A domain in the Microsoft Dynamics AX system is a group of company accounts. Domains enable setting up specific user permission for a group of company accounts.

Just as user groups define sets of users, domains define sets of company accounts that are logically connected. You can set security permissions based on the combination of user groups and domains, as shown in the following table.

The user groups are listed across the top of the table and the domains in which they reside appear vertically. Each box represents separate security settings that apply to the given user group/domain combination.

	Admin	HR	Finance	Purchasing	Engineering	IT	R&D
Asia	Admin Asia	HR Asia	Finance Asia	Purchasing Asia	Engineering Asia	IT Asia	R&D Asia
Africa	Admin Africa	HR Africa	Finance Africa	Purchasing Africa	Engineering Africa	IT Africa	R&D Africa
Australia	Admin Australia	HR Australia	Finance Australia	Purchasing Australia	Engineering Australia	IT Australia	R&D Australia
Europe	Admin Europe	HR Europe	Finance Europe	Purchasing Europe	Engineering Europe	IT Europe	R&D Europe
South America	Admin South America	HR South America	Finance South America	Purchasing South America	Engineering South America	IT South America	R&D South America
North America	Admin North America	HR North America	Finance North America	Purchasing North America	Engineering North America	IT North America	R&D North America

By using domains, you could allow a conglomerate company that has several subsidiary businesses to share a single Microsoft Dynamics AX system. Each subsidiary can be represented by a domain, which in turn can limit access based on user group.

One domain, Admin, exists in the Microsoft Dynamics AX system by default. The Admin domain always includes all companies. You cannot remove the domain or delete any companies from this domain. Use the Admin domain for any user groups that need access to all companies.

Important
The domains feature requires a separate license. To obtain a license, contact your Microsoft Dynamics AX Partner.

Domain/user group access restriction

If your organization or business has more than one company account, you can restrict account access by using domains. Domains restrict account access much like user groups restrict user access.

Domain/user group relationship

With the combination of domains and user groups, you can create a strict security policy where each user group in each domain is a distinct entity without any access between groups or domains.

User group that has access across multiple domains

You can also create a customized security policy where, for example, one group has account access to similar group data, forms, and modules across multiple domains. In this graphic the Engineering Africa group has access to all engineering data, forms, and modules across all domains.

Domain administrators

Domain administrators have full administration rights to their domain. However, they have no rights to other domains.

Some customers who have many companies in Microsoft Dynamics AX have a requirement to keep the data in each company completely separate. In such large system environments the system administrator is not the person who grants permissions to the user or creates companies. The system administrator creates a role called the domain administrator to do this. Domain administrators have complete access to all resources within their domain, but do not have access to companies in other domains. For more information, see Create domain administrators.

Create a domain

From a Microsoft Dynamics AX Client, click Administration> Setup> Domains.
On the Domainstab, press Ctrl+ Nto add a new domain.
Enter an ID in the Domain IDfield, such as Eurfor Europe. This is required.
Enter a name in the Namefield (required), such as Europe.
Click the Company accountstab.
Select company accounts in the Remaining company accountslist and then click the left arrow( <) to move the selected company accounts into the Selected company accountslist. All accounts moved into the Selected company accountslist will be added to the current domain.
Press Ctrl+ Sto save changes.

Grant user groups access to a domain

By default, user groups do not have access to a new domain. You must grant access by using the following procedure.

Important
Before completing the following steps, determine which user groups require access to the new domain. Also, determine the necessary permissions for each user group. If you are uncertain about whether to grant access to a user group, deny access until you receive a request from a manager.

From a Microsoft Dynamics AX client, click Administration> Setup> Security> User group permissions.
On the Overviewtab, select a user group. If you have to create a new user group for this domain, see Manage user groups.
Select a domain.
Click the Permissionstab.
Set the desired permissions.
Press Ctrl+ Sto save changes.