Types of user accounts: internal and external

When IBM® EMM is integrated with an external server (such as a supported LDAP server or a web access control system), it supports two types of user accounts: internal and external.

Internal - User accounts that are created within IBM® EMM using the security user interface. These users are authenticated through IBM® EMM.

External - User accounts that are imported into IBM® EMM through synchronization with an external server. This synchronization occurs only if IBM® EMM has been configured to integrate with the external server. These users are authenticated through the external server. Examples of external servers are LDAP and web access control servers.

Depending on your configuration, you might have only internal users, only external users, or a combination of both. If you integrate IBM® EMM with Windows™ Active Directory and enable Windows™ integrated login, you can have only external users.

For more information about integrating IBM® EMM with an LDAP or Windows™ Active Directory server, see the relevant sections in this guide.

Management of external users

Usually, the attributes of external user accounts are managed through the external system. Within IBM® EMM, you can control the following aspects of an external user account: data sources, notification preferences, locale preference for IBM® EMM applications, and membership in internal groups (but not external groups).

Identifying internal and external users in the IBM® EMM interface

In the Users section of IBM® EMM, internal and internal users have different icons, as follows.

Internal -

External -