Safe Share Administrator's Guide
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Configuring Safe Share Administration properties

The Configuration page allows Safe Share administrators to modify a restricted set of properties on their Covata Platform instance, which are used to tweak specific functional aspects and the behavior of their Covata Platform instance.

Note: Other properties in configuration files can be modified by systems administrator/s responsible for setting up on-site deployments of the Covata Platform.

Configuration/Properties page

Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value

To modify a Safe Share Administration property value:

  1. Sign in to Safe Share Administration.
  2. Click the Configuration option on the left of the Safe Share Administration interface to open the Configuration page.
  3. Click the Edit link to the right of the relevant Safe Share Administration property.
  4. In the Edit Configuration dialog box, update the Property value field as required.
  5. Click Save and the value of the Safe Share Administration property is modified with immediate effect.
    Notes:
    • For properties whose value consists of a simple true or false, the Edit Configuration dialog box has a Property Value check box, which should be selected for true or cleared for false.
    • It is not possible to modify the names of Safe Share Administration properties, since these are fixed.

Safe Share Administration properties

The following Safe Share Administration properties are available in the following categories.

User authentication properties

The User Authentication properties section allows the configuration of factors that affect how users sign in to Safe Share.

See Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Minimum password length The minimum number of characters required for a Local user's password. This property has no affect on LDAP user's password since the authentication of LDAP users is delegated to their respective LDAP server.
Temporary password expiry time in hours

When a new Local Covata user account is created, the user receives an email notification containing a temporary password (generated by the Covata Platform), which the user requires to set their own password for their user account. Hence, the value of this property defines the validity of this temporary password.

Note: If this temporary password expires, the user can still set their password through the Covata Sign-in page by clicking either the Don't have a password? or Forgot your password button and following the instructions in the resulting email notification sent to their email address.

Maximum number of password retries The maximum number of incorrect sign-in attempts permitted by a Covata user mistyping their password before the user account becomes locked. The user will need to do one of the following to unlock their account:
  • Follow the instructions in the email notification which is sent to the user after their account is locked. The email notification contains a link to unlock the user's account. The validity of this link is equivalent to the Account lockout time in minutes (below).
  • Wait until their account is unlocked; the duration of this period is defined by the Account lockout time in minutes (below).
  • Reset their password by clicking either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password on the Covata Sign-in page.
Account lockout time in minutes

The amount of time that a Covata user needs to wait before their user account (which was locked as a result of the user mistyping their password beyond the Maximum number of password retries above, during sign-in) is automatically unlocked by the Covata Platform. This amount of time also defines the period for which the link to unlock a user's account (contained in the email notification sent to the user) is valid.

Important: Ensure this value is positive and do not set it to 0 (zero). Setting this value to 0 locks a user account indefinitely (as a result of the user mistyping their password beyond the Maximum number of password retries above) and as a Safe Share administrator, increases the risk of you locking yourself out of Safe Share Administration if you mistype your password. If this value was 0 following a Covata Platform upgrade, then change it to a positive value.

