About store authentication

This topic describes options for store authentication with Central Manager.

When you add stores to Central Manager, you have the option to enter a Store Key, which is used in combination with the Store ID to authenticate the store to Central Manager. If you do not enter a Store Key, only the Store ID is used for store authentication.

If you choose to use the Store Key and Store ID for authentication, if authentication fails for one or both values, the store's connection to Central Manager will fail and data synchronization will not take place.

Using Store Key for store authentication is optional. If you upgrade a customer to release 3.51.4 or newer, they are not required to enter a Store Key for stores. However, using a Store Key for store authentication is recommended for all centrally-managed stores to improve security.

If you choose to use Store Key for store authentication, you must first add the Store Key in Central Manager and then restart the Central Server services. After you have confirmed that the Central Server services are running, you can then add the Store Key in Central Client.