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Setting Login Options

Owned by Panna .
Last updated: Sept 21, 2022 by Shwetha S
6 min read

Grid Manager provides several options that you can set to facilitate the login process. Additionally, you can manage CA (Certificate Authority) and server certificates on the NIOS appliance. You can import certificates, select and view their details, or remove them. To manage certificates, see Managing Certificates.

Specifying Grid Name and Host Name

To define the default host name that appears when the login prompt displays, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Grid tab -> Grid Manager tab, expand the Toolbar and select Grid Properties -> Set up (Grid Setup Wizard).
  2. On the Welcome page, select Configure a Grid Master, and then click Next.
  3. Enter the Grid name in the Grid Name field and the host name in the Host Name field.

Creating a Login Banner

You can create a statement that appears at the top of the Login screen (a banner message). This function is useful for posting security warnings or user-friendly information well above the user name and password fields on the Login screen. A login banner message can be up to 3000 characters long. In a Grid, perform this task on the Grid Master.

To create a login banner, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Grid tab -> Grid Manager tab, expand the Toolbar and select Grid Properties -> Edit.
  2. In the Grid Properties Editor, on the Security tab, select Enable Login Banner. In the text field, enter the text that you want to be displayed on the login screen.
  3. Save the configuration.

Changing the Password and Email Address

Grid Manager creates and stores a user profile for each admin user. Each user profile contains information about the admin group and admin type assigned to the user. You can modify certain information in your user profile any time after the initial login. You can change your password to facilitate future logins and add your email address for reference.

Note that when multiple users log in to Grid Manager using the same admin account, they share the same user profile and preference settings, such as the widget, table size and column settings, independent of their browser settings. Instead of using the same admin account for multiple users, you can add multiple users to the same admin group so they can share the same permissions. For information about configuring admin accounts and admin groups, see Managing Administrators.

If you can access only the Tasks Dashboard, you may not see or configure certain fields in the User Profile editor.

To change your password and email address, complete the following steps:

  1. At the top-right corner of the navigation bar, click the admin name and select Profile from the drop-down menu.
  2. In the User Profile editor, complete the following:
    • Name: Displays your user name.
    • Last Login: Displays the timestamp of your last log in.
    • Type: Displays your user type. There are two user types: Local and Remote. The Local type admin accounts are stored in the NIOS database. The Remote type admin accounts are stored on another server, such as a RADIUS server. Grid Manager automatically deletes remote user profiles if users have not logged in for more than six months.
    • Group: Displays the admin group to which your account belongs. The admin group determines your administrative permissions. Only superusers can define admin groups through Grid Manager.
    • Password: You can set a new password according to the requirements that are displayed.
      • Set Password: If you are a local user, select this checkbox to set a new password for your account. If you are a remote user, this field does not appear.
      • Old Password: Enter your current password.
      • New Password: Enter the new password, and then re-enter it in the Retype Password field.
    • Email Address: Enter your email address. Note that this address simply provides contact information. By default, this field is blank.
  3. Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.

Specifying the Table Size

You can specify the amount of data Grid Manager must display in a table or a single list view. You can improve the display performance by setting a smaller table size. The setting you specify here applies to all tables in Grid Manager. Note that if you can access only the Tasks Dashboard, you cannot configure table size.

To specify table size, complete the following steps:

  1. At the top-right corner of the navigation bar, click the admin name and select Profile from the drop-down menu.
  2. In the User Profile editor, in the Table Size field, specify the number of lines of data you want a table or a single list view to contain. You can set the number of lines from 10 to 256. The default is 20.
  3. Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.

Selecting Your Home Page

When you first log in to Grid Manager, the Tasks Dashboard is your home page. You can change your home page for subsequent logins. You can specify the maximum number of widgets that can be configured per dashboard. You can set up to 20 widgets per dashboard. You can also set the auto refresh rate for dashboard widgets. This interval specifies how often the content of the dashboard widgets is refreshed.

To change your home page, complete the following steps: 

  1. At the top-right corner of the navigation bar, click the Admin name and select Profile from the drop-down menu.
  2. In the User Profile editor, complete the following:
    • Default Dashboard: Select Status or Task from the drop-down list.
    • Maximum Widgets per Dashboard: Specify the maximum number of widgets that can be configured per dashboard. You can enter a value between 1 and 20. The default value is 10. This limit does not apply to the default dashboard.
  3. Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.

Grid Manager displays the selected dashboard as your home page when you log in the next time.

Setting the Browser Time Zone

You can specify the time zone that Grid Manager uses to convert all displayed time values, such as the last discovered and last login time. Grid Manager sets the time zone based on the time zone of your browser when you set the time zone to auto-detect in the User Profile editor. When you set the time zone of your browser to auto-detect and Grid Manager cannot automatically determine the time zone when you log in, the time zone is set to the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) standard. In this case, you can manually change the time zone in the User Profile editor.

To manually set the time zone of your browser, complete the following steps:

  1. At the top-right corner of the navigation bar, click the admin name and select Profile from the drop-down menu. The User Profile editor displays your username, user type, and admin group.
  2. In the User Profile editor, in the Time Zone field, select the time zone that Grid Manager uses to convert all displayed time values. The default is Auto-detect time zone. You must select a specific time zone when Grid Manager cannot automatically detect the time zone of your browser.
  3. Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.

Configuring BloxConnect

Infoblox BloxConnect is the ability of the Infoblox DDI platform to send snapshots of encrypted and automated system data and utilization information to the Infoblox business operations center. Infoblox uses this data to improve product functionality and provide better customer service. The BloxConnect feature collects and sends encrypted data during the following instances:

  • On the first setup of the system
  • Daily, following an up time of 24 hours
  • When a system reboots following a system failure

The Data Collection and Opt-Out Notice, which explains the BloxConnect feature, appears only when you log in to Grid Manager from the NIOS UI for the first time. By default, data collection is enabled. If you want to disable it, select To opt-out of BloxConnect, please click here, and then click OK. Snapshots include information about basic configuration, features, and protocols collected from your physical and virtual systems. Additionally, snapshots provide health, diagnostic, and utilization information related to CPU, disk, leases per second (LPS) , queries per second (QPS), IPAM, and memory usage. The data does not include customer-sensitive or personal information.

Only administrators with superuser privileges can configure BloxConnect for a Grid Master or an independent appliance. To configure BloxConnect, complete the following steps:

  1. Log in to Grid Manager as a superuser.
  2. Grid: On the Grid tab, select Grid Manager tab -> Members tab. Expand the Toolbar, and click Grid Properties -> Edit.
    Or
    Standalone system: On the System tab, select System Manager tab -> Node tab. Expand the Toolbar and then click System Properties -> Edit.
  3. In the editor, click Toggle Advanced Mode to switch to the advanced mode.
    Note that if the editor is already in the advanced mode, then you will see the Toggle Basic Mode button.
  4. On the CSP Config tab -> Advanced tab, complete one of the following:
    • To opt in for data collection, select the BloxConnect Data Collection and Opt-Out Notice checkbox.
      Or
    • To opt out of data collection, clear the BloxConnect Data Collection and Opt-Out Notice checkbox.
      Infoblox recommends that you enable BloxConnect as Infoblox uses the data collected to improve its technical support services. 
  5. Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.