User registration

You need to register users before they can install Notes® on their computers.

For each user, the registration process creates:

  • A Person document in the Domino® Directory.
  • A user ID that is stamped with appropriate certificates (does not apply to non-Notes users).
  • A mail file (optional).

Notes® offers different options for registering users. For example, using Basic user registration is fast and easy because it automatically assigns many default settings to users. If you use Advanced user registration, you can assign more advanced settings, such as adding a user to an Active Directory group. You can also register users by importing them from a text file or migrating them from a foreign directory.

If you use the Register Person dialog box to register users, you can sort, view, and modify user settings in the view of the User Registration Queue (USERREG.NSF) that appears in the dialog box. This database contains information on users pending registration. When you exit the Register Person dialog box, you can save all users pending registration and register them later.
Table 1. Options for modifying the User Registration Queue views

View

Description

All users

Shows all users who are ready to be registered.

My users (created with the current ID)

Shows all users created with the current Certifier ID that are ready to be registered. Any users that are ready for registration, but that were created using another Certifier ID do not appear in this view.

Users encrypted for me

Shows all users who information has been encrypted for security purposes.

Migrating users (added via DUS)

Shows users who are migrated into Notes® from an external mail system but who are not yet registered.

Users with registration errors

User registrations that failed.

Users already registered

Shows users that are already registered as well as those awaiting registration.

Before you register users, review your organization's hierarchical name scheme and decide where each user fits into that scheme. Based on the name scheme, you know which certifier ID to use to register users, which server to use as the registration server, and on which server to store the user's mail files. When you register users, you must have the appropriate access to each server that you use, and you must know the password for each certifier ID that you use. If you intend to implement policies in your organization, create policies and settings documents before you register users so that you can assign policies during registration.

Note: The registration user interface automatically removes leading spaces and trailing spaces from passwords. Passwords cannot begin or end with a space. This also applies to certifier registration and server registration.

User registration and the server-based certification authority

When registering users, you have the option of using the traditional certifier ID and password combination or using the Domino® server-based certification authority (CA). Prior to registering users, you need to understand the Domino® server-based CA, be familiar with the benefits of using the CA, and know how to use the Domino® server-based CA. An administrator can be designated as a Registration Authority (RA) for the server-based certification authority (CA). You can now assign to the administrator responsible for user registration, the role of RA. This allows one administrator to register users with certificates issued by the server-based certification authority.

Here is an example of how administrators at the Acme Corporation registered two users based on each user's place in the organization's hierarchy. The users work in different locations and departments.

Alan Jones works in the Sales department in Acme's East Coast division. To give Alan appropriate access within the system and to place him appropriately in the hierarchy, the administrator uses the Sales/East/Acme certifier ID to register him. Alan Jones' full hierarchical name then becomes Alan Jones/Sales/East/Acme.

The administrator specifies Mail-E, which is located on the East Coast Acme LAN, as Alan's mail server. Then Alan's mail server is on the same LAN as his workstation, so that when he receives and sends mail, he can connect directly to the server that stores his mail file.

Robin Rutherford works in the Accounting department in Acme's West Coast division. The administrator uses the Accounting/West/Acme certifier ID to register Robin. Mail-W is Robin's mail server, and her full hierarchical name is Robin Rutherford/Accounting/West/Acme.