The Host Manager module is used to create and manage vanity URL host names and associate dashboards with them.

This module functions outside the realm of the normal permissions hierarchy. It can be viewed by any user with membership in Site Administrators or Security Administrators site-level roles with no regard to permissions assigned to the tab on which the module is placed. For more information on the roles referenced in this section please see the role based security topic. Administrative users can configure additional module settings by clicking the button.

This module presents a sortable data grid that allows you to view and maintain host names and associate.

Members of the Security Administrators role can only view the list of hosts and click them to navigate to the associated vanity URL whereas members of the Site Administrators role have considerably greater ability and perform all aspects of host management as detailed below.

pasPortal is configured to use wildcard DNS which makes any undefined host name in a DNS zone automatically resolve to the primary IP address of the pasPortal web servers. While the software will render a UI to all users regardless of host name the system will limit the dashboards that are exposed to only those that are associated with a valid pasPortal host entry. Administrative users simply need to add new host names and associate dashboards with those hosts to facilitate the creation of a vanity address. No network or DNS configuration is required. Creating host entries for DNS zones other than the primary zone is not recommended as it would require additional configuration by DNS administrators authoritative for the zone. Further, the certificate used by the system is configured to work only with the hosts in the pasportal.com domain.

One special entry is the LOCALHOST host entry. This special host name works only from the web application server farm and is used by administrative users to test access. All dashboards should be included in the LOCALHOST host entry. The LOCALHOST host entry is the only entry in the system that does not use a fully-qualified, multi-part DNS name.

Adding New Hosts

To add a new host members of the Site Administrators role click the button which will open the host editor and allow an administrative user to define the details of the new host.

Editing Existing Hosts

To edit an existing dashboard members of the Site Administrators role click the button which will open the dashboard editor and allow an administrative user to define the details of a new dashboard.

Host Attributes

The following attributes are exposed through the editor:

•Host Name: This is the complete DNS name of the host. It may not be blank and must be unique within the system.

•Default Dashboard: Choose the name of the dashboard that will be displayed by default to first time visitors to the host. Do not forget to check this as an available dashboard below.

•Home Realm: This is reserved for future usage of claims-based authentication is not currently enabled.

•Exposed Dashboards: Place a check before each dashboard that is to be available through the vanity host. Only checked dashboards will be visible and this includes the default dashboard.

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