Modifying Named Access Control Lists

When you modify a named access control list, the modified permissions are applied to either new and existing objects to which the named access control list is already attached or to new objects only, depending on your choice.

  1. Open M-Files Admin.
  2. In the left-side tree view, expand a connection to M-Files server.
  3. Expand Document Vaults.
  4. Expand a vault.
  5. Click Named Access Control Lists.
    Result:The list of named access control lists in the selected vault is opened in the right-side pane.
  6. In the Named Access Control Lists list, right-click the item that you want to edit and select Properties from the context menu.
    Result:The Named Access Control List Properties dialog is opened.
  7. Optional: On the General tab, click Add... if you wish to add a new user or user group to this named access control list.
    1. Select the user or user group that you want to add to the named access control list.
      Tip:

      The best practice to specify access rights in named access control lists is through user groups instead of individual users.

      Making changes to named access control lists in large vaults can be very slow and may therefore sometimes cause lock conflicts. Therefore, it is recommended that changes to named access control lists and, in turn, to object permissions are made during off-peak hours when user access to the vault is limited.

      Tip: You can select more than one item at once. Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple individual items or hold down the ⇧ Shift key to select adjacent items on the list.
    1. Optional: Select the User from metadata option if you want to add users based on metadata properties to the named access control list. Use the drop-down menu to select the desired property. For more information, see Pseudo-users.
    2. Click Add to add the users or user groups to the named access control list.
  8. Select the user or user group whose permissions you wish to adjust from the Users and user groups list.
  9. Depending on your choice, select either the Allow or Deny option for the desired operations.
  10. Click OK once you are done to close the Named Access Control List Properties dialog.
  11. Optional: If the selected named access control is already used in the permissions of one or more objects, the Confirm Update dialog is opened.
    • Click Change Objects' Permissions if you wish to apply your changes to the permissions of existing objects that use the selected named access control list in their permissions.
      Note: Object permissions are updated as an asynchronous background task. Object permissions may be updated when, for example, a named access control list, a user, a user group, or the value of a pseudo-user (such as a project manager) is modified. You may monitor the progress of the task in M-Files Admin in the Background Tasks section. For more information, see Monitoring Background Tasks.
      or
    • Click Preserve Objects' Permissions if you do not wish to apply your changes to the permissions of existing objects that use the selected named access control list in their permissions.
The changes you have made are to the named access control list are saved and applied, depending on your choice, to new and existing objects that employ the selected named access control list or to new objects only.