Cannot save a Project Template

[oldbradfordian]

I am using MS Project Server 2007 with the Project Professional 2007 app, and
I want to save a project file as a Project Template that can be used as the
starting template for new projects.

In Project Professional, connected to the Project Server, I create a new
project then I select "Save As..." and enter a name as well as select
"Template" as the type. When I click on "Save", I get a popup message that
says "You do not have sufficient permissions to add or edit templates to
Project Server. Please contact your server administrator."

The problem is that I am an administrator and I have all permissions enabled
for my account in Project Server.

I also tried logging in with a separate Project Manager account that has the
permissions enabled to "Open Project Template" and "Save Project Template" in
the Admin section of the Security Template for the Project Manager.

I cannot find any other settings that should be causing a problem. Does
anyone have any ideas what is causing this problem why I can't save a Project
Template?

Thanks.

 

[Gagan Goel - MCP PMP]

It is quite possible that you are also a part of group that has a "deny" on
that permission. A deny from any group trumps the allow ..similar to
multiplication with a negative value.... Please make sure you are member of
only Administrator group & the administrator group should have the gobal
permission allowed "Save Project template". Pl. check the global permissions
of the administrator group.

Hope this helps. Do rate the post if you feel this was helpful.

Gagan

 

[oldbradfordian]

Yes, I am aware of the overriding Deny functionality and I am not using any
Deny settings anywhere.

My Admin account only belongs to the Admin Group, not any others, and the
Admin Group has every option set to "Allow" in the Global Settings.

Still puzzled.

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[wasonamit]

It could be a possibility that your overall Save Template functionality is
disabled.

Check PWA > Server Settings > Project Web Access Permissions > Save Project
Template is enabled.

Amit

 

[oldbradfordian]

Thanks for the advice, but it was in fact enabled already.

I have now found the problem and I am able to save project templates.

The problem was that my user account was created initially and assigned a
Project Manager Security Template that did not have the Save Template
permission enabled (i.e. the box was not checked). When the Save Template
permission was subsequently enabled in the Project Manager Security Template,
that setting did not take effect for my account until I went into the user
account (the Manage Users function) and re-applied the Project Manager
template to my user account. Now it works.

Seems like changing settings in Security Templates does not automatically
apply any changes to users who have that template assigned.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

oldbradfordian --

Why in the world are you manually applying Security Templates to individual
user accounts? Your problem would have been eliminated if you had simply
used the default security Groups that ship with Project Server. By applying
a Security Template to a user account, you are forcing a "manual override"
on the user account, which makes your security environment much more
complex. Wherever possible, use the default Groups that ship with the
software, and only apply Categories or Security Templates as a manual
override for very specific security considerations. Hope this helps.

 

[oldbradfordian]

I agree it is undesirable to have to resort to this, and with the exception
of this specific instance (workaround?) I have not been applying templates
direct to users. But until I did this, changes to the security template did
not take effect for existing users. Why would this be?

Thanks,

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

oldbradfordian --

When you apply a Security Template to a user account, the system applies the
permissions in the Security Template AT THAT MOMENT. It is a static
proposition. If you update the Security Template with new permissions, the
changes are not made to the user account. This is why you should be using
security Groups instead. If you make a change to the Group's permissions,
the changes are set automatically for every user in the Group. Hope this
helps.

 

[oldbradfordian]

Thanks, Dale.

I revisited this based on what you said and modified the Project Manager
group settings to allow saving a project template. I now have removed the
explicit permission settings in the user record and rely on the fact that the
user is a member of the Project Manager group. This works as the user can
still save a project template. I agree this is the cleaner way to go.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

oldbradforian --

You are wise, indeed! We teach all of our clients and all of our students
the following matra concerning Project Server security: KISS (Keep It
Simple, Silly). If you use default and custom Groups to control security,
you will create a much cleaner environment, and one that is much easier for
you to administer as the Project Server administrator. And you are more
than welcome for the help!