Password Manager

Citrix Password Manager is a robust user authentication mechanism that can be used as a standalone application or as part of the Access Suite, which also provides VPN and presentation server capabilities.

The emphasis, as the name might suggest, is on managing the provision and use of passwords, including an SSO capability. In keeping with the theme of making things easy for users, a self-serve password reset capability is featured, together with the ability to auto generate passwords. Wizards are presented to the user for such purposes and the dialogues within them can be customised by the administrator.

Similarly, the administrator can easily set password rules and policies, such as password strength and refresh frequencies, from an intuitive interface in the form of a snap in to the Microsoft Management Console. This is simple, to the point, and will be familiar territory for many admins. In the same vein, applications can be easily configured for SSO via a few intuitive dialogues.

Installation is straightforward and logically arranged via intuitive dialogues to help you set up the central store, configure licensing and install console utilities.

The overriding impression of using Password Manager is that it is simply a tool to configure your organisational access management requirements. This no-nonsense approach allows the admin to concentrate on what is important, such as establishing appropriate rules and policies and setting up users and applications, rather than have to spend undue time wrestling with the software.

That will no doubt sound like a good approach to many busy system admins who do not have copious amounts of spare time on their hands. In practice, it all works well and does what you expect with the minimum of fuss.

The dialogues are simple, but clear and intuitive. Documentation is in the form of a comprehensive PDF manual and online help which, although we would always prefer a printed, ring-bound manual as well, covers pretty much everything you would wish to know.

If straight passwords are all you require for user authentication within your organisation, then Password Manager provides a very effective way of managing such matters. Add to this a user-friendly SSO capability, and you have a comprehensive and easily implemented system for access control.