Maximum number of email my password retries The maximum number of times that a Covata user can click either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password, be sent an email notification containing either a one-time access link/password or password reset instructions and fail to successfully sign in, before their account is locked.
Notes:
  • Ensure that this value is positive and do not set it to 0 (zero). Doing so increases your risk (as a Safe Share administrator) of locking yourself out of Safe Share Administration in the event that you mistype your password.
  • Although a Covata user may click either Don't have a password? or Forgot your password successively, an email notification from this action is only sent out at a rate of once every five minutes. This default value is defined by a property that can be modified by system administrators responsible for setting up on-site deployments of the Covata Platform.
Number of character type categories that must appear in a password There are four categories of character types that can be used in a password:
  • Lower case letters
  • Uppercase letters
  • Numerals
  • Special characters
The value of this property determines how many of these four character type categories must be present in a password (whenever it is set) for this password to be valid. For instance:
  • Specifying 1 means that the characters in a password only need to derive from one of the categories above.
  • Specifying 2 means that the characters in a password must derive from at least two of these categories, etc.
Two-factor authentication configuration link expiry time in days When two-factor authentication (2FA) has been enabled on a Covata user account (by the user themselves through Safe Share for Web, Organization Administration or Safe Share Administration, by a Safe Share administrator on any Safe Share administrator's account, or by an Organization administrator for all members of their organization) the user receives an email notification informing them about this. This email notification contains a time-limited configuration link, which leads to step-by-step instructions for the user to:
  1. configure their mobile device with an appropriate authenticator application (aka authenticator app), as well as
  2. configure the authenticator app with the Covata user account (thereby allowing the app to generate appropriate authentication codes).
Hence, the value of this property defines the validity of this configuration link.
Allow organization users to enable Two-factor Authentication Prevents any Covata user from being able to set 2FA on their account (see the 'My Account' feature of the Safe Share for Web User's Guide for more information). This also prevents the ability for Organization administrators to set 2FA for all members of their organization through Organization Administration, as well as Safe Share administrators to set 2FA on any Safe Share administrator's account through Safe Share Administration.

Analytics properties

The Analytics properties section allows the configuration of Google Analytics properties, which collect data on visitor traffic through Safe Share for Web, Organization Administration and Safe Share Administration.

See Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
The tracking code used for Google Analytics

The tracking code given to you when you sign up for Google Analytics.

Note: For Google Analytics to work with your Covata Platform instance, this value must be used in conjunction with The tracking domain used for Google Analytics (below).

The tracking domain used for Google Analytics

The domain of your Covata Platform's web server.

Note: For Google Analytics to work with your Covata Platform instance, this value must be used in conjunction with The tracking code used for Google Analytics (above).

Application links properties

The Application Links properties section allows the configuration (i.e. exposure) of links to Safe Share client applications, which are better designed for the platform on which the user is currently accessing Safe Share.

See Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Show smart banner on iOS devices linking to the native iOS client Sets a 'flag' on the Covata Platform which results in a smart banner appearing at the top of Safe Share for Web pages whenever it is accessed through Safari on iOS devices. This encourages users of iOS devices who have clicked a direct URL to an item from 'New items have been shared with you' email notification (which opens the item in Safe Share for Web) to access the item in Safe Share for iOS instead (by clicking the link in the smart banner).

User limits properties

The User Limits properties section allows the configuration of limits applied to Covata user accounts.

Maximum number of contacts allowed per user The maximum number of contacts that any given Covata user can add to their account through Safe Share for Web, as well as Safe Share for Windows or iOS.

File limits properties

The File Limits properties section allows the configuration of limits associated with files managed by Safe Share.

Maximum number of collaborators per file/folder

The maximum number of collaborators which are permitted on an item through the Safe Share for Web, as well as Safe Share for Windows or iOS.

Note: Be aware that this limit includes collaborators on an item which have been implicitly inherited from folders (containing this item) to which collaborators have been explicitly added.

Notifications properties

The Notifications properties section allows the configuration of the types and behavior of email notifications sent by the Covata Platform.

See Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Property Detailed description
Item shared notification frequency in minutes

The time interval defining the frequency with which email notifications for shared items (i.e. 'New items have been shared with you') are sent by the Covata Platform.

Note: If any given Covata user has multiple items shared with them during one of these time intervals, the user will receive a single email notification (at the end of the interval) listing all the items that were shared with them since the previous interval/notification they received.

User adoption notification reminder frequency in days

The number of days between each of a series of user adoption email notifications being sent out to new Covata users with the Originator role. See the User adoption notification reminder enabled property's description (below) for more information about these types of email notifications.

Notes: For this Safe Share Administration property to take effect, the User adoption notification reminder enabled property (below) must be set to true.

