Local Guest Account

[FordGT90Concept 61]

It would be nice if there was a local guest account (external access forbidden) for temporary users. For example, someone that's visiting that just wants to turn on a football game. It shouldn't save preferences (or just delete them on log off) and as a matter of rule, is read-only. Basically think "do no harm" access level.

It would also be nice to be able to enable/disable this guest account quickly (e.g. visitors coming over).

 

I would also use it for testing purposes so, for example, testing early afternoon, Emby doesn't get the impression I like watching soap operas. 

Edited September 30, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[Luke 37008]

Just create a user, disable the features you don't want them to have, and then use the feature to disable the user as needed.

[FordGT90Concept 61]

The problem with that is it doesn't purge the data (watched, channel preferences, etc.) after each use.

[Luke 37008]

No but it does cover everything else.

[FordGT90Concept 61]

The purging of data is the most important feature of a guest account.

[GavinCampbell 15]

Since this was linked from another post recently I thought I would drop my reply here even though this thread is really old.

I currently do this but its a bit of hack.  Would be nice if it was built in.  My guest account basically has the watched status reset whenever they watch something.

You can utilize something like the scripterx to call the api to reset the watch status on a item or library at logoff for example.  That way the next time a guest logs in, it will all be marked as unwatched.

Of course this doesn't help with the resetting of the settings but hopefully this helps somebody looking to do something like this.

 

 

[GrimReaper 3269]

You can also make use of Server Configuration Backup plugin, make a default Guest User with all the settings you prefer for that account, backup, store that backup somewhete safe and just retrieve it when you need a new Guest account, I do it for regular accounts as a template as I frequently have new/changed users. 

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

Could be a plugin also, which would allow admin to “clean” guest account. 
 

run the Shedule task. Would take about an hour to knock up to be fair. 
 

i like the idea tho. 
 

need a list of what exactly needs to be done during the Clean task, then the admin can select in the UI how what to clean.

 

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

Just putting together a list.... 

1. Watched status
2. Channel preferences
3. Display preferences
4. ???

Any more we need to focus on.

Cheers

[GrimReaper 3269]

38 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

Just putting together a list.... 

1. Watched status
2. Channel preferences
3. Display preferences
4. ???

Any more we need to focus on.

Cheers

Access control, Parental control? 

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

5 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

Access control, Parental control? 

Thats done when you set up the guest account 

[GrimReaper 3269]

5 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

Thats done when you set up the guest account 

Yep, and for some Guests maybe you want to restrict access or block certain channels via tags, which you'd do after having default settings? If you don't purge those, they'll remain in force for any following guest, maybe unintentionally. 

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

57 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

Yep, and for some Guests maybe you want to restrict access or block certain channels via tags, which you'd do after having default settings? If you don't purge those, they'll remain in force for any following guest, maybe unintentionally. 

Sorry I don’t follow. 
how is that set up. Walk me thru an example. Please

[GrimReaper 3269]

1 hour ago, Cheesegeezer said:

Sorry I don’t follow. 
how is that set up. Walk me thru an example. Please

Ok, but before anything, I think it should be established whether "basic" Guest account (the one purging will revert to) would be:

1) Guest account created with default Emby settings, one that any account gets when created (User setting, access to all folders, No PG or Tag restrictions, default Display, Audio and Sub settings...)

or

2) Some pre-defined customized Guest account (assuming you generally probably do not want to give that account full access or admin rights or any other setting), which would then  be "template" and default one purging reverts to 

Assuming it is still extremely likely it should be No.2, that still leaves situation where some settings have been changed by the Guest user at the time itself (Display, Audio, Subs - generally those that you mention in your post) and some might've been changed by Admin by means of further restricting folder access and/or implementing some sort of PG restriction and/or block/allow access with tags. If latter is not reset, it would apply to subsequent Guest users even if you purge only Watched status/Channel preferences/Display preferences. 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by GrimReaper

[ebr 14903]

Yeah, I think approach number 2 would be the best.  Just define a template and then delete and recreate the account.  That would obviously have other potential uses as well...

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

So fellas i'm not as advanced with user accounts.  

I have mine, missus and mum-out-law

That's all i need.

Questions:

1. Can you define a user account template?
2. if you can define a template delete it and reload it, there is no point to creating this utility.

@GrimReaper  i really think you might be over thinking the aim of this,  

Maybe i got it wrong:  I thought the premise was....

you had one guest account or 2 or 3 or whatever.  Then you can leave them on the server permanently and then run the purge/cleaner task on specific guest accounts selected in the UI and it's reset for the next guest that arrives at your 17 Bed, 21 Bathroom Manor House in the heart of Oxfordshire.

 

[GrimReaper 3269]

18 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

I thought the premise was....

you had one guest account

Yeah, that's what I had in mind - and proper way to reset/purge that one. 

But you do whatever you see fit, there'll be some user feedback received once plugin released, upon which you might expand its scope in due time.

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

3 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

Yeah, that's what I had in mind - and proper way to reset/purge that one. 

But you do whatever you see fit, there'll be some user feedback received once plugin released, upon which you might expand its scope in due time.

Cheers fella and i agree.  But i need a scope to work too.  Otherwise feature creep comes into play an nothing is ever released. 

All i'm after is an initial list of things to cover.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Cheesegeezer

[GrimReaper 3269]

12 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

But i need a scope to work too.

In that case I'd say go with feature set you've listed above (and add Favorites there), i.e. stuff that can/will be modified/changed by the Guest user theirself and not easy/time-consuming to reset, and let Admin take care of User setting part, for now. 

My 2c.

[ebr 14903]

1 hour ago, Cheesegeezer said:

• Can you define a user account template?
• if you can define a template delete it and reload it, there is no point to creating this utility.

No you cannot.  I was suggesting that your plug-in actually add that ability, though.

To do what the actual request is for directly, you need to discover all the items that need to be "reset" for the guest account and then go reset them all.  I'm saying that an easier way to do that would be to simply re-create the account with default settings.  You then don't have to know all the things that need to be reset because the system will just delete them when you delete the account.

So, a way to accomplish the guest account reset would be to actually create a plug-in that defines user "templates" for default settings (you wouldn't have to re-create all the user settings - you could simply have the ability to select an existing account as the default).  Then the ability to delete an account and re-create it with one of the templates.

Admittedly more than the scope of this request but, in a way, it might be easier.

Up to you what you want to do.

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

Cheers Eric

[Happy2Play 8242]

@ebr Isn't deleting an account just bloating the userdata table with a new userid data while maintaining old user data?

So say Guest is userid 5 and you deleted guest and recreate, now you have guest as userid 6.  And the userdata tables has everything for userid 5 and soon for userid 6.  Unless the userdata table can be purged of non-existing users' data.  

[Luke 37008]

9 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

@ebr Isn't deleting an account just bloating the userdata table with a new userid data while maintaining old user data?

So say Guest is userid 5 and you deleted guest and recreate, now you have guest as userid 6.  And the userdata tables has everything for userid 5 and soon for userid 6.  Unless the userdata table can be purged of non-existing users' data.  

When the user is deleted it should be purged, yes.

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

Lets crawl walk run with this, start of simple, no templates and see how it works. 
 

i think creating templates will require taking in all the user data and preferences and permissions to basically mimic what the core offers anyways. Easy for core to implement a template and manage not so easy for plugin dev.  So i can cherry pic whats the important stuff is for cleansing and leave the admins to set those permissions and access rights.

Maybe Admin might port the plugin to core to reduce their dev time, but no promises.

so, let me get subkiller out the way(extension of mediaInfo plugin) and tested and i can focus on this. A feature really for Samsung TV users and to clean up containers.

[crusher11 850]

Stop getting distracted from working on Vantage Point, dammit.