button. A new token will appear in the field.
    - To save changes, click the Save button (lower right).
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