Cloud Management with System Center - Customizing System Center App Controller 2012

This is a quick and simple post to demonstrate how to customize the System Center App Controller 2012 login screen and administration console and to also walk through the steps required to configure Single Sign On (SSO) to use the users Windows credentials to automatically logon.

Customizing the Organization Logo

To customize the organization logo of App Controller all you need to do is to have a company logo file in PNG format that meets the following requirements:

Location	Image Name	Size
Top left	SC2012_WebHeaderLeft_AC.png	287x44
Top right	SC2012_WebHeaderRight_AC.png	108x16

Once you have your company logo in PNG format, navigate to the website root of the System Center App Controller installation directory. By default, this is:

 %PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft System Center 2012\App Controller\wwwroot

Make a backup copy of the default organization logos by renaming the files as follows:

Rename SC2012_WebHeaderLeft_AC.png to old.SC2012_WebHeaderLeft_AC.png

Rename SC2012_WebHeaderRight_AC.png to old.SC2012_WebHeaderRight_AC.png

 Copy your company logo file(s) into the wwwroot folder

Rename your logo file(s) to the following depending on which of the orginal logos you wish to replace:

• SC2012_WebHeaderLeft_AC.png
• SC2012_WebHeaderRight_AC.png

  

To complete the changes, close any App Controller console windows you have open, delete the Temporary Internet files folder from your web browser and then open up the App Controller console again and you should see your new logo added in as below

Enabling Single Sign On (SSO) for App Controller

By default, App Controller is enabled to prompt users to sign in by entering their Active Directory user name and password. The following procedure describes how to configure App Controller to use the user’s current Windows credentials to automatically sign on.

Firstly, open IIS manager on the App Controller server, select the App Controller website and then expand the website and select the /api node.

Now, double click the 'Authentication' icon in the center screen and then enable 'Windows Integrated Authentication' and disable 'Basic Authentication'.

That's all you have to do to enable SSO in App Controller!


This post is part of a series that coincides with the new Microsoft Private Cloud Community Evaluation Program starting up and you can sign up at any time to the CEP by clicking on the link below (you will need a Microsoft Live ID to sign in):

https://connect.microsoft.com/site799/program7383

If you want to learn more about Cloud Management with System Center, click the link below to start the series:

 

Cloud Management with System Center - Building a Private Cloud with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012