List accounts

Path to function: Accounts > List

The Accounts list shows user accounts managed through OpenAthens. If applicable, it also shows accounts that are populated from a local user directory. The list doesn't include accounts under sub-organisations.

Click on an account to view or modify the details of that user.

Options for sorting and selecting users are the same as when running a search. You can download or modify accounts in bulk using the Actions menu, which appears once you select one or more accounts by ticking their checkboxes.

List of personal accounts, displayed as a table with five columns. The columns are 'Username' (which links to details of the individual account), 'First names', 'Last name', 'Email address' and 'Status'. 'Status' shows either 'active' or 'not activated'. Above the table are buttons to view the next or previous page in the list.

Types of account

Accounts in the list appear under several tabs.

Personal

Personal accounts are individual user accounts managed in OpenAthens. You can create personal accounts individually or through bulk upload.

Access

An access account identifies a location from which people can access your resources without needing individual logins. This location is defined by IP address and might be a building or a specific computer terminal. By using access accounts, you can allow people who aren’t registered in OpenAthens, such as campus visitors or users in a public library, to read subscription content while on your premises. The login details for the account can be posted publicly near a computer. See Create - Access account and How to handle walk-in users.

Administrator

An administrator account is configured similarly to a personal account, but gives admin access to OpenAthens. Administrator accounts are intended for managing your resources, managing users, and performing other administrative tasks. See Create - Administrator account.

Deleted

This tab shows accounts that have been deleted either through the OpenAthens admin interface or through bulk upload. (Local accounts, which can be deleted only from the external user directory, are not shown here.)

Deleted accounts are purged automatically after 30 days. If required, you can recover deleted accounts. You can also permanently delete accounts before the 30-day period ends.

Local

Local accounts are populated through connections to external user directories such as ADFS or LDAP. You cannot create local accounts, delete them, or edit their core details through the admin interface. You can modify some of their data, such as access permissions.

If you have one or two local directory connections, there will be a tab or tabs labelled with their names. If you have more than two, there will be a single tab called Local. By clicking this tab, you can select the connection you want to view from a drop-down list.

Data of individual users is populated once they have signed in. If you see an entry without data, then either the user has not logged in since attributes were mapped for the connection, or the source did not provide that data. All mapped attributes can be selected for display whether or not they contain data.

List of local connector accounts. These accounts are displayed in a table with two columns, 'Account' and 'Status'. Above the table are buttons for viewing the next or previous page in the list.

If the mapped data is multi-valued - e.g. the memberOf field - then only one value can be displayed. All the values are cached, however, and can be used in things like permission set rules.

You can clear mapped data by checking the boxes next to accounts and selecting delete from the Actions menu. If and when a cleared user is seen again, their data will reappear. The display always represents the data for a user as of the last time they accessed OpenAthens. Changes in the local directory will be reflected when the user next logs in.

Depending on how you use this data, you might choose to regularly clear all of it, or you might choose to map an attribute such as expiry date from your local systems on to an OpenAthens attribute so you can be more selective. Either way, data will automatically be cleared after 365 days of not being seen. You can set a lower limit on the connection if you need to.

Use the Add mappings button when you want to limit access to only pre-mapped local accounts. At least one user must have logged in for this function to be available.

Suspended vs disabled

This applies only to local accounts:

Accounts are set as suspended by rules on local connections
Accounts are set as disabled by the button on the account details page. They can be re-enabled in the same way