User Management Authorization

Contents


1   Understanding User Management

1.1   Key User Management Concepts

User Management provides a management interface to configure the following on the Managed Element (ME):

Figure 1   User Management Overview

This instruction assumes that the ME has already been installed and initially configured. The initial configuration includes the necessary settings for the authentication and authorization of users.

Authentication is used for checking user credentials and user access. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) authorization is used to ensure correct user access privileges. The ME supports management of local users and authentication and supports the LDAP protocol for centralized user authentication. For centralized authentication, Target-Based Access Control (TBAC) can be applied over RBAC. Authentication and authorization are performed according to the organization authorization policy.

The local authentication method is always available to ensure that the operator cannot be inadvertently denied access to the managed element. It is recommended to create enough local accounts to mitigate connectivity issues to centralized authentication. The managed element supports centralized authentication by the LDAP protocol. Centralized authentication is preferred for daily operations to keep a consistent user base over a network of managed elements.

The local authentication method is always performed. If local authentication fails to find a user, the authentication continues with centralized LDAP authentication. The order of authentication methods cannot be changed.

1.2   User Authorization

Before user authorization occurs, the ME queries the roles of the users.

For local users, the roles are stored in the user account configuration.

The user access rights depend on defined authorization rules that specify the permissions to a set of resources within the ME. The authorization rules are grouped into roles. A role is equivalent to the user occupation within an organization, for example, system administrator. A user can have one or more roles.

The ME supports some predefined roles, see Section 1.4 Default Roles. Custom roles can also be configured over the Northbound Interface (NBI).

The authorization rules are all defined locally on the ME. Therefore, the user authorization is a local authorization. Custom rules corresponding to customer roles can be configured over the NBI.

Authorization rules provide different access levels to the MIB and the ECLI commands. Authorization rules are defined by permission types, see Section 1.3 Permission Types.

1.3   Permission Types

Rules for access can be specified for Managed Objects (MOs), their attributes and actions. The execution of the ECLI commands and the NETCONF operations is not subject to authorization. However, the rules affect the result of the ECLI commands and the NETCONF operations that operate on MOs.

Table 1    Permission Types and Access Levels

Permission Type

Description

No access (NO_ACCESS)

The user has no read, write, or execute rights to the MOs, attributes, or actions

Execute (X)

The user can execute all actions in the MOM

Read (R)

The user can read MOs and get attribute values

Read and execute (RX)

The user can read MOs, get attribute values, and execute all actions in the MOM

Read and write (RW)

The user can create and delete MOs as well as get and set attribute values

Read, write, and execute (RWX)

The user can create and delete MOs, set, and get attribute values, as well as execute all actions in the MOM

When a user with an authorization profile wants to access resources of the ME, the access request is authorized against matching security rules. The rules are checked in the following order:

  1. All negative rules (with the NO_ACCESS permission) are evaluated. If a match is found, access is denied.
  2. All positive rules (with X, R, RX, RW, and RWX permissions) are evaluated until a match is found; the corresponding access is granted. If no match is found, access is denied.

1.4   Default Roles

The ME supports several predefined default roles. These roles and the corresponding rules cannot be modified. The detailed permissions for each role are described in Section 3 Rules for Default Roles.

Default permissions to the ME are granted automatically to all users and are expressed through the role named "Self".

Table 2    Predefined Default Roles

Default Role

Description

Self

Used for default authorization permissions.

System Administrator

Responsible for the administration of all non-security-related attributes and capabilities of an ME, including features, configuration parameters, and monitoring.

Local Authentication Administrator

Responsible for the administration of the local user accounts at initial or recovery scenarios. Dedicated to the Administrator Account to limit its use.

System Security Administrator

Responsible for the administration of all security-related attributes and capabilities of an ME, including user accounts and authorizations.

System Read Only

Can view most non-security-related attributes and capabilities of an ME, including features, configuration parameters, and monitoring.

Managed Function Application Administrator

Responsible for the administration of all non-security-related attributes and capabilities of the Managed Function, including features, configuration parameters, and monitoring.

Managed Function Application Security Administrator

Responsible for the administration of all security-related attributes and capabilities of the Managed Function, including user accounts and authorizations.

Managed Function Application Operator

Can view some non-security-related attributes and capabilities of the Managed Function, including features, configuration parameters, and monitoring.

2   User Management Authorization Procedures

User Management supports the following operations for an administrator with the System Security Administrator role.

Local Authorization

Note:  
Local authorization must be used to understand the default roles the product delivers, and using roles in assigning authorization for users. Customization of roles and rules are possible by adding extra roles over the default ones.

3   Rules for Default Roles

The detailed permissions for the default roles are described in the following tables. "Deny" indicates the default behavior when no permission rule is defined.

Table 3    Self-Permissions

MOM Fragment

Permission

Scope

Managed Element

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

System Functions

 

Backup and Restore Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Fault Management

File Management

License Management

Performance Management

Security Management

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

User Management

 

LocalAuthenticationMethod

 

AdministratorAccount

R for matching MO (=user id)

 

SshPublicKey

RWX

The MO, its attributes, and actions

UserAccountM

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

UserAccount

R for matching MO (=user id)

 

SshPublicKey

RWX

The MO, its attributes, and actions

Software Inventory Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Software Management

System Management

Transport

Equipment

Table 4    LocalAuthenticationAdministrator Permissions

MOM Fragment

Permission

Scope

Managed Element

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

System Functions

 

Backup and Restore Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Fault Management

File Management

License Management

Performance Management

Security Management

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

User Management

 

LocalAuthenticationMethod

RWX

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

LocalAuthorizationMethod

R

The MO, its attributes, and child MOs

Software Inventory Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Software Management

System Management

Transport

Equipment

Table 5    System Administrator Permissions for Default Roles

MOM Fragment

Permission

Scope

Managed Element

RWX

The MO, its attributes, and actions

 

System Functions

 

Backup and Restore Management

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

Fault Management

License Management

Performance Management

File Management

FileGroup=InServicePerformance: R


FileGroup=SoftwareManagement: RWX

 

Security Management

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

Certificate Management

R

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

Software Inventory Management

RW

Software Management

RWX

System Management

Transport

The MO, its attributes, and actions

Equipment

Deny

Not Applicable

Table 6    System Security Administrator Permissions for Default Roles

MOM Fragment

Permission

Scope

Managed Element

R

Only the MO but not the attributes (enables navigation in the ECLI)

 

System Functions

 

Backup and Restore Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Fault Management

R

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

File Management

Deny

Not Applicable

License Management

Performance Management

Security Management

RWX

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

 

Certificate Management

Software Inventory Management

R

Software Management

Deny

Not Applicable

System Management

Transport

Equipment

Table 7    System Read-Only for Default Roles

MOM Fragment

Permission

Scope

Managed Element

R

The MO, its attributes, and actions

 

System Functions

 

Backup and Restore Management

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

Fault Management

File Management

Deny

Not Applicable

License Management

R

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

Performance Management

Security Management

Deny

Not Applicable

Software Inventory Management

R

The MO, its attributes, actions, and child MOs

Software Management

R

System Management

Transport

The MO, its attributes, and actions

Equipment

Deny

Not Applicable