Configuring Role-Based Access Control
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Contents
- Configuring Role-Based Access Control
- Role-Based Access Control
- User Accounts for Cisco UCS Manager
- Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Usernames
- Reserved Words: Local User Accounts
- Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Passwords
- Web Session Limits for User Accounts
- User Roles
- Default User Roles
- Reserved Words: User Roles
- Privileges
- User Locales
- Configuring User Roles
- Creating a User Role
- Adding Privileges to a User Role
- Removing Privileges from a User