User is a part of multiple Groups in Server - Which role will take precedence?

[Thableaus]

Hi Community,

I have a question regarding the recent Group feature that was launched in Server.

If a user is part of multiple groups that are added to the Gallery, and those groups have different roles attached to them, how does Alteryx know which role to give that user? Assume his user role is set up as default.

Thanks,

[Harbinger]

@Thableaus Logic would suggest the lowest access (that is, the role with access to the fewest assets).

[KevinP · Accepted solution]

@Thableaus This is something that comes up quite frequently and isn't well understood by most users/admins. The roles are applied with consideration to granularity first and foremost. This means that if you assign a role at the user level other than Default (Evaluated) then that role will be applied to the user regardless of any group membership or system level roles. Likewise a role assigned at the group level will have precedence over the system default role.

If a user is set to 'Default' Server will then look at that users group membership and apply the group role. If the user is a member of multiple groups we apply the highest role granted by the groups the user is a part of. So for example if User A is in two groups that are assigned 'Member' and 'Curator' respectively the user will be granted the 'Curator' role. If the user isn't a member of any groups, or if all of the groups they are a part of are also set to a role of 'Default' then Server will apply the system level default role. 

This diagram my help you to understand the logic:

Tip: If you are struggling to identify which role a user has you can click on the user to bring up their details page. In it you will see a list of groups defined in Server that the user is a part of along with icons representing the role assigned to that group. This applies to both AD and Local groups. Groups set to default will not have an icon. 

Example screenshot:

[Thableaus]

Perfect explanation, @KevinP 

Thank you very much.

[Paul_Holden]

@KevinP 

Would it be possible to get the online documentation for server updated to include this information?

I was hoping it would have been added by now but I have had to go digging in the community discussion again to find the definitive answer which is a bit unfriendly.

https://help.alteryx.com/20214/server/user-roles-and-permissions

https://help.alteryx.com/20231/server/user-roles-and-permissions