User authentication

PME Web applications require user authentication to launch. There are multiple methods to access a PME Web application from inside another EcoStruxure supervisor software:

• Manual PME Authentication: The user must enter PME user credentials into a login window before a PME Web application can launch. These credentials are then cached for the rest of the PME session.
• Automatic PME Authentication: (less secure) Specific URL addresses are created for the target PME web application. When one of these PME URLs is used to launch a PME Web application from another supervisory software, PME automatically allows access without prompting the user to enter PME credentials. This method provides a seamless user experience, but it does not provide the security level of the Manual Authentication method. For security reasons, supervisor-level user names cannot be used.
• Windows Authentication: (more secure) Logs the user into PME using their current Windows credentials. This method provides a seamless user experience and is more secure.

NOTE: The Windows Authentication option is more secure but requires that Power Monitoring Expert has been configured with Windows Active Directory users and user groups.

When testing the generated authentication URL, test the URL in a separate browser session, not just in a separate tab in the current browser. Otherwise, your current login credentials may be used, or you may be logged out of this page altogether.

To open a new browser session in Internet Explorer, open the File menu and select New Session. If you are using Chrome, open a new incognito window.