User adoption notification reminder enabled Determines whether (i.e. true) or not (i.e. false) the Covata Platform sends a series of user adoption email notifications to new Covata users with the Originator role. Each of these email notifications contain tips and information to encourage these new Covata users to use Safe Share applications (for example, how to share data using these applications).
Notes:
  • There are a series of four user adoption email notifications which are sent out at a frequency defined by the User adoption notification reminder frequency in days property (above). The user adoption email notification period is defined as the number of different user adoption email notifications (four) multiplied by the User adoption notification reminder frequency in days property value (15 days by default), which is a default of 60 days.
  • User adoption email notifications are only sent out to new Covata user accounts from the time their account is first created (either through Safe Share Administration or Organization administration). If a Covata user with an existing account is added to a new/different organization (even with the Originator role), they do not receive any user adoption email notifications.
  • If an existing Covata user is granted the Originator role for the first time (within any organization), they do not receive any user adoption email notifications unless their user account was granted the Originator role within the user adoption email notification period of their account's creation date. If so, such a user would receive user adoption email notifications for the trailing part of this period.
Registered user summary enabled Determines whether (i.e. true) or not (i.e. false) the Covata Platform sends a 'snapshot' summary of users (on the 1st of each month) to the email addresses specified in the Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated) property below. This summary is useful for billing purposes and consists of the following information for each organization on the Covata Platform:
  • The total number of Covata user accounts (in the organization).
  • The total number of Covata user accounts with the Originator, Collaborator and Ad hoc roles.
  • The 'total quota', which is the amount of storage currently allocated to users with the Originator role in the organization (i.e. the sum of all these users' quotas, based on the users' plans).
  • The total 'used quota', which is the total amount of storage currently utilized by Covata users in the organization.
Notes:
  • For this Safe Share Administration property to take effect, the Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated) property (below) must contain at least one email address.
  • By default, this user summary is configured to be sent on the 1st of each month. The frequency with which this email is sent can be changed through a configuration file property (by the systems administrator/s who set up your on-site deployment of the Covata Platform instance).
Registered user summary email addresses (comma separated)

One or more email addresses to which the user summary (activated through the Registered user summary enabled property above) is sent by the Covata Platform. Separate multiple email addresses using a comma only.

Notes:

  • For this Safe Share Administration property to take effect, the Registered user summary enabled property (above) must be set to true.
  • Any email address specified in this property does not need to correspond to a registered Covata user account on the Covata Platform.

System details properties

The System Details section allows the configuration of text and URLs, which are used to customize:

  • the application and company names + support and help URLs for:
    • Safe Share for Web (+ Safe Share Administration and Organization Administration) and
    • Covata Notification email messages,
    as well as,
  • the copyright notice appearing at the base of Covata Notification email messages

See Modifying a Safe Share Administration property value above for instructions on how to modify these properties' values.

Notes:

  • Please be aware that any modifications to any of these properties apply to all organizations configured on the Covata Platform.
  • For more information about customizing the appearance of Safe Share, refer to Theming Safe Share's web-based interfaces in the Appendix of this guide.
Property Detailed description
Admin Email An email address, typically for an Organization administrator, which is used as the 'fallback' contact email address for an organization whose Organization Admin Email property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this email address would be used by such an organization:
  • in Covata Notification email messages and
  • for the Need help? ... link on the Authentication code entry page for two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever a Covata user with 2FA enabled on their account signs in through the Covata Sign-in page.
If a Covata user cannot successfully sign in (typically due to the user losing the ability to generate authentication codes for their 2nd authentication factor), the user can click this Need help? ... link to begin emailing their Organization administrator a request to re-configure 2FA for their user account.
See Administering users within an organization in the Safe Share Organization Administration section of this guide for more information.
Notes:
Safe Share Administration Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for Safe Share Administration, which is accessible from the Help option/link available from the email address drop-down menu at the top-right of Safe Share Administration (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Safe Share Administrator's Guide (i.e. this guide) on the Covata documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the Safe Share Administration interface.
Android Phone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator app for Android-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Covata user to configure a mobile device for 2FA once 2FA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Google Authenticator application for Android devices page on the Google play web site.

Application Name

The application name which appears to the right of the header logo of Safe Share for Web as well as throughout Covata Notification email messages.

Note: The default value of this property is 'Safe Share'.

Company Name

The company/organization name, which is used as the 'fallback' company name for an organization whose Company Name property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this company name value would appear throughout this organization's Covata Notification email messages.
This company name value would also appear in Covata Notification email messages sent out as a result of activities conducted through Safe Share Administration.

Note: The default value of this property is 'Covata'.

Email Notification Copyright Notice

The copyright notice which appears at the base of Covata Notification email messages.

Note: The default value of this property is '<year> Covata.'.

iPhone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator application (app) for iOS-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Covata user to configure a mobile device for 2FA once 2FA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Google Authenticator application for iOS page on the iTunes web site.

Legal URL

The URL of the company's/organization's legal page, which is used as the 'fallback' legal URL for an organization whose Legal URL property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organization's Legal link in the footer of Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration.
This URL is also accessible from the Legal link in the footer of Safe Share Administration.

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Covata End User License Agreement.
  • Clearing this value hides this Legal link in the footer of Safe Share Administration, as well as from the Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration interfaces (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organization Administration.
Organization Administration Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for Safe Share Organization Administration, which is used as the 'fallback' help URL for an organization whose Organization Administration Help URL property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL is accessible from the organization's Help option/link available from the email address drop-down menu at the top-right of Organization Administration (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Organization Administrator's Guide on the Covata documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the Organization Administration interface (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is not defined through Organization Administration.
The URL of the privacy statement

An additional (custom) URL for the company's/organization's privacy statement page, which is used as the 'fallback' privacy statement URL for an organization whose URL of the privacy statement property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organization's Privacy:

  • link in the footer of Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration,
  • options in the taskbar notification area pop-up menu and application pane of Safe Share for Windows and
  • link in the sign-in dialog box and Help > Privacy option from the Safe Share menu bar of Safe Share for OS X.

This URL is also accessible from the Privacy link in the footer of Safe Share Administration.

Note: The default value of this property is empty, which results in this Privacy link in the footer of Safe Share Administration not being available, including the Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration interfaces (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is also not defined/empty in Organization Administration.

Support URL

The URL of the company's/organization's support page, which is used as the 'fallback' support URL for an organization whose Support URL property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details).
In such circumstances, this URL would be accessible from the organization's Support link in the footer of Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration as well as from Covata Notification email messages.
This URL is also accessible from the Support link in the footer of Safe Share Administration.

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Support page on the Covata web site.
  • Clearing this value hides this Support link in the footer of Safe Share Administration, as well as from the Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration interfaces (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organization Administration.
Version URL

An additional (custom) URL, which is accessible from the product version number link in the footer of Safe Share for Web, Safe Share Administration and Organization Administration.

Note:

  • The default value of this property is the Covata Product Release Notes page on the Covata Support web site.
  • Clearing this value removes this link from the product version number in the footer of Safe Share Administration, as well as from the Safe Share for Web and Organization Administration interfaces (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organization Administration.
Web Application Help URL

The URL of the help documentation for the Covata Safe Share for Web application, which is used as the 'fallback' help URL for an organization whose Web Application Help URL property is not defined through Safe Share Organization Administration - see Configuring Safe Share Organization Administration properties for details.
In such circumstances, this URL is accessible from the organization's Help option/link available from the user's email address drop-down menu at the top-right of Safe Share for Web (and from the footer).

Notes:

  • The default value of this property is the Safe Share for Web User's Guide on the Covata documentation web site.
  • Clearing this value hides these Help options/links from the Safe Share for Web and My Account interfaces (for a given organization) in scenarios where this property is not defined/empty in Organization Administration.
Windows Phone Authenticator URL

The URL of the authenticator app for Windows mobile-based devices, which is accessible from the Install link in Step 1 of the instructions for a Covata user to configure a mobile device for 2FA once 2FA has been enabled or re-configured on this user's account * .

Note: The default value of this property is the Authenticator application for Windows mobile devices page on the Microsoft web site.

* Two-factor authentication can be: