Cannot share dashboards with AD groups

Issue

If you wish to share a dashboard with a SharePoint group containing an AD (Active Directory) group, Sintel BI will not display the dashboard to members of the AD group.

Reason

When using SharePoint groups to manage security in a SharePoint site you can add both individual users or Active Directory groups into the SharePoint group. Unfortunately, Sintel BI is unable to interrogate an AD group to identify the members of that AD group. This means that when using AD groups it can’t determine to whom a specific dashboard should be displayed which results in the dashboard not appearing for any members of the AD group.

Resolution

There are two options to overcome this

Option 01 add the users into the SharePoint group directly rather than use the AD group.

This is the easiest option but effectively ignores the AD group and may not be the preferred approach of your IT department.

Option 02 configure all dashboards public dashboards and then use item-level permissions to secure each individual dashboard.

This requires a little extra configuration but the benefit is that AD groups can be used and the membership of these groups can be managed by your IT department. The following is a summary of the steps involved for 1 dashboard and you simply need to repeat the steps for each dashboard you have that you wish to secure access to.

Tip: The UI of SharePoint online is constantly changing so the process will vary depending on the version you are using.

Process for the old list interface

1. Change the SintelBIDashboards list to use the classic experience
   Site Contents->SinteBIDashboards->List settings->Advanced settings->List experience: Classic experience
2. Open the SintelBIDashboards list and select (do not open) the specific dashboard line item
3. From the ribbon choose Items->Shared With->Advanced->Stop inheriting permissions
4. Remove all permissions except for the Owners group
5. Add the relevant SharePoint group, granting them read access and choosing to not send an email
6. This now means that only members of the Owners group and the relevant SharePoint group have access to this list item
7. Finally, change the relevant Dashboard settings to make it public
   1. Open the site homepage
   2. Choose Settings->Navigation
   3. Hover over the relevant dashboard, click the Share arrow icon and then enable the Public dashboard option

Process for the new list interface

1. Open the SintelBIDashboards list and select (do not open) the specific dashboard line item
2. Click the Manage access button on the right side of the screen
3. The Manage access dialog will appear and you can click the Context menu (the three dots) and then click the Advanced settings option
4. From the ribbon click the Permissions tab and click Stop Inheriting Permissions button
5. Remove all permissions except for the Owners group
6. Add the relevant SharePoint group, granting them read access and choosing to not send an email
7. This now means that only members of the Owners group and the relevant SharePoint group have access to this list item
8. Finally, change the relevant Dashboard settings to make it public
   1. Open the site homepage
   2. Choose Settings->Navigation
   3. Hover over the relevant dashboard, click the Share arrow icon and then enable the Public dashboard option

Once you have followed one of the processes above the dashboard will be now publicly available but as the list item itself is only available to the Owners group and the relevant SharePoint group you added, the dashboard should only appear for members of these groups.

You can then simply repeat the process for any other dashboards that you wish to secure access to.