Administrator Pages

Last Updated: May 2023

Tethys Portal includes administration pages that can be used to manage the website (see Figure 1). The administration dashboard is only available to administrator users (staff users). You should have created a default administrator user when you installed Tethys Platform. If you are logged in as an administrator, you will be able to access the administrator dashboard by selecting the "Site Admin" option from the user drop down menu in the top right-hand corner of the page (when you are not in an app).

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Figure 1. Administrator dashboard for Tethys Portal.

Note

If you did not create an administrator user during installation, run the following command in the terminal:

tethys manage createsuperuser

Auth Token

Important

This feature requires the djangorestframework library to be installed. Starting with Tethys 5.0 or if you are using micro-tethys-platform, you will need to install djangorestframework using conda or pip as follows:

# conda: conda-forge channel strongly recommended
conda install -c conda-forge djangorestframework

# pip
pip install djangorestframework

Tethys REST API tokens for individual users can be managed using the Tokens link under the AUTH TOKEN heading (see Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Auth Token management page for Tethys Portal.

Authentication and Authorization

Permissions and users can be managed from the administrator dashboard using Users link under the AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORIZATION heading. Figure 3 shows an example of the user management page for a user named John.

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Figure 3. User management for Tethys Portal.

Assign App Permission Groups

There are two ways to assign an app permission group to a user. The first way is to use the Users dialog on the Change Group page:

  1. Go to the administrator dashboard and select the Groups link under the Authentication and Authorization heading.

  2. Select the group and locate the Users dialog of the Change Group page.

  3. All users will appear in the Available Users list box. Adding a user to the permissions group is done by moving the desired user(s) to the Chosen Users list box.

The second way is to use the Groups dialog on the Change User page:

  1. Go to the administrator dashboard and select the Users link under the Authentication and Authorization heading.

  2. Select the desired user and locate the Groups dialog under the Permissions heading of the Change User page.

  3. All app permission groups will appear in the Available Groups list box. Assigning the permission group is done by moving the permission group to the Chosen Groups list box.

Note

Although the permissions may also appear in the User Permissions list box, they cannot be properly assigned in the Change User dialog.

Assign App Access Permissions

Administrators of a Tethys Portal can control access to each installed app and/or proxy app in the portal. However, this feature is disabled by default. To enable app access control set the following setting in the portal_config.yaml:

settings:
  TETHYS_PORTAL_CONFIG:
    ENABLE_RESTRICTED_APP_ACCESS: True

Caution

The effect of the ENABLE_RESTRICTED_APP_ACCESS setting is negated if ENABLE_OPEN_PORTAL is also set to True.

There are two ways to assign app permissions to users and groups. The first method is to use the Change Group page from the Group section of the administrator dashboard. The second method is using the object permission button from the Change Tethys App or Change Proxy App page of each individual app. The first method is recommended over the second one when working with app permissions at the group level because it offers a more responsive interface and it facilitates working with multiple permissions from different apps and groups at the same time. Both methods are described below.

Object Permissions Method

To assign a singular app permission to a user using the Change Tethys App page:

  1. Go to the administrator dashboard and scroll down to the Installed Apps link under the Tethys Apps heading.

  2. Select the link with the app name from the list.

  3. In the upper right corner of the Change Tethys App page click the Object Permissions button (see Figure 6).

  4. On the Object Permissions page you can assign app-specific permissions to a user by entering the username in the User Identification field and pressing the Manage user button (see Figure 7).

  5. The same method can be used to add app permissions to a group using the Group section of the Object Permissions page. Previously added App permissions will be listed in the table on this page and can be edited by clicking the Edit link (see Figure 8).

A similar process can be done for proxy apps.

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Figure 6. Object Permissions button.

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Figure 7. Object Permissions page.

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Figure 8. Link to edit Object Permissions.

Anonymous User

The AnonymousUser can be used to assign permissions and permission groups to users who are not logged in. This means that you can define permissions for each feature of your app, but then assign them all to the AnonymousUser if you want the app to be publicly accessible.

Python Social Auth

Tethys leverages the excellent Python Social Auth to provide support for authenticating with popular servies such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, and HydroShare. The links under the PYTHON SOCIAL AUTH heading can be used to manually manage the social associations and data that is linked to users when they authenticate using Python Social Auth.

Tip

For more detailed information on using Python Social Auth in Tethys see the Single Sign On (Optional) documentation.

Terms and Conditions

Important

This feature requires the django-termsandconditions library to be installed. Starting with Tethys 5.0 or if you are using micro-tethys-platform, you will need to install django-termsandconditions using conda or pip as follows:

# conda: conda-forge channel strongly recommended
conda install -c conda-forge django-termsandconditions

# pip
pip install django-termsandconditions

Portal administrators can manage and enforce portal wide terms and conditions and other legal documents via the administrator pages.

Use the Terms and Conditions link to create new legal documents (see Figure 9). To issue an update to a particular document, create a new entry with the same slug (e.g. 'site-terms'), but a different version number (e.g.: 1.10). This allows you to track multiple versions of the legal document and which users have accepted each. The document will not become active until the Date active field has been set and the date has past.

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Figure 9. Creating a new legal document using the terms and conditions feature.

When a new document becomes active, users will be presented with a modal prompting them to review and accept the new terms and conditions (see Figure 10). The modal can be dismissed, but will reappear each time a page is refreshed until the user accepts the new versions of the legal documents. The User Terms and Conditions link shows a record of which users have accepted the terms and conditions.

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Figure 10. Terms and conditions modal.

Tethys Apps

The links under the TETHYS APPS heading can be used to manage settings for installed apps and extensions and proxy apps.

Installed Apps and Extensions

Clicking on the Installed Apps or Installed Extensions links will show a list of installed apps or extensions. Clicking on a link for an installed app or extension will bring you to the settings page for that app or extension. There are several different types of app settings: Common Settings, Custom Settings, and Service Settings.

An app can be disabled by unchecking the Enabled checkbox in the app settings page. A 404 error will be displayed in place of the disabled app if a user tries to open the app. Disabled apps appear as transparent apps in the Apps Library to admin users and users with permissions to access the app. Other users will not see the app in the Apps Library.

An app can also be hidden from the Apps Library by unchecking the Show in apps library checkbox. Hidden apps can still be accessed directly through their URL endpoints by Admin users and users with app access permissions. In addition, Admin users can still see the app in the Apps Library, but the app icon appears transparent and with the hidden tag added to the app title. Users without permission to access the app cannot see the app in the Apps Library or access it directly through its URL endpoint.

The order that the apps appear in the Apps Library (alphabetically by default) can be controlled using the Order setting on the app settings page. The apps will be displayed in assending order.

Common Settings

The Common Settings include those settings that are common to all apps or extension such as the Name, Description, Icon, Color, Tags, Order, Enabled, Show in apps library, and Enable feedback (see Figure 11). Many of these settings correspond with attributes of the term:app class and can be overridden by the portal administrator. Others control the sorting order, visibility, or accessibility of the app. A brief description of the common settings is provided below:

  • Name: The name of the app that will appear on the app tile on the Apps Library page (e.g.: "My First App").

  • Description: A description of the app that will be displayed when the user clicks on the info icon on the app tile.

  • Icon: Override the icon/logo of the app with a different icon. Accepts a relative path to a static file (e.g.: my-first-app/images/other-logo.png) or a URL to an externally hosted image (e.g.: https://some.other-site.org/static/other-logo.png).

  • Color: Override the theme color of the app (e.g.: #1A2B3C).

  • Tags: One or more tags for an app. Wrap each tag in double quotes and separate by commas (e.g.: "Hydrology","Grided Data","THREDDS").

  • Enabled: Enable or disable the app. Disabled apps are not accessible to non-admin users.

  • Show in apps library: Display the app on the Apps Library page. The app is still accessible by URL, but no app tile will be shown in the apps library.

  • Order: Force the order that apps are listed on the Apps Library page. Default order is alphabetical.

  • Enable feedback: When on, a button that launches a feedback form added to every page of the app. The feedback will be emailed to users listed in the feedback_emails setting in the app.py.

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Figure 11. App settings page showing Common Settings.

Custom Settings

Custom Settings appear under the CUSTOM SETTINGS heading and are defined by the app developer (see Figure 12). Most Custom Settings have simple values such as strings, integers, floats, or booleans, but all are entered as text. For boolean type Custom Settings, type a valid boolean value such as True or False.

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Figure 12. Custom Settings section of an app.

Secret Custom Settings

Secret Custom Settings can be used to store sensitive information that is need by your app such as passwords and API keys. The values of Secret Custom Settings are encrypted before being stored in the database and not displayed on the settings page for additional security. Secret Custom Setting values are returned as strings when you access them in your app.

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Figure 13. Secret Custom Settings section of an app.

JSON Custom Settings

Important

This feature requires the django-json-widget library to be installed. Starting with Tethys 5.0 or if you are using micro-tethys-platform, you will need to install django-json-widget using conda or pip as follows:

# conda: conda-forge channel strongly recommended
conda install -c conda-forge django-json-widget

# pip
pip install django-json-widget

Don't Forget: If you end up using this feature in your app, add django-json-widget as a requirement to your install.yml.

JSON Custom Settings store JSON strings and provide an embedded JSON editor on the settings page for easy editing. In addition, you may initialize a JSON Custom Setting with a JSON file when installing an app.

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Figure 14. JSON Custom Settings section of an app.

Service Settings

There are several different types of Service Settings including: Persistent Store Connection Settings, Persistent Store Database Settings, Dataset Service Settings, Spatial Dataset Service Settings, and Web Processing Service Settings (see Figure 15). These settings specify the types of services that the apps require. Use the drop down next to each Service Setting to assign a pre-registered Tethys Service to that app or use the plus button to create a new one.

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Figure 15. Service Settings sections of an app.

Tip

For information on how to define settings for your app see the App Settings API documentation. See Tethys Services for how to configure different Tethys Services.

Proxy Apps

Proxy apps are links to external web applications or websites. They are represented in the App Library page with an app tile just like native Tethys Apps. To manage the Proxy Apps in a Tethys Portal, click on the Proxy Apps link under the TETHYS APPS heading. Click on the ADD PROXY APP button to create a new Proxy App. Proxy Apps have many of the same configuration options as normal Tethys Apps including Name, Description, Tags, Enabled, Show in apps library and Order, but there are a few options that are specific to Proxy apps (see Figure 16). A brief description of each option is provided below:

  • Name: The name of the app that will appear on the app tile on the Apps Library page (e.g.: "My Proxy App").

  • Endpoint: The URL that will be opened when the user clicks on the app tile of the proxy app (e.g.: https://my.proxy.app/foo/).

  • Icon: Override the icon/logo of the proxy app with a different icon. Accepts a relative path to a static file (e.g.: my-first-app/images/other-logo.png) or a URL to an externally hosted image (e.g.: https://some.other-site.org/static/other-logo.png).

  • Back url: A URL to suggest as the back URL; usually points to the referring portal. If the Proxy App is a Tethys App on another Tethys Portal (>4.0.0), the Exit button for the app will be set to this URL (e.g.: https://this.portal.org/apps/).

  • Description: A description of the app that will be displayed when the user clicks on the info icon on the app tile.

  • Tags: One or more tags for an app. Wrap each tag in double quotes and separate by commas (e.g.: "Hydrology","Grided Data","THREDDS").

  • Enabled: Enable or disable the app. Disabled apps are not accessible to non-admin users.

  • Show in apps library: Display the app on the Apps Library page. The app is still accessible by URL, but no app tile will be shown in the apps library.

  • Open in new tab: Open the proxy app link in a new tab or window when on. Open it the same tab or window when off.

  • Order: Force the order that apps are listed on the Apps Library page. Default order is alphabetical.

  • Display External Icon: By default, this feature is turned off. When enabled, it adds an icon to the app tile to distinguish the proxy app from regular apps, indicating that it is an external link.

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Figure 16. The Add Proxy App dialog.

Tethys Compute

The links under the TETHYS COMPUTE heading can be used to manage Jobs and Schedulers:

Tip

For more information on Tethys Jobs see the Jobs API documentation.

Tethys Portal

The links under the TETHYS PORTAL heading can be used to customize the look of the Tethys Portal. For example, you can change the name, logo, and color theme of the portal (see Figure 17).

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Figure 17. Home page settings for Tethys Portal.

Tip

For more information on customizing the Tethys Portal see the Customize Portal Theme (Recommended) documentation, and the Site Settings documentation.

Tethys Quotas

The link under the TETHYS QUOTAS heading can be used to manage resource quotas that have been loaded into the Tethys Portal. Custom quotas can be created (see Creating Custom Quotas), but by default Tethys includes two quotas: User Workspace Quotas and App Workspace Quotas.

Resource Quotas

Resource Quotas shows a list of all loaded quotas. By default, all quotas are disabled when they are first loaded. Use this page to enable and customize the quotas for your portal (see Figure 18).

All quotas have the following fields that can be customized:

  • Default - Default quota value.

  • Help - Help text to be displayed to users when a quota is exceeded.

  • Active - Enable to enforce this quota.

  • Impose default - When enabled the default quota will be used for users/apps that do not have a specific quota set. When disabled the quota will not be enforced on users/apps that do not have a specific quota set.

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Figure 18. Resource Quota settings page.

User Workspace Quotas

To manage quotas specific to individual users, navigate to the user's settings page. Any applicable Resource Quotas will be listed in the User Quotas section. To set a custom quota for the user, enter the custom value in the Value field on the line corresponding to the appropriate Resource Quota. A link to the Resource Quota is also provided in the table (see Figure 19).

Tip

See Manage User Storage for details on how to manage user workspace storage.

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Figure 19. User settings page showing User Quotas.

App Workspace Quotas

To manage quotas specific to individual apps, navigate to the specified app's settings page. Any applicable Resource Quotas will be listed in the Tethys App Quotas section. To set a custom quota for the app, enter the custom value in the Value field on the line corresponding to the appropriate Resource Quota. A link to the Resource Quota is also provided in the table (see Figure 20).

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Figure 20. App settings page showing Tethys App Quotas.

Manage App Storage

Within the app settings page there is a Manage app storage section that provides a summary of the app workspace storage and the current quota being enforced on it (see Figure 11). To clear the workspace click the Clear Workspace button.

Warning

Clear Workspace will completely empty the app workspace.

Tip

See Handling Workspace/Media Clearing for information on how to pre/post process the app workspace when it is cleared.

Tethys Services

The links under the TETHYS SERVICES heading can be used to register external services with Tethys Platform for use by apps and extensions. Use the Spatial Dataset Services link to register your Tethys Portal to GeoServer, the Dataset Services link to register to CKAN or HydroShare instances, the Web Processing Services link to register to WPS instances, or the Persistent Store Services link to register a database.

Tip

For detailed instructions on how to use each of these services in apps, refer to these docs: