DW Spectrum User Management
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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum® IPVMS
Last Edit: October 31, 2022
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Attention: This article is for Spectrum versions 5.1 and older. If you are using 6.0 or newer, refer to this article instead.
User Profiles and Roles
DW Spectrum Administrators can create User profiles with assigned roles to limit access to system settings or camera resources. By assigning user roles, users can be grouped to keep user access and permissions organized.
This article will outline user management and how to add a new local user or cloud user to a DW Spectrum Server.
Types of User Connections
When new user profiles are created, the Administrator can determine how the user will connect to the DW Spectrum System. Depending on how the system will be accessed, they can set the user as either a Local User or as a Cloud User.
- Local User – the user profile belongs to its server only and is fully managed by the system administrators. The Local User profile can only be remotely accessed when connecting through a LAN or using a remote IP or DDNS address.
- Cloud User – the user profile can access many servers, but respective system administrators will still manage user roles for each system. The Cloud User profile can remotely access any system that has added its DW Cloud account to the DW Spectrum Server without the need for port forwarding or DDNS management.
Default User Roles
DW Spectrum includes a set of predefined User Roles of with varying levels of system permissions that can be assigned to new users. These predefined User Roles include:
- Owner – the default super administrator (“admin”) user profile of the DW Spectrum System. This user profile cannot be deleted, can create subsequent Administrator user profiles, can merge Systems together, and can link DW Cloud accounts to Servers.
- Administrator – Administrator users have full control of system operation, except for being able to adjust Owner settings, create additional Administrator users, or to create/restore database backups.
- Advanced Viewer – this user role can see and run PTZ positions, use 2-way audio, create, and edit Bookmarks, and view the Event Log.
- Viewer – can view live video, export video, and can trigger screen recording.
- Live Viewer – can view live video in camera layouts assigned by a higher-tier user.
| Owner | Administrator | Advanced Viewer | Viewer | Live Viewer | |
| Cannot be deleted | • | ||||
| Connect/Disconnect a System from DW Cloud | • | ||||
| Create/Modify Administrator users | • | ||||
| Create/Modify Users, Share Layouts | • | • | |||
| Manage Servers | • | • | |||
| Add/Edit Video Walls | • | • | |||
| Adjust Device Settings | • | • | |||
| Access PTZ, 2-Way Audio, Event Log, etc. | • | • | • | ||
| Screen Recording | • | • | • | • | |
| View/Export Archive | • | • | • | • | |
| View/Export Bookmarks | • | • | • | • | |
| View Live Video | • | • | • | • | • |
Creating a New User Account
To create a new DW Spectrum user:
- In the DW Spectrum Client desktop software, open the Main Menu and select “User Management”.
- In the Users menu, click the New User button and select the User Type.
- Local User – the user profile belongs to its server only and is fully managed by the system administrators. The Local User profile can only be remotely accessed when connecting through a LAN or using a remote IP or DDNS address.
- Cloud User – the user profile can access many servers, but respective system administrators will still manage user roles for each system. The Cloud User profile can remotely access any system that has added its DW Cloud account to the DW Spectrum Server without the need for port forwarding or DDNS management.
**NOTE: To add Cloud User profiles to a DW Spectrum Server, the Owner user must first register the DW Spectrum Server using their Owner DW Cloud account. For information on how to link the Owner’s DW Cloud account to a DW Spectrum Server, you can use the article DW Cloud Account Setup.
**NOTE: If the new user does not have a DW Cloud account, they will receive an email invitation to create a DW Cloud account when the new Cloud User profile is created.
- Configure the following settings for the new user profile:
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- Login – [Local] create a username that will be used as the user’s login.
- Name – [Local] enter a name that can be used when searching the Users list.
- Email – [Local/Cloud] enter the user’s email address for the account. This will allow the user to receive email notifications from the system (as assigned by Administrators) and is used as the user’s login for Cloud Users.
- Password – [Local] create a user password that will be used as the user’s login. If creating a Cloud User, DW Spectrum will use the DW Cloud account connection to login.
- Confirm Password – [Local] re-enter the user password that will be used as the user’s login.
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- Select a user Role and determine the system and viewing permissions of the new user. To edit or create a custom User Role, click the Edit Roles button.
For more information on User Role permissions, refer to the “Default User Roles” section above. You may also refer to the article User Roles – Roles Management for additional help with creating a new Role.
- [Optional/Local] DW Spectrum uses HTTP Token Bearer Session Authentication for end-to-end cyber protection, an improvement over the previous “HTTP Digest Authentication” methods. However, if you are creating a Local User, you can revert the authentication type for the new user if it is needed.
To revert to using the previous Digest Authentication for the user. Click on the collapsible toggle at the bottom and click “Allow Digest Authentication”.
A red banner will appear to alert you about the change. Click “Force Secure Authentication” in the red banner to revert the user to use Digest Authentication.
- Click the OK button to save the new user profile. The user will appear in the Users list. If an Email address was included, an email invitation will be sent to the user.
To edit a user if changes are needed, select the user from the Users list and click the Edit button.
Administrators can track user activity on a DW Spectrum Server using the Audit Trail feature as needed.
Related Article: Adding Users from LDAP Server
