Change Default Privileges for Gallery Users

[leonhast]

With Alteryx Server 2019.4, new users cannot create Collections by default. 

As Alteryx Server admin this causes much manual effort on my side, because I need to configure new users manually. 

Alteryx claims to be a tool for automatization and I do not see how this new feature fits into Alteryx's vision.

I wish that there were tools, which allow me to automatize the management of users on the Alteryx Server. 

With a growing number of users on the Alteryx Gallery, manual user management is not an option!

I wish there was a way to create custom roles on the Gallery and assign them to AD groups, similar to "Permissions".

Those custom roles could include the privilege to create Collections, schedule Jobs, etc.

I would also love, if there was a way to give granular access to the Data Connection menu to users. 

I have already addressed this topic to the Alteryx product manager in Q1 2019 and I hope this feature will be implemented in the future. 

[TanyaS]

@leonhast 

Thank you for posting this! We are currently working towards a much simpler user and asset management system in Server; however, as part of the process, we are having to complete things in an iterative manner. Adding this permission was a final piece of the Collections work that was done earlier this year.

It is planned to allow admins to create a default profile, as well as a long term goal to create custom roles with more granular permissions, including making data connection management accessible to more than just Curators (also, new naming).

[leonhast]

@TanyaS 
can you provide any information, when this feature is planned? 

I had a meeting with Ashley in Q1 2019 where this was promissed for 2019. 

[TanyaS]

@leonhast 

I'm sorry that your expectations were not met regarding this functionality. There have been a number of initiatives around the current Server product and in developing a next generation platform solution, so I'm not sure what you were promised. I can say that this is planned to be addressed by end of 2020, and I can update with a more specific timeline when I can ensure accuracy.
Thank you for your understanding. We're doing our best to provide all our customers the best experience possible.

Tanya

[leonhast]

Hello @TanyaS , 

thank you for the update. 

One entire year of manual user management is quite a lot of effort.
I really hope, that we get some features to automatize user management early.

Those default settings of 2019.4 are a K.O.-criteria for me. I wonder if there is anyone, who is happy with this setting.   

[TanyaS]

@leonhastWell, in terms of happiness, it depends on what the biggest hurdle is for the organization. Data governance is a significant issue for a number of our customers, and making sure that they feel comfortable with the security of their data is a major priority.

There are some changes coming in the 20.1 release that I'd be happy to discuss in a different thread that will start to address some of the overhead you experience with user management.

-Tanya

[nathanf4]

I would like a text box for user role. Then a list of check boxes for what that user role can do. Then I can create a custom group link it to an AD group and then have that be so much more automated.

[JohnPelletier]

Thanks for the feedback about custom roles. While we agree that this would be a nice thing to have, we have too many higher priority features to develop over the next 18 months. We can't accept this custom role idea. We can offer our new v3 admin APIs, however, which allow you to set the user permissions programmatically for any group of users. You can also do bulk changes in the UI for user permissions now. Hopefully that's enough to take the edge off this need for you.

[nathanf4]

That is a bummer @JohnPelletier The new APIs in v3 would not solve this issue in anyway. It isn't the ability to give permissions/roles automatically it is the ability to give individualized permissions to unique roles. Then it would obviously be key to give assign users the unique roles automatically via the API or via AD groups and custom groups.

[JohnPelletier]

If we are talking about individual user permissions, then in theory, you could create a script that defines the custom settings and use it to apply to any user or list of users. I agree it's not ideal but it could work.