Configuring variables for a zone

Predefined and custom variables enable you to generate user profiles and group profiles using Active Directory properties or properties defined on managed computers.

You can add custom runtime variables, or override the definition for predefined variables, in a zone by modifying the zone properties. Runtime variables are resolved by the agent when a computer joins a zone. The default user profile settings use predefined runtime variables in place of specific values for the GECOS, Home directory, and Shell attributes.

Zone variables and their definitions are inherited down the zone hierarchy, and can be overridden in a child zone or on individual computers. You can also use configuration parameters to control the value for any variables locally on particular computers. If a value is set in the configuration file, it overrides any values that you set for the zone.

Adding custom runtime variable

In most cases, you don’t need to add custom variables to a zone. However, if you have modified the Active Directory schema or want to use custom attributes in user or group profiles, you can add custom variables to the zone to accommodate your changes.

  1. Open Access Manager.
  2. Expand Zones and the individual parent or child zones, as required, to locate and select the zone name for which you want to display properties.
  3. Right-click, then click Properties.
  4. Click the Variables tab.
  5. Click Add.

  6. Type a variable name and a value, then click OK.

    For example, you might want to define a custom variable named gecos and set its value to a static string, such as Engineering-Nova Scotia-Q22, for a zone.

    Similarly, you might want to add custom variables for different operating systems you support, such as mac-home or aix-shell for a zone that includes computers with different operating systems. For example, if a zone includes Linux, AIX, and Mac OS X computers, you might have a default profile that uses the predefined variables, but a subset of accounts that use the mac-home or aix-shell custom variables.

  7. Click OK to save the properties.

Modifying predefined variable values

In most cases, you don’t need to override predefined variable values for a zone. However, if you have created different zones for different operating systems, you might find it useful to modify predefined variable values for those zones to address different operating system requirements.

  1. Open Access Manager.
  2. Expand Zones and the individual parent or child zones, as required, to locate and select the zone name for which you want to display properties.
  3. Right-click, then click Properties.
  4. Click the Variables tab.
  5. Click Add.

  6. Type the name of a predefined variable and a value, then click OK.

    For example, you might want to change the predefined variable named home and set its value to an appropriate home directory for the zone, such as /export/home for a zone where all of the computers are Solaris computers, or /Users for a zone with only Mac OS X computers. Similarly, you might want to change the predefined variable shell to set its value to /usr/bin/ksh for a zone with IBM AIX computers.

  7. Click OK to save the properties.

Editing or removing variables

After you have added custom variables or modified predefined variable values in a zone, you can later select those variables to edit or remove them.