The option Login As User is now available on the User screen.
This option allows a user to be impersonated as if one were to login directly as that user. Clicking Login As User generates a unique, secure session of Synergy in the form of a URL and copies it to the clipboard, allowing it to be pasted in either a different browser or an incognito/private window of the same browser. This session impersonates all of a user's security and preferences, bypassing the occasional limitations of the renamed Impersonate User option. For those familiar with temporarily changing a user's password or using the Exempt From LDAP option to directly login as a user, the Login As User option functions the same way, but without the need to do either. In addition, the previous Login As User option has been renamed to Impersonate User to better reflect the difference between the two options' functionality. Impersonate User remains the exact same as it was in its previous iteration. Clicking Impersonate User opens a pop-up browser window that mimics the security and preferences of the impersonated user.
There are several crucial differences between these two options:
- In Impersonate User, some actions are limited, such as sending Synergy Mail messages. In Login As User, there are no such limitations.
- In Impersonate User, all changes made by the impersonator are logged as if the impersonator made the changes in the audit trail. In Login As User, changes made by the impersonator are treated as if the impersonated user made the changes, but notates that the change was made by an impersonator and lists the impersonator's User GU. The User GU is tracked instead of the user's name in order to prevent spoofing.
- In Impersonate User, some of the impersonator user's security is retained in the impersonation window due to browser session limitations, which can occasionally create inconsistencies when evaluating a user's security via impersonation. Login As User does not have such limitations and shares the exact same security as the impersonated user, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the user's security.
- The Impersonate User option automatically opens a browser window with the impersonated session when clicked. When Login As User is clicked, the copied URL must be manually pasted into a separate browser window.