Archer-Expert Archer Certified Administrator-Expert Questions and Answers

According to the Archer API Guide and Administration II materials, the Archer APIs have specific formatting requirements based on their architecture. The SOAP API (Simple Object Access Protocol) is strictly bound to the XML-based SOAP protocol. It uses a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) to define the structure of its messages, and these messages must be formatted as XML . It cannot process or return JSON payloads.

In contrast, the RESTful API is more flexible; while it defaults to JSON for modern integrations, it is capable of supporting both XML and JSON depending on the "Content-Type" and "Accept" headers provided in the request. The Content API , which is a specific subset of the Archer RESTful infrastructure, also follows these multi-format capabilities. Therefore, the statement that the SOAP API can use JSON is the incorrect one. For administrators building integrations, understanding this distinction is vital, as modern web applications typically prefer JSON, but legacy Archer SOAP services will reject any request that is not valid XML.

This question reinforces a critical security concept in Archer Administration II . LDAP Synchronization is not just a "one-time" user creation tool; it is a lifecycle management service. While it does create accounts and associate groups, its most vital ongoing function is the synchronization of state .

If a user's title changes in Active Directory, the next LDAP sync will update that title in Archer, ensuring that reports and workflows based on user attributes remain accurate. Furthermore, if a user is removed from the corporate directory, the LDAP sync identifies them as a "Missing Person" based on the administrator's configuration and can automatically deactivate the Archer account. This automated deactivation is a core compliance requirement for most organizations to ensure that terminated employees lose access to sensitive GRC data immediately. Options A and C are incorrect because they use the word "Only," which ignores the broader, dynamic maintenance capabilities of the service.

The Archer Question Library is a centralized repository of questions used to build questionnaires. According to the Questionnaires and Assessment Maintenance curriculum, the "Out of the Box" (OOTB) content provided by Archer is modular. When an organization licenses a specific Use Case (e.g., IT Security Risk Management, Third Party Governance, or Business Continuity), the relevant question sets for those domains are imported into the library.

For example, an organization that only licenses Third Party Governance will have a Question Library populated with vendor-related assessments (like SIG or ISO-based questions), but they will not see Business Continuity-specific questions unless that use case is also licensed. This ensures that the platform remains uncluttered and relevant to the specific business needs of the organization. The deployment option (On-Premise vs. SaaS) and the support model have no impact on the actual metadata content of the library; it is strictly driven by the licensed functional modules.

In the Archer Security Parameters configuration (found in the Archer Control Panel or the Administration workspace), administrators define the "Maximum login attempts." According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, when a user exceeds this threshold (e.g., five failed attempts), the system automatically updates their account status to Locked .

It is important to distinguish "Locked" from "Inactive" or "Disabled." An Inactive or Disabled account usually implies an administrative action or a termination of the user's employment. A Locked status is a temporary security measure triggered by the system to prevent "brute force" attacks. Depending on the Security Parameter settings, a locked account may automatically unlock after a specified duration (e.g., 30 minutes), or it may require an administrator to manually click the "Unlock" button within the user's profile. This distinction allows administrators to run reports specifically on "Locked" users to identify potential security threats or users who simply need assistance with their credentials.

Archer is a Windows-based enterprise application that relies on the Microsoft technology stack. As detailed in the Archer Installation and Troubleshooting guide, there are three primary prerequisites for a successful deployment:

IIS (Internet Information Services): This is the web server that hosts the Archer web interface and APIs.

SQL Server: Archer requires a Microsoft SQL Server database to store all application data, metadata, and the instance configurations.

Microsoft .NET Framework: Archer is built on .NET; specific versions (such as 4.7.2 or higher, depending on the Archer version) must be installed for the web and service components to function.

Apache (Option A) is an alternative web server used primarily for Linux-based environments and is not a prerequisite or a supported web server for the Archer platform.

In Archer, not every field created in an application is automatically indexed for searching. Within the Field Properties (General Tab), there is a checkbox titled "Searchable." As taught in Archer Administration II , if this option is unchecked, the field will be invisible to the Advanced Search tool.

This is often done by administrators to improve system performance or to hide technical "helper" fields (like those used in calculations or DDEs) that have no business value for end-user reporting. If a field is missing from the "Available" list in the search builder, the administrator must go back to the Application Builder, edit the field's properties, and ensure the "Searchable" checkbox is enabled. Option B (Key Field) would actually make the field more prominent, and Options C and D do not control the visibility of fields within the Advanced Search interface.

The Bulk Update Jobs feature is used to migrate active records from one version of an Advanced Workflow (AWF) to another. As taught in Advanced Workflow Beyond the Basics , Archer is designed to be cautious but thorough. Statement A is NOT true because the Bulk Update process actually attempts to evaluate all records targeted for migration. If a record is in an error state, the Bulk Update tool provides an opportunity to see if the new workflow version can resolve that state or if it remains "Incompatible."

Statements B, C, and D are all accurate reflections of the platform's behavior. Archer will indeed warn you about the volume of affected records (B), and the system enforces a "one-at-a-time" rule for Bulk Updates (C) to prevent database deadlocks and performance spikes. Furthermore, it is a known risk (D) that structural changes (like deleting a node where records currently reside) can cause those specific jobs to fail during or after an update. Therefore, administrators must use the "Compatibility" check within the Bulk Update interface to identify and resolve these issues before finalizing the migration.

In the Archer security model, record-level access is determined by the complex intersection of Access Roles , Groups , and Record Permission Fields . According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, the Investigate Access tool is the primary diagnostic utility for troubleshooting "Why can't User X see Record Y?"

Unlike standard reports, Investigate Access allows an administrator to select a specific user and a specific record (or application) and run a simulation. The tool then provides a detailed breakdown of the "Final Access" (Read, Update, Delete) and, crucially, explains how that access was derived. It will highlight if the user is being granted access via a specific Group, if a Record Permission field is restricting them, or if their Access Role lacks the necessary rights. This is more efficient than the Access Control Reports (Option C), which provide a broad overview of permissions but do not provide the record-specific context that "Investigate Access" offers for pinpoint troubleshooting.

While Archer has been aggressively moving toward the RESTful API (Option C) for modern integrations, the ability to execute an existing Archer Report and retrieve the results has historically been a core function of the SOAP API (Web Services). Specifically, the SearchSvc (Search Service) within the SOAP API includes the ExecuteSearch and SearchRecordsByReport methods.

According to the Archer Administration II technical integration documents, the RESTful API is primarily designed for CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) on individual records and metadata. While newer versions of the REST API are expanding, the legacy SOAP Web Services remain the primary, verified method for triggering a pre-defined "Saved Report" via an external call. The Content API (Option D) is a subset of the RESTful API focused on record data but lacks the high-level report execution engine found in the SOAP services.

As detailed in the Archer Installation and Troubleshooting guide, the Archer Configuration Service is the foundational "heartbeat" of the platform. While the Job Engine (Option D) and Queuing Service (Option B) are essential for processing background tasks, the system cannot initialize or connect to the instance database without the Configuration Service.

The Configuration Service is responsible for retrieving settings from the Archer Control Panel (ACP) and providing them to the web server and other services. If this service is stopped, the Archer web interface will fail to load, and administrators will be unable to make any changes to the instance through the ACP. LDAP Synchronization (Option C) is a scheduled task and does not need to be running constantly for the platform to remain operational. Therefore, from an architectural standpoint, the Configuration Service is the mandatory prerequisite for all other platform functions.

In Archer, the LDAP Synchronization process is a comprehensive identity management tool. According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, its primary purpose is to ensure that the Archer user database mirrors the corporate directory (Active Directory/LDAP). It is not limited to just creating accounts or linking groups; its most critical function is the automation of the user lifecycle .

When the sync runs, it checks for changes in the LDAP source. If a user’s department or email changes in Active Directory, Archer updates the user profile data accordingly. Most importantly for security, if a user is disabled or removed from the LDAP group/OU being synced, Archer can automatically deactivate the account (or move it to a "terminated" status) based on the "Missing Person" configuration in the LDAP setup. This prevents unauthorized access by former employees. Options C and D are "Only" statements that describe small portions of the tool's capability, whereas Option B captures the ongoing maintenance and security synchronization that is the hallmark of the Archer LDAP service.

The Archer Job Monitor is a dedicated administrative interface found within the "Administration" workspace. It is the primary dashboard for monitoring the health of the Archer Job Engine . According to the curriculum, the Job Monitor provides visibility into both scheduled and ad-hoc background tasks, including Data Feeds, Data Publication, Notifications, and Recalculations.

The report displays a chronological list of jobs, their current status (Queued, In Progress, Completed, or Failed), and their start/end times. This is the first place an administrator looks if a notification wasn't sent or a data feed didn't update. Unlike "User access logs" (which track logins) or "System performance metrics" (which are found in the ACP or IIS), the Job Monitor is focused strictly on the execution history of background system tasks, allowing administrators to identify bottlenecks or specific job failures without needing access to the server's event logs.

The Data Import Wizard offers three distinct processing modes: "Add New Records," "Update Existing Records," and "Add New and Update Existing Records." According to the Archer Administration II curriculum, the "Update Existing Records" mode is highly restrictive. It is used when an administrator only wants to modify records that already reside in the system.

During the import, Archer uses the specified Key Field(s) to find matches between the source file and the target application. If a match is found, the existing record is updated with the new data from the source file. However, if a row in the source file does not have a corresponding match in Archer, that row is simply ignored and discarded . No new records are created. This is a safety measure to prevent the accidental creation of "orphan" or duplicate data when the intent is strictly maintenance of existing content. If an administrator wishes to both update matches and create new records for non-matches, they must specifically choose the "Add New and Update Existing Records" (Upsert) option.

The manual Data Import tool has specific structural limitations compared to the more robust Data Feed Manager. As taught in Archer Administration II , Data Imports are designed to handle standard Applications and their associated Sub-Forms .

When importing into an application that contains a sub-form, the administrator can map source columns to the sub-form fields to create multiple sub-form line items for a single parent record. However, Questionnaires (Option A, B, and D) cannot be populated via the standard Data Import tool. Questionnaires utilize a unique "Target/Assessment" architecture that requires either manual launching via a Campaign or the use of the Data Feed Manager with a specialized "Questionnaire" transporter. Because the Data Import tool lacks the ability to handle the complex relationship between the Question Library, the Questionnaire Template, and the Target record, it is restricted to standard application and sub-form data ingestion.

Archer's functionality is governed by a License Key . As taught in Archer Administration II , all the code for all use cases usually exists within the installer, but they are "locked" based on your organization's specific entitlements.

When a new use case is purchased, Archer provides a new alphanumeric license key. The System Administrator must log into the Archer Control Panel (ACP) , navigate to the "Instance" settings, and update the license key field. Once saved, the new use case—including its applications, workflows, and reports—becomes available for installation or activation. You do not need to perform a full system upgrade (Option C) or wait for a "push" from Archer (Option B). While you may need to download the specific Package File (.zip) for the use case from the Archer Community, the "step to gain access" and unlock the rights within your specific instance is the application of the license key in the ACP.

In Archer, Private Fields are a high-security feature where access is restricted to specific Users or Groups, regardless of their Access Role permissions. When an administrator manages these permissions, the concept of Cascading is vital for hierarchy management.

As taught in Archer Administration II , if you grant a parent group access to a private field and select the "Cascade" option, Archer automatically extends those permissions to every child group within that hierarchy. This follows the standard inheritance model used throughout the platform's security architecture. Without cascading (Option C), only the direct members of the parent group would see the field data, and administrators would have to manually add every subgroup individually. Selecting cascade ensures that as the organization grows and new subgroups are added under the parent, those new members will automatically inherit the necessary access to view or edit the protected field.

The Data-Driven Event (DDE) Analyzer is a diagnostic tool used to see why certain UI changes (like hiding a field or making it required) occurred. As taught in the Archer Administration II troubleshooting module, the Analyzer provides a high-level summary of the DDE execution path. It will show the name of the rule (Option A), the fields involved (Option B), and the actions triggered (Option C).

However, it does not provide a granular, "Boolean-level" breakdown of every individual filter condition within a complex rule. If a rule has five different conditions joined by AND/OR logic, the Analyzer will tell you if the entire rule evaluated to True or False, but it will not specify the result of each individual condition (Option D). To see that level of detail, administrators often have to simplify the rule or use "Dummy Fields" for testing. Understanding this limitation is key to effectively using the Analyzer for debugging complex conditional layouts.

In the Questionnaires and Assessment Maintenance curriculum, the Question Library acts as a "blueprint" for the final assessment. When you add a record to the Library, you aren't just adding text; you are defining the metadata for a future field.

The Question Type (e.g., Numeric, Values List, Text) and Display Format (e.g., Radio Buttons vs. Dropdown) are mandatory because they tell the Archer platform how to dynamically generate the user interface when a Questionnaire is launched. When a target record is created from a template, Archer looks at these library fields to determine which database column types to use and how the web browser should render the interaction. Without this information, the system would not know whether to provide a text box for a comment or a list of "Yes/No" options for the respondent.