Sharing objects with external users

You can securely share documents or folders that are stored in your Content Cortex repository with external users by using the IBM Content Navigator external share feature. When configured, your users can select documents or folders in Content Cortex and share the links with external users. The external users can then view and download the documents or folders that are shared with them.

When you share documents or folders with external users, you can specify whether they can view only or view and download the objects that you shared with them. You can also set an expiration date for the shared objects. When you share documents or folders, you can view a list of all the documents or folders that you shared.

You use an external LDAP directory server to authorize access to the shared content.

Note the following requirements and constraints for configuring external sharing:

• You must designate or create a separate, customer-managed LDAP directory realm for identifying the external users. The internal and external LDAP directory realms must be federated. The directory realms can be any of the types that are supported in a Content Cortex Platform environment. However, because of the need for two separate and distinct directory configurations, IBM Virtual Member Manager is not supported.
  • The LDAP short name for a user must be unique across all LDAP realms that are configured in your domain. For more information, see Directory service providers
  • Your dedicated external LDAP directory realm must include the mail attribute for users, including the email address of the user.
  • It is recommended that the LDAP directory realm include settings to map the User Display Name attribute to displayName.
• If you upgrade to V5.5.2 and want to use external share, you must also upgrade IBM Content Navigator to V3.0.5.
• WebSphere® Application Server V9.0 with JAX-RS 2.0 configured is required for external share. For more information about configuring JAX-RS 2.0, see Deploying JAX-RS 2.0 web applications
• Accessibility constraint – Users relying on keyboard navigation cannot use Shift + F10 to access the menu on Windows 10 systems. Users must go to the action button instead.
• The initial share enablement or upgrade to V5.5.2 with share reenablement must be configured by a Content Cortex domain administrator. After the initial enablement or upgrade reenablement, an IBM Content Navigator administrator with object store administration privileges can enable share on more repositories.
• For IBM Content Navigator, external share can be used on only one Content Cortex domain. However, multiple repositories in the domain can be enabled for share.
• A separate IBM Content Navigator external desktop is required for each repository that is enabled for use with the external share feature.
• For the IBM Content Navigator user interface, the “Classic” user interface style is not supported for the external desktop.
• In IBM Content Navigator V3.0.5, email templates are available in English. In IBM Content Navigator V3.0.6 and later, email templates are available in many languages.
• External share is not supported on object stores that have the IBM Connections add-ons installed.
• Users might encounter noticeable delays and possible timeouts if you share a folder that contains many objects. Consider sharing only folders that contain less than 1,000 objects.

To configure external sharing, complete the following tasks for the Content Process Engine component. You must also configure external sharing by using IBM Content Navigator.