4.1.0 HP PolyServe Matrix Server administration guide (T5392-96073, October 2010)

When the PolyServe Management Console is used, credentials are processed in this
order:
• If a .matrixrc file exists, the user credentials specified in the file for the selected
server are used.
• If there is not a .matrixrc file or the file does not include user credentials, the
credentials provided by single sign-on semantics are used.
• If single sign-on fails, the user is prompted for a user name and password.
Authentication considerations
You should be aware of the following recommendations and guidelines:
• HP recommends that single sign-on be used to authenticate users. When users
connect to the PolyServe Management Console, they can use the “As User” feature
to log in as another user if necessary. On the command line, the Windows runas
command can be used to become a administrative user before running the Poly-
Serve Management Console or matrix commands.
• By default, the machine local Administrators group has full cluster rights and can
perform all matrix operations. You can use the Role-Based Security feature to
create administrative roles that allow or deny other users and groups the ability
to perform specific matrix operations.
• If the Management Console or matrix commands will be run from a machine that
is not in the domain (or trusted domain), single sign-on cannot be used to authen-
ticate the users of that machine. Instead, you will need to create a .matrixrc
file containing the authentication information. You can use the PolyServe Manage-
ment Console bookmarks feature, described later, to do this.
• Including user names and passwords manually in the .matrixrc file can be a
security issue if the passwords are in clear text. Matrix Server provides a utility
(the mxgenpass command) that can be used to generate encrypted passwords.
When the PolyServe Management Console bookmarks feature is used to generate
the .matrixrc file, password are automatically encrypted, or can optionally
be omitted from the file.
Start the Management Console
To start the Management Console, select Start > All Programs > PolyServe Matrix
Server > PolyServe Management Console. The Matrix Server Connect window asks
for connection information and then starts the PolyServe Management Console or
opens the Configure Matrix window.
Cluster administration34