Alteryx Gallery Series - The Lay of the Land 101: Gallery Admin Edition (2020.1+)

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This is Part 1 of the Alteryx Gallery Series -The Gallery Series only refers to the Alteryx Server where you can host your Private Alteryx Gallery. This Article will refer to 'Alteryx Gallery' as a privately hosted Gallery on the Alteryx Server. This series of articles is a revamp of the original Alteryx Gallery Series, updated with version 2020.1+.

Part 2: The Lay of the Land 101: User Edition (2020.1+)
Part 3: App Publishing & Version Control 101 (2020.1+)
Part 4: How to make the most of your Alteryx Gallery – Use Cases (2020.1+)
 

The Lay of the Land 101: Gallery Admin Edition (2020.1+)

The Gallery Admin is the Godfather of an Alteryx Gallery. The Admin is less involved with the workflow content of the site and more involved with management of users and their overall experience on the Gallery. This article will help the Gallery Admin navigate the Admin settings within the Private Alteryx Gallery. Each section of the Admin interface is outlined and described below.
 

Diagnostics

This section provides a dashboard with an overview of the content on the Server. Click Apps, Users, or Collections to be taken directly to the relevant section.

Configuration

Available in 2020.2+

The new Gallery Configuration page in the Admin interface consolidates Gallery-level settings in one place. There are 3 categories of Gallery-level settings: user settings, workflow settings, and Gallery settings.

User Settings
 

• Users Can Register: users can sign up by navigating to the log in page and selecting "Don't have an account? Create one now". This option is disabled for Galleries that use Windows Authentication.
• Unregistered Users Can Run Public Workflows on the Homepage: When enabled, the Unregistered Users Can Run Public Workflows on the Homepage setting allows workflows placed in the company Gallery to be run without signing in. This setting was previously Enable unregistered users to run Public Gallery workflows on the Workflows page of the Gallery Admin interface.

Workflow Settings

• Curators Can Flag Workflows for Promotion: Curators (Gallery admins) can indicate a workflow is ready to be promoted by selecting Yes for This workflow is ready to be migrated within a workflow.
• Workflow Credential Setting: determines the credentials required for running workflows in the Gallery. See Workflow Settings | Alteryx Help

Gallery Settings

• Users can schedule workflows: Allow users with the Schedule Jobs permission to create and edit schedules. This permission must be set along with the user-level Schedule Job permission for a user to schedule workflows. In previous versions, this was on the "Jobs" tab.

Subscriptions

• A Subscription is another name for a Studio. A Studio allows Alteryx Designer users to publish and share workflows privately within their organization.
• Each user that creates a Gallery account is automatically given their own Subscription. By default, there is only 1 user per subscription.
• Subscription Naming is now derived from the user's First/Last Name.
• Once a subscription has been created, it can be deactivated but not deleted. Gallery Admins are the only ones with permissions to create subscriptions.

Creating Private Studios

In a coming release, to streamline your asset management, subscriptions (studios) are going away. With this change, Server will associate assets with users rather than a given subscription (studio). It is not recommended that you create shared subscriptions, however in 2020.x versions this functionality is still available.

• To create a studio (subscription) click on ‘subscription tab’ and click on ‘Add New Subscription’. You will now have the ability to create a studio (subscription).

This will be the subscription screen below:

• Gallery Admin can create studios as well as manage the users assigned to them.
• There are limited options when creating a Subscription or Studio:
  • Private Studio Name: The name for the studio, which displays at the top of the page when the user clicks “Private Studio” on the left menu of the Gallery page.
  • API Enabled: Access to the Private Server Gallery API is disabled by default. The Gallery API supports the ability to authenticate, list apps, run apps, and retrieve app results using an API Key and Secret which are accessible via Gallery Settings.
  • Shared Schedules Enabled: Yes allows users to view and edit the schedules and job results for workflows published by all users in the subscription.
  • Default Workflow Credentials: You can set a default credential at the Studio level here.

Users

Here you can search users, add users, and manage their Role (permissions) on the Gallery. The Users page displays a user grid of your current users. The information and options available in the user grid vary based on the Gallery's authentication method.

• Users can only be part of one Studio at a time.
• To create a new user, please refer to the Help Documentation: Create a New User | Alteryx Help
• Once a user has been created, it can be deactivated but not deleted.

Permission levels
 

Curator	Curators (Gallery Admins) can access the Admin interface to perform administrative tasks. Curators also have all the privileges of an Artisan.
Artisan	Artisans can publish, run, and share workflows in their private studio and shared Collections.
Member	Members can run workflows that are shared with them via collections.
Viewer	Viewers can run public workflows on the homepage and in districts.
No Access	Blocks access to all Gallery assets. The No Access role is typically used in Galleries using either Integrated Windows Authentication or SAML Authentication to control initial access to the Gallery when new users sign up.
Default	Assumes the default user role. Visit Set a Default User Role on the Gallery Configuration page for more info.

• User permissions are managed in the user's profile as well as in their assigned studio.
• A default permission level (No Access, Viewer, Artisan, Curator) can be set for any new or existing user who joins the Gallery via the Configuration tab (2020.2+) or from this page in 2020.1.
  • Admin Tip: Set the default permission to No Access or Viewer if Content Security is of chief concern. This will require users to be invited to run workflows on the Gallery.

Adding users to a Studio (Subscription)

• You need to take the subscription key from the ‘subscription’ section (above screenshot) and add this into the studio key within the User profile below.

• When a user now publishes from their Alteryx Designer to the Alteryx Gallery, they will see the studio name they are associated with. This is linked by the same subscription and studio key.

 

Workflows

• Gallery Admins can add workflows, apps, and macros to the Gallery and manage their icon, description, Run Mode settings, and exemptions.
• Admins can also create “Tags” and associate them to workflows so searches within the Gallery return better results.
• Run Mode: Determines the level that workflows are permitted to run in the Gallery. Workflows that contain certain tools or access may need to be blocked. The default Run Mode is selected when the server is configured.
  • Unrestricted: Any workflow can be run.
  • Semi-Safe: Workflows using Run Command, Download, Email, “R”, or Events will be blocked.
  • Safe: Workflows using above tools or accessing/storing data on non-local drives will be blocked.
• Requires Private Data: Indicates if the workflow requires licensed data to run.
• Private Data Exemption: An exemption can be given to a workflow with private data so that it can be run.
• Place in My Company's Gallery: Select Yes, to share the workflow in your company's Gallery, or No, to remove the workflow from your company's Gallery. Removing the workflow from your company's Gallery does not remove the workflow from the user's studio.
• Ready for Migration Setting: This option is only available when the Curators Can Flag Workflows for Promotion setting is enabled on the Configuration page.

Collections

• Admins can view all Collections created on the Gallery.
• Admins can click into any Collection and add/remove Users and assign user permissions in the Collection.
• Admins can also change the Owner of a Collection, if needed.

Districts

• Gallery Admins can create new districts and modify the district name, description, and icon image. Once the District has been created, it will be displayed below the “Home Page” menu option on the Gallery.
• Districts are perfect for arranging groups of related workflows in the public section of the Gallery homepage.

Data Connections

• This tab will give you the option to pre-define database connections that can be sent down to Designer users.
• This will help when managing access and Alias creation on both Designer & Server.
• DSN-less connections will run straight away. DSN connections will need to be set up on the client machine and server machine, and all worker nodes.

 

Workflow Credentials

• Set workflow credentials which are used when running a workflow from the server. These will also appear in the designer when uploading/scheduling a workflow, if the Credential is made available to the user, or if the option "User Default Credentials" is set. See below.

Credential Settings for workflows

• Displays the current credentials setting. The default option is Use default credentials. To change the setting, click Change and select an option.
• In 2020.1, you can select the default Credentials setting on this page.
• In 2020.2+, this option is on the Configuration page.
• Options:
  • Use default credentials: Runs all workflows using the default Run As account, which defaults to the Local System account. The Run As account may be defined on any of the following process levels, listed in order of precedence:
    • Per studio subscription via Default Credentials
    • Per Server Worker node by adding a Run As account via Alteryx Server System Settings
    • Per Server via modification to Alteryx Service with the Windows Services Console
  • Require user credentials: Prompts users to enter their credentials when they run the workflow.

• Allow users to select credentials options: Allows users to select credentials requirements when saving a workflow in Designer to a private Gallery.
  • The best practice would be to ask users for their credentials so they can only access the data they have privileges for within your internal IT environment.
  • The interface will look like the screenshot below. When uploading an App from your Alteryx Designer (File>>Save as>>>My Company's Gallery) you can click on 'Workflow Options' & 'Set Workflow Credentials'.

• This will give the user three options:

• User is not required to specify credentials: The application/workflow will run as the default Alteryx Server user account (Run As settings in system settings on server config).
• User must specify their own credentials
• Always run this workflow with these credentials: The user can enter the credentials at this point, however preset credentials can be added within the Alteryx Gallery Admin section ("Workflow Credentials").

Jobs (Schedules)

• The Jobs page lists all scheduled and manually-run workflows that are actively processing or queued; these are referred to as jobs. Schedules are workflow runs that are planned by Gallery users.
• To enable Jobs:
  • In 2020.1, on the Job page, set Enable user to schedule workflows to Yes

• In 2020.2+, on the Configuration page toggle Users Can Schedule Workflows.

• Next, each user must have permission to schedule workflows. Set this on the Users page.

 

Media

• Banner Ads can be added to be displayed below the search bar on the Home page. Uploaded Files can be added to the site to which Gallery Users can access via Links.
• See the Help Documentation for details: Media | Alteryx Help

Theme

• You have the ability to change the Gallery Name, Logo and Color Scheme within the web Browser.
• See the Help Documentation for details: Theme | Alteryx Help

Pages/Links

• Create new pages to add to your private Gallery. Pages are HTML friendly and include an editor toolbar to format text and include other common elements like hyperlinks, images, and tables. See Pages | Alteryx Help
• Links allow you to link to Gallery Pages or external webpages. See Links | Alteryx Help

Notifications

• Server admins can set up email notifications for various events, for example, Gallery account registration, password changes, or workflow sharing. The SMTP server information is entered when the server is configured. Gallery Admins can manage the types of notifications and the message text.
• Admin Tip: Disable notifications so your users don't get spammed by the Gallery.
• Only users who have logged into the Gallery at least once receive email notifications.