> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://syteca.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Client Groups
> Manage Syteca Clients in bulk using Client groups — bulk-assign user permissions, inherit configuration settings, clone, and manage memberships from either the Client or the Client group side.
Client groups let you manage many Clients as a unit — granting users access to multiple Clients at once without granting them access to every Client, applying the same configuration across dozens or hundreds of endpoints with a single edit, and bulk-organizing Clients during deployment, rollout, or restructuring. Both Windows, macOS, and Linux Clients can belong to the same group.
For per-Client operations (install, configuration, uninstall, update), see the per-OS Clients pages: [Windows](/docs/administration/clients/windows), [macOS](/docs/administration/clients/macos), [Linux](/docs/administration/clients/linux).
All Client group operations require the [administrative Client Installation and Management permission](/docs/administration/users/administrative-permissions). For applying group settings to a Client, the [Client Configuration Management permission](/docs/administration/users/client-permissions) for that Client is also required.
## The default All Clients group
Every Syteca deployment ships with one Client group — **All Clients** — that contains every installed Client automatically. You can't remove Clients from this group, and you can't delete it.
This makes the **All Clients** group a useful target for permissions, alerts, and settings you want applied **everywhere** by default. Most deployments grant the **Administrators** user group every permission on **All Clients**, then add custom Client groups (Finance, Engineering, Contractors, etc.) for narrower scopes.
**One Client can belong to multiple Client groups.** Permissions, alerts, and settings combine across all groups the Client belongs to — see [How Client group settings inheritance works](#how-client-group-settings-inheritance-works).
## How Client group settings inheritance works
A Client's configuration can either be **Custom** (specific to the Client, edited directly) or **Inherited from** a specific Client group. When inherited, three things happen:
1. **Editing the Client group's settings automatically updates every inheriting Client.** This is how you push a configuration change to dozens of Clients in one edit.
2. **The Client's own settings can't be edited directly** while inherited. To edit them, switch the Client back to **Custom** by removing the inheritance.
3. **Removing the Client from the group, or deleting the group, sets the Client back to Custom** — but **the current values are preserved**. Nothing breaks; the Client just stops getting updates from the group and becomes editable directly again.
This last behavior matters: when you remove a Client from a group it was inheriting from, **the Client doesn't revert to defaults**. It keeps the configuration values it had at the moment of removal, just with the inheritance link broken.
The current inheritance state shows on the **Editing Client** page → **Properties** tab → **Client Properties** section → **Settings Type** field:
* `Custom` — direct editing enabled.
* `Inherited from ` — editing disabled; changes come from the group.
## Open the Client Groups tab
Sign in to the Management Tool, click **Clients** in the left navigation, then select the **Client Groups** tab. The grid lists every Client group in the system, with the **All Clients** group always at the top.
Use the **Search box** at the top of the Client Groups tab to find specific groups by name.
To open a Client group, click its name in the **Client Group Name** column.
## Add a Client group
On the **Clients** page, select the **Client Groups** tab. Click **Add Client Group** in the top right.
On the **Properties** tab (inside the **Group Settings** tab at the top of the page), enter:
* **Name** — required, **up to 200 characters**.
* **Description** — optional, **up to 200 characters**.
Click **Next**.
Define the Client configuration that will be applied to the Clients in this group on the corresponding tabs — recording parameters, monitoring parameters, USB monitoring rules, and other Client settings — the same way as when configuring an individual Client. See the per-OS Client pages for what's available on [Windows](/docs/administration/clients/windows), [macOS](/docs/administration/clients/macos), and [Linux](/docs/administration/clients/linux). Click **Next** after each tab.
On the **Clients** tab, [add Clients to the new group](#add-clients-to-a-client-group). Click **Next**.
On the **Permissions** tab, find each user or user group that should have access to this Client group. For each one:
* Click **Edit Permissions** on the right.
* In the **Client Permissions** pop-up, select the checkboxes next to the required permissions (see [Client permissions reference](/docs/administration/users/client-permissions)).
* Click **Save**.
Use the **Search box** at the top of the page and click **Apply Filters** next to it to find specific users or user groups.
Permissions inherited from user groups are shown as **disabled checkboxes with the user group name next to them** — these can only be changed by editing the user group itself.
Click **Next**.
On the **Assigned Alerts** tab, select the checkboxes next to the [alerts](/docs/session-monitoring/alerts) that should be assigned to this Client group. Every Client in the group will inherit these alert assignments.
Click **Finish** in the bottom right. The new Client group appears on the Client Groups tab.
## Edit a Client group
On the **Client Groups** tab, click the group's name in the **Client Group Name** column.
On the **Editing Client Group** page, edit the group properties, permissions, alerts, and other settings on the corresponding tabs in the same way as when [adding a group](#add-a-client-group).
Click **Finish** in the bottom right to save and exit, or **Next** to save progressively across tabs.
When you change a Client group's settings, **every Client inheriting from that group is updated automatically**. Confirm which Clients will be affected before editing — open the group's **Clients** tab to see the members.
## Add Clients to a Client group
Three different entry points for the same operation — pick whichever workflow fits where you are in the product.
Use this when you're already configuring a specific Client and want to add it to one or more groups.
On the **Clients** page, find the Client in the **Client Name** column and click its name.
Use the **Search box** and filters at the top of the Clients tab to find specific Clients.
On the **Editing Client** page, select the **Client Groups** tab, then click the **Add** button in the top left.
In the pop-up, select the checkboxes next to the Client groups to add the Client to.
Only the first 10 Client groups are displayed by default. Click **Click to view all results** at the bottom to see all groups, or use the **Search box** above the list to filter as you type.
Click **Add**. The selected groups now appear in the Client Groups grid. Click **Finish** in the bottom right of the Editing Client page.
Use this when you're already configuring a Client group and want to add one or more Clients to it.
Click the group's name in the **Client Group Name** column on the **Client Groups** tab.
On the **Editing Client Group** page, select the **Clients** tab, then click the **Add** button in the top left.
In the pop-up, select the checkboxes next to the Clients to add to the group.
Use the **Search box** above the list to find Clients by name or description — the list filters as you type.
Select **Apply group settings to new Clients** if you want the newly-added Clients to immediately [inherit the Client group's settings](#how-client-group-settings-inheritance-works).
Click **Add**. The selected Clients now appear in the Clients grid. Click **Finish** in the bottom right.
Use this when you have many Clients to add to the same group at once.
On the **Clients** page, find and select the checkboxes next to the Clients to add.
Click **Bulk Action** in the top left, then select **Manage Group Settings** in the drop-down.
In the **Edit Selected Clients** pop-up, select **Add to group** in the **Action to perform** drop-down. In the **Select a group** drop-down, pick the target Client group.
Select **Inherit Group Settings** if you want the added Clients to immediately inherit the group's settings.
Click **Confirm** to save (or **Close** to cancel).
For more details on the Bulk Action workflow, see [Manage Group Settings (Bulk Action)](#manage-group-settings-bulk-action) below.
## Apply Client group settings to a Client
When a Client belongs to a Client group, it can be configured to **inherit** that group's settings. From that point on, the Client's configuration tracks the group's — every edit to the group propagates to the Client automatically. Two ways to set this up:
Use this when you're configuring a specific Client and want to switch its source of settings.
On the **Clients** page, click the Client's name in the **Client Name** column.
If you don't have the [Client Configuration Management permission](/docs/administration/users/client-permissions) for this Client, the configuration options will be disabled.
On the **Editing Client** page, select the **Client Groups** tab. The grid shows the Client groups this Client belongs to.
In the **Group Settings** column, click the **Apply** icon next to the Client group whose settings you want to inherit.
The **Settings Type** field (on the **Properties** tab → **Client Properties** section) changes to **Inherited from \**, and the **Apply** icon in the Group Settings column changes to the word **Applied**.
Click **Finish** in the bottom right.
Use this when you want every Client in the group (or a subset of them) to inherit the group's settings.
Click the group's name in the **Client Group Name** column on the **Client Groups** tab.
Make any required changes on the group's tabs. Every inheriting Client will automatically pick up these changes.
Click **Finish**.
To apply settings to *specific* Clients in the group, use the **Clients** tab → select checkboxes → **Bulk Action** → **Inherit Group Settings**.
## Remove Clients from a Client group
Three entry points, same as adding.
On the **Clients** page, click the Client's name in the **Client Name** column.
On the **Editing Client** page, select the **Client Groups** tab.
Click the **Remove** icon next to the Client group on the right.
To remove the Client from **all** groups at once, click **Remove from All** in the column header.
Click **OK** in the confirmation. The Client is removed from the selected groups.
Click the group's name in the **Client Group Name** column.
On the **Editing Client Group** page, select the **Clients** tab. Select the checkboxes next to the Clients to remove.
Click **Bulk Action** in the top left, then select **Remove from Group** in the drop-down. The selected Clients are removed from the group immediately.
On the **Clients** page, select the checkboxes next to the Clients to remove.
Click **Bulk Action** in the top left, then **Manage Group Settings**.
In the **Action to perform** drop-down, select **Remove from group**. In the **Select a group** drop-down, pick the group to remove the Clients from.
Click **Confirm**.
Clients can be removed from any Client group **except the All Clients group**.
If a removed Client was inheriting its settings from this group, its **Settings Type** changes to **Custom** — but its current configuration values are preserved. The Client just stops getting updates from the group.
## Manage Group Settings (Bulk Action)
The **Manage Group Settings** action on the Clients page is the most efficient way to handle Client group changes for many Clients at once. It combines all three operations (add, remove, inherit) in a single dialog.
On the **Clients** page, find and select the checkboxes next to the Clients you want to manage.
Use the **Search box** and filters at the top to narrow the list before selecting.
Click **Bulk Action** in the top left, then select **Manage Group Settings** in the drop-down.
In the **Edit Selected Clients** pop-up, select an option from the **Action to perform** drop-down:
| Action | What it does |
| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Add to group** | Add the selected Clients to the chosen group. Optionally **Inherit Group Settings** to also propagate the group's configuration to them. |
| **Remove from group** | Remove the selected Clients from the chosen group. |
| **Inherit group settings** | Without adding/removing membership, switch the selected Clients to inherit settings from the chosen group. |
In the **Select a group** drop-down, pick the Client group to act on.
Click **Confirm** to apply the action across all selected Clients (or **Close** to cancel).
## Clone a Client group
Cloning creates a new Client group with the same settings as an existing one — useful for spinning up a new tier (e.g. a "Finance — Sandbox" group based on the production Finance group) without rebuilding the configuration from scratch.
On the **Client Groups** tab, click the name of the group you want to clone.
On the **Editing Client Group** page, on the **Properties** tab, scroll to the bottom and click **Clone Client Group**.
In the **Duplicate Group** pop-up, enter a name in the **New Group Name** field, then click **Duplicate**.
The new group is created empty — it has the same settings as the source, but no Client members. [Add Clients to it](#add-clients-to-a-client-group) the same way as any other group.
## Delete a Client group
Click the group's name in the **Client Group Name** column.
On the **Editing Client Group** page → **Properties** tab, click **Delete Client Group** in the bottom left.
Click **Delete** in the confirmation message.
Deleting a Client group **doesn't delete the Clients in it** — but Clients that inherited their settings from this group switch to **Custom** Settings Type, preserving the current configuration values but unlocking them for direct editing. Any user permissions tied to the deleted group are also lost.
The **All Clients** group can't be deleted.
## Related
Install, configure, and update Windows Clients.
Install, configure, and update macOS Clients.
Install, configure, and update Linux Clients.
The per-Client permissions that user groups grant on a per-Client-group basis.