Onboard Your Team

Your multi-user ELN3 is running and you’re logged in as Admin. This guide covers creating user accounts, assigning roles, and distributing the connection configuration to your team.

User Roles

RolePermissions
AdminFull system access. Manage users, equipment, templates, licensing, and settings. Access all projects.
SuperAccess all projects. View audit logs. Manage equipment and action types. Cannot manage users.
PowerUserCreate and manage own projects. View audit logs. Share projects with other users.
UserCreate and manage own projects and items. Standard notebook usage.
GuestRead-only access to shared projects. Cannot create or modify data.

Creating Users One by One

  1. Open Users > Users Editor
  2. Click Add
  3. Fill in: First Name, Last Name, Login, Email, and Role
  4. Set an initial password
  5. Click Save

Note: The Users menu is only visible to Admin users.

Bulk Import via CSV

For larger teams, import users from a CSV file:

  1. Open Users > Users Editor, click Load CSV
  2. Prepare a CSV file in one of two formats:
    • 4 columns: FirstName,LastName,Email,Role — login is auto-generated (first initial + last name, e.g., jsmith)
    • 5 columns: Username,FirstName,LastName,Email,Role — uses the provided username
  3. The first row can be a header (auto-detected). Both comma and semicolon delimiters work.
  4. Each imported user gets a randomly generated 8-character password
  5. After import, a credentials dialog shows all logins and passwords — save or print this list

Valid roles: Admin, Super, PowerUser, User, Guest. If omitted or unrecognized, defaults to User.

Setting Project Permissions

By default, users see only their own projects. To share a project:

LevelDescription
NoneProject is invisible to the user
ReadOnlyCan view but not modify
ReadWriteFull collaboration — add, edit, and delete items

Admin and Super users can see all projects regardless of permissions.

Distribute Connection Settings

Instead of configuring each workstation manually, export an encrypted configuration file:

Export the configuration

  1. Log in as Admin on your configured workstation
  2. Go to Database > Export Configuration…
  3. Review the connection summary (server, database, WebDAV URL)
  4. Enter an encryption password (minimum 6 characters) and confirm
  5. Click Export and save the .elnconfig file

Distribute to team members

  1. Send the .elnconfig file to users (email, shared folder, or USB)
  2. Communicate the encryption password through a separate channel (e.g., in person or secure messaging)
  3. Users install ELN3, then in the Connection Wizard select Managed installation
  4. Browse to the .elnconfig file, enter the password, click Load
  5. Create their user account or log in with the credentials you assigned

What’s inside the file: MySQL server address, port, database name, credentials, storage path, and WebDAV settings — encrypted with AES-256-CBC (PBKDF2-SHA256, 100k iterations).

Updating connection settings

If the server configuration changes (e.g., server migration):

  1. Export a new .elnconfig file from any configured Admin workstation
  2. Distribute to users
  3. Users open Database > Reconfigure Connection… to load the new file

Managing Users Over Time

Archive inactive users

Users who leave the team can be archived instead of deleted:

  1. Open Users > Users Editor
  2. Select the user, click Archive
  3. Archived users are blocked from logging in but their data and audit history are preserved
  4. To restore: enable Users > Show Archived Users, select the user, click Unarchive

Reset a password

In the Users Editor, select the user and click Reset Password to set a new password.

What’s Next

Your team is set up. For day-to-day usage, users can access the built-in help within ELN3 via Help > Contents.