Mapping a Directory to an Application

Mapping a directory to an application defines the user-base for an application. Directory mappings determine which user directories will be used when authenticating and authorizing a user's access request. Read more about users and groups.

When you defined an application, you chose a default directory for that application to use. Crowd also allows you to map multiple directories to each application. This allows each of your applications to view multiple user directories as a single repository.

To map a directory to an application:

1. Log in to the Crowd Administration Console.
2. In the top navigation bar, click Applications.
3. Click the application you wish to map.
4. Select the Directories & groups tab.

5. Select the new directory from the drop-down list and click Add.
   The new directory will be added to the bottom of the list of mapped directories. You can drag & drop the newly created row to move a directory higher or lower in the order. Why is directory order important?

   Want to speed up authentication?

   You can optimize the authentication process by selecting Optimize priority of cached directories. Once you select this option, Crowd will go through its cache for all the directories listed in this screen looking for information on the authenticating user. If there's no such information in Crowd's cache, Crowd will automatically lower the priority of such directory on the list.
   If a user was added recently, these directories might stay at the end of the list until Crowd's cache is updated.

6. In the Directories & groups tab, check Determine the users' group membership using all directories. Learn more.
7. Choose which users within the directory may authenticate against the application. Select one of the following:
   
   • Allow all users within the directory to authenticate against the application:
   1. 1. In the Actions column, click the meatballs icon and select Configure authentication.
      2. Enable the Allow all users from this directory to authenticate check box, and click Save.
         
         
   • Allow only specific groups of users within the directory to authenticate against the application, see Specifying which Groups can access an Application.
8. Click the Permissions tab and set the directory permissions for the application.
   Note that updates are handled differently, depending on the membership aggregation scheme you selected. See Directory update operations.

Screenshot: 'Application — Map Directories'

For each directory mapped to the application you can also define groups that users will be automatically assigned to, when they first log in to the application. See Automatically Assigning Users to Groups for more details.