Remote Settings

Configuring Remote Settings

The remote settings page allows the administrator to configure web administration access, and remote Application Programming Interface (API) access to Cerberus FTP Server. Cerberus allows remote access to the server administrator using a web browser, or through the desktop Cerberus FTP Server Graphical User Interface (GUI) when logged into the server.

To activate remote access to the server administrator using a web browser, you must have a 'HTTP Admin' listener active, usually on port 8443, but any available port can be used. To add a new HTTPS Admin listener:

Cerberus exposes several APIs for controlling many aspects of the server using SOAP web services for software developers.

Remote Admin Settings (Administrator Accounts)

There is always a primary admin account, with full permissions to all server functions. The primary admin account is highlighted in green lettering in the administrator list.

The administrator can also control the server through web administration. The web administration feature has nearly the same capabilities as the desktop user interface. Most server functions can be controlled through web administration. We will be adding more features with every minor release until web administration mirrors the local graphical user interface.

Secondary Web Administration Accounts

You can add additional web administration users, and limit their access to different aspects of the server like user management, reporting, etc.

Secondary web administration users can be managed on the Remote Admin Settings page of the Remote tab.

Press the New button to create a new admin user.

The New Administrator button on the Remote page

The Cerberus Admin Account Dialog in the Server Manager

There are two types of administrators to choose from on the Administrator Type drop-down:

• Native Admin creates an admin account whose details and credentials are managed entirely within Cerberus FTP Server.
• Directory Admin type. This admin type allows you to extend Cerberus Administration rights to Active Directory users and groups. In order to add AD users as admins, you must first add an 'Administrators Users' domain in 'AD Users. See Web Administration Using Active Directory Accounts

Select the Administrator Type you want to create, then fill in the admin user's information in the New Cerberus Admin Account dialog that appears.

Directory Administrator Options

Selecting Directory Admin displays all the options you’ll need to grant Web Admin rights to directory-based users and groups:

• Source
  The domain of the user/group to receive Admin access. The pull-down lists contain only AD Admin Connections. All Admin Connections appear in the pull-down, but most deployments will need only one.

• Object Type
  Admin User grants access to a single domain user.
  Admin Group grants access to all members of the group. Nested groups (and their members) also inherit the assigned permissions.

• Distinguished Name
  The DN of the user or group, for example, “CN=DirAdmin,CN=Users,DC=mydomain,DC=com”
  It is best to copy and paste from an AD administration tool like Active Directory Users and Groups or PowerShell cmdlets Get-ADUser and Get-ADGroup

The remaining options are common to both Native Admins and Directory Admins, and control two-factor policy and fine-grained administrative rights:

• Allow 2 Factor, Require 2 Factor
  Allow or Require users and groups to set up two-factor authentication.

• Permissions
  Admin roles allowed to this user or group.

Admin access that can be granted to a user or group

Please note that secondary web administration users cannot access the SOAP API. Only the primary admin user can use the SOAP API at this time.

General SOAP Settings

The remote access settings control HTTP and HTTPS web administration and SOAP API access to Cerberus FTP Server.

When Cerberus is running as a Windows Service, the GUI connects to, and communicates with, the Cerberus Windows Service through a remote access API called SOAP. The Cerberus Windows Service listens for SOAP connections on the Port specified under the Remote Settings page. That port must be available for Cerberus to listen on, or the GUI will be unable to connect to the service.

SOAP TLS Settings

You can control what SSL protocols are supported, as well as what ciphers to allow for SOAP-based SSL connections.  Changes to these settings require a service restart. See 'Advanced TLS' in Security Settings for details