Authentication

Can I password protect a collection?
Yes. This feature is not currently available through the Librarian Interface. Please close the collection if it is open in the Librarian Interface. Edit the GSDLHOME/collect/ /etc/collect.cfg file, and add the following lines:

authenticate collection auth_groups [ ...]

You may have to restart the Greenstone server for the changes to take effect.

The auth_groups line specifies the user group(s) which have access to the documents. To access a protected collection, a person must have a user name and password, and this user name must belong to one of the specified groups. See below for how to add new users and set their groups.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Greenstone 2.82 and earlier, use auth_group instead of auth_groups (both will still be recognised in later Greenstone versions).

Can I password protect just certain documents in a collection?
Yes. This feature is not currently available through the Librarian Interface. Please close the collection if it is open in the Librarian Interface. Edit the GSDLHOME/collect/ /etc/collect.cfg file, and add the following lines:

authenticate document auth_groups [ ...]

The auth_groups line specifies the user group(s) which have access to the documents. To access a protected collection, a person must have a user name and password, and this user name must belong to one of the specified groups. See below for how to add new users and set their groups.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Greenstone 2.82 and earlier, use auth_group instead of auth_groups (both will still be recognised in later Greenstone versions).

Then add either of the following two lines: private_documents [ ...] public_documents [ ...]

These two lines specify a list of document identifiers (ex.Identifier in the Enrich pane). Using private_documents, all specified documents will be password protected, while any others are freely accessible. Using public_documents, all specified documents will be freely available, with all others password protected.

Is there a demo collection that uses authentication?
Yes. Please see the Formatting and Authentication demo collection.

How do I create a new user?
You need to use the administration facility. You can access the administration page by clicking the Administration Page button on the home page of your Greenstone installation. If this is not present, enable it by setting status to enabled in the GSDLHOME/etc/main.cfg file.

From the administration page you can list users and add new users by clicking the links down the left hand side of the page. You will need to use the admin account that was set up when you installed Greenstone.

You can change the properties of an existing user by clicking the edit link from the list users page.

If you are adding users to access a protected collection, make sure you add the required group into the groups field.