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How to make a user a Dashboard Server Community Edition administrator

Documentation Team
  • Updated

How to make a user a Dashboard Server Community Edition administrator

To install Dashboard Server you will need to be a local administrator on the server on which you wish to carry out the installation. After installing Dashboard Server you may want to configure one or more additional users to also be Dashboard Server administrators to help you manage Dashboard Server. 

Only Dashboard Server administrators can manage Dashboard Server, which includes the following tasks:

  • Create, edit, and delete dashboards

  • Create or delete Team Folders (Enterprise edition)

  • Add new PowerShell profiles and integrations (such as Web API, ServiceNow, Azure Application Insights, etc.)

  • Edit the global dashboard navigation structure

For information about normal users of Dashboard Server see User Management and How to manage Named Users.

How to make a user a Community Edition administrator

To make a user an Administrator in Dashboard Server you have two options, described in more detail below:

  • Add the user(s) to the local Administrators group on the SquaredUp server. This will make the users local administrators on the server and Dashboard Server administrators.

  • Create a new group called 'SquaredUpAdministrators' on the SquaredUp server, and add the user(s) to this new group. The benefit of this option is that the user(s) do not need to be local server administrators. Dashboard Server will check if a user logging on is a member of the SquaredUpAdministrators group and give them Dashboard Server administration rights. 

  1. On the SquaredUp server (the server that hosts the Dashboard Server application) open Local Users and Groups, for example:
    Search for 'Computer Management', and open Computer Management > Local Users and Groups
    or
    Search for 'Local Users', and open Local Users and Groups

  2. Open the Groups folder under Local Users and Groups.

  3. Decide whether you want to make users Dashboard Server Administrators by adding them to the server's local Administrators group, or by creating a new group.

  4. To add a user to the Administrators group, double-click on Administrators.

  5. Click Add and type the name of the user you want to add, then click OK.

  6. If you don't want the users to be local server administrators right-click to create a new group called SquaredUpAdministrators.


    When a user logs on, Dashboard Server will check if they are a member of the SquaredUpAdministrators group. This means that this group does not need any permissions applying to it, but that the group must be named SquaredUpAdministrators exactly. 

  7. To add a user to the SquaredUpAdministrators group, double-click on SquaredUpAdministrators.

  8. Click Add and type the name of the user you want to add, then click OK.

  9. The user you have added should now have administrator rights in Dashboard Server. The user should be able to see the + plus button on the navigation bar (create a new dashboard), and see system from the right-hand menu ☰ system.