Build Area Security and Ownership

When you setup a build area you must specify a Dimensions user ID and password to be able to connect to the area during a build. Dimensions Build does not use the credentials of the current logged in Dimensions user in case these are not available during a build, for example, when a scheduled build runs at night. You can also specify that the build area password is requested when a build is launched. If the user ID cannot be authenticated on a build area, no request is made for a password and the build does not start.

Each build area that you set up can have a different owner and be on a different machine. However, all the build areas used in a Dimensions project must be on the same network node, or accessible from their network nodes via NFS shares (on UNIX) or network drives (on Windows).

Build operations are performed in the security context of the user who owns the build area. For example, if your UNIT TEST build area is owned by Jim, items are written to that area in the security context of user Jim, regardless of which user name you used to log in to Dimensions. The builds also run as the build area owner, Jim. However the –lo parameter remains set to the Dimensions user name you used to log in, and enables you to view the Dimensions Build logs.

The user name submitted to Dimensions Build via the –lo log owner parameter is always the name of the user who logged into Dimensions.

NOTE

- When you create a build area you must ensure that the build area owner has permission to read and write to any files in the directory.

- If you do not specify a build area owner the build area is populated using the credentials of the current user. We recommend that you always specify a build area owner.

Build area user credentials are determined by Dimensions in the following order:

1. The credentials of the build area owner.

2. The user credentials specified with the last AUTH command for the remote node.

3. The current user is probably not valid operating system user credentials.

4. If none of the above credentials authenticate, you are prompted to enter credentials for the build area node.

Builds at the DEVELOPMENT stage in the current project root directory are submitted and performed in the security context of the user running the Dimensions client. If your project root directory contains a node name, normal Dimensions security applies; the client tries your Dimensions credentials and if authentication fails, prompts you for the correct user credentials.

For details about build security, see Build Security.