Configuring anonymous access to documents

You can configure FileNet Collaboration Services to allow anonymous access, which is an optional feature that allows users to browse and download public content without having to log in first. Public content is content in the enterprise content management system that is available to all users.

About this task

Anonymous access is disabled by default. Enabling it has important security implications since users can access community documents without authenticating. It should only be used if it is necessary to provide unauthenticated access to public content. Content Platform Engine does not support anonymous access since all access to Content Platform Engine content must be authenticated. To support anonymous access, FileNet Collaboration Services allows the administrator to designate a particular directory user as the anonymous user. Once configured, FileNet Collaboration Services self-authenticates to Content Platform Engine as the designated user.

Important: You must choose and configure the anonymous user with care. For example, you should restrict the anonymous user's access rights so that the user is allowed access to only designated content.

FileNet Collaboration Services does not allow unauthenticated users to create, modify or delete content, regardless of the anonymous user's access rights.

Procedure

In the WebSphere® Application Server administrative console on which FileNet Collaboration Services is installed, go to Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications.
Click the deployed FileNet Collaboration Services application.
By default, the application is named navigator.
In the Detail Properties section, click User RunAs roles.
Enter a username and password, and check the checkbox for the Anonymous role. Click Apply.

Configure the deployed web application for anonymous access:

Method Details

Manually edit the site preferences parameters file

Method	Details
Manually edit the site preferences parameters file	Add the anonymousAccessEnabled parameter to the fncs-siteprefs.properties file. Set the parameter to `true` and save the file. For more information see Configure the site preferences.
Use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool	Important: You can use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool to complete this task only if you are entitled to use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool. Edit the repository configuration to set the Allow anonymous access to public content parameter to Yes. You must enable this option on the repository that is configured to store your IBM Connections libraries. For more information, see Configuring a repository to store IBM Connections libraries.

Add the anonymousAccessEnabled parameter to the fncs-siteprefs.properties file. Set the parameter to true and save the file.

For more information see Configure the site preferences.

Use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool

Important: You can use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool to complete this task only if you are entitled to use the IBM Content Navigator administration tool.

Edit the repository configuration to set the Allow anonymous access to public content parameter to Yes.

You must enable this option on the repository that is configured to store your IBM Connections libraries. For more information, see Configuring a repository to store IBM Connections libraries.

Open Administration Console for Content Platform Engine, right-click the object store and select search. Select Collaboration Configuration in the Select From Table drop-down menu and click OK.
A single object is displayed.
Right-click on the object and click Properties.
On the Properties tab, click the Property Value cell for Download Count Anonymous, which displays a drop-down menu. Select Edit list, and enter the user name you provided for the User RunAs role in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
Click OK.