BI> Mainly, I was aiming to re-use OTRS's default db client back-end configuration by just switching it in read-only mode and updating client info through a side channel.
:) yep. Sounds good to me. :)

BI> because we're using Active Directory and our licensing probably doesn't cover including a couple hundred customers in AD.
This is an interesting issue. You're not using file/print, you're just storing data. It appears either 1 device (OTRS server) or 1 user (ldap lookup user) CAL will be the actual "user" of the services to look up the information, regardless of how many results are returned.
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/client-access-license.aspx

On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 12:11 PM, Bogdan Iosif <bogdan.iosif@gmail.com> wrote:
If CustomerCompanySupport is enabled in Config.pm, fields that are filled will show. [this message will repeat].

Right again

Note that any CustomerUser backend is a query, not a sync. (No replication. Just Map). [...] You can, of course, use a different interface (php? phpmyadmin?) to modify the CustomerUser table but I'd rather sync to something that already can manage this away from OTRS. [...]

I think I get what you say and it's also what I've meant. I meant replication as performed by a process / tool independent of OTRS with the purpose of keeping data in customer_user, customer_company tables up to date as dictated by our CRM system. I wasn't assuming any replication capability being built-in OTRS, it would just query the customer data made available to it. Mainly, I was aiming to re-use OTRS's default db client back-end configuration by just switching it in read-only mode and updating client info through a side channel.

I want to avoid switching to a LDAP based customer back-end for as long as possible because we're using Active Directory and our licensing probably doesn't cover including a couple hundred customers in AD. The alternative would be something like OpenLDAP and I expect that to be a bumpy road because non-AD LDAP servers on Windows is not a common occurrence.

Thank You,
/bogdan



On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 6:07 PM, Gerald Young <crythias@gmail.com> wrote:
BI>the GUI doesn't show anything beside CustomerID about the customer's company, right?
If CustomerCompanySupport is enabled in Config.pm, fields that are filled will show. [this message will repeat].

BI> possibility of switching the default OTRS db customer back-end in read-only mode
That's already possible. Copy the default CustomerUser keys from Defaults.pm to Config.pm and set the ReadOnly flag. (Although it's always this. Not changeable) You can, of course, use a different interface (php? phpmyadmin?) to modify the CustomerUser table but I'd rather sync to something that already can manage this away from OTRS. 

BI>when coupled with a way to replicate tables customer_user, customer_company from our other systems.
Note that any CustomerUser backend is a query, not a sync. (No replication. Just Map).

Please look at Defaults.pm CustomerUser and read the comments in the information. You can choose to have the whole backend as readonly or only certain fields as readonly.

The CustomerUser Map determines what fields are shown. The comments tell you what fields are necessary. 
 # note: Login, Email and CustomerID needed!
 # var, frontend, storage, shown (1=always,2=lite), required, storage-type, http-link, readonly, http-link-target, link class(es)
var: The variable that is being referenced through the web interface
frontend: The label as presented.
storage: The field from the data source
shown: 1 for always, 2 for lite, 0 for don't show
required: 0=no, 1=yes. Don't use 1/Not relevant in read only.
storage-type: the examples give var (string) or int.
http-link: a URL that wraps this field
readonly: 0=no, 1=yes. whether the field can be changed in the web interface
http-link-target: for instance, "_blank" (see HTML documentation for targets)
link class(es): apparently, optional CSS class to apply to this link. Sometimes this can be used for psuedo classes and Javascript ..

BI> do not change customer_user.login and *.customer_id
Query, not sync. just make sure the information is valid in the backend.

BI>generating the password in Windows will probably be a bitch
No. CustomerUser is not authentication. It's data. 
Read this: http://forums.otterhub.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=16543


On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 10:31 AM, Bogdan Iosif <bogdan.iosif@gmail.com> wrote:
I have not encountered this to be true. If the field is filled, it will show.

You're right, thanks for the tip! I just never thought anything would show up beside first / last name / email.

Though, the GUI doesn't show anything beside CustomerID about the customer's company, right?

-=-

Putting your answer about db customer back-end together with http://doc.otrs.org/3.1/en/html/customer-user-backend.html seems to open the possibility of switching the default OTRS db customer back-end in read-only mode. For my needs, this would be ok when coupled with a way to replicate tables customer_user, customer_company from our other systems.

Possible gotchas:
  • do not change customer_user.login and *.customer_id
  • generating the password in Windows will probably be a bitch - I just found this possibly obsolete mention "The password is crypted like 'man 3 crypt' with crypt()" in this OTRS 1.3 manual version http://doc.otrs.org/1.3/en/html/problems-misc.html
Do you see any other gotchas with this simple idea?

/bogdan

On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 4:50 PM, Gerald Young <crythias@gmail.com> wrote:
BI> The information available in the "Customer Information" panel - as seen in ticket zoom view - is incomplete compared with the amount of info that is captured in the Customers / Companies module

I have not encountered this to be true. If the field is filled, it will show. If you've otherwise modified the information screen, or you're gathering from a source that doesn't have a good CustomerUser Map in Config.pm (Fields not mapped won't show). 


BI> if it would cause OTRS to automatically switch the customers / companies modules in true read-only mode (please reconfirm).
I don't confirm this. This is a static configuration in Config.pm

BI>  Is it possible to create, through configs, a simple DB customer backend that consists of a table stored in a MySQL db?
Possible to create a table through Configs? No
Possible to use an external db source as a CustomerUser backend? Yes. See the docs.http://doc.otrs.org/3.1/en/html/customer-user-backend.html



On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Bogdan Iosif <bogdan.iosif@gmail.com> wrote:
The information available in the "Customer Information" panel - as seen in ticket zoom view - is incomplete compared with the amount of info that is captured in the Customers / Companies module (accesible from the admin interface). For example, we'll most likely have to make some inventive use of the Comment field for Customers / Companies and so agents would need to be able to inspect those fields at any time. AFAIK this is only possible in OTRS's GUI through the Customers / Companies modules (please correct me if I'm wrong).

The option of using an alternative customers identity backend is an interesting one, especially if it would cause OTRS to automatically switch the customers / companies modules in true read-only mode (please reconfirm).

I'm shooting from the hip with this followup question but: Is it possible to create, through configs, a simple DB customer backend that consists of a table stored in a MySQL db? I could create that with relative ease and it would contain data replicated from one of our other systems.

Thanks again for the help,
/bogdan



On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Gerald Young <crythias@gmail.com> wrote:
The details for an individual customer can be found from the Customer link on creation of a new ticket (Options above body). As for customer company, not really ability to "look up" except in the context that, with CustomerCompanySupport enabled, the company information will indeed be linked to the customer, and show in the Customer Info section of a given ticket. 

Also, if the information is an LDAP source or otherwise marked as ReadOnly in Config.pm because the data entry is handled by the external data source frontend (ADUC, SalesForce, etc.), modifications to the customer and customer company information via the web interface won't be possible.

On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 7:20 AM, Bogdan Iosif <bogdan.iosif@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,

I think I found the answer to my question in an older mailing list entry: http://lists.otrs.org/pipermail/otrs/2012-March/037662.html

Hi Cyrille,

That’s a common misunderstanding in OTRS!

Group_ro only means that you only need “ro” permissions to access the module.

What you can do within the module is not limited or controled by this setting.

The module AdminUser doesn’t have a deeper permission concept.

If you can access the module you can administrate agents/users, nothing else - no further magic or hacks here.

...

Cheers, Nils

So unless anyone thinks the above answer is obsolete, I'll just assume that read-only access is not achievable at this time through configuration.

/bogdan


On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Bogdan Iosif <bogdan.iosif@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

I managed to give full access to Customers / Companies modules for regular agents by including them in a newly created group - AgentCcGroup - and then adding this group in the following "Group ro" sections from SysConfig -> Framework -> Frontend::Admin::ModuleRegistration

  • Frontend::Module###Admin
  • Frontend::Module###AdminCustomerUser
  • Frontend::Module###AdminCustomerCompany

Trouble is, the resulting access type is full - i.e. the agents can do any modifications to customer / companies details - and I need the access type to be "read-only". Also, I'm confused by what "Group ro" means as I expected it to mean "read-only" but practice showed me otherwise.

I was guided by this http://forums.otterhub.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=7561 solution to the same problem but it doesn't touch too much on the read-only part of my requirement, it just ~implies it should work.

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as "read-only" access to a module in the sense that the user can explore it's GUI but not make changes? (or even better, someone maybe solved this exact problem?)

Thanks,
Bogdan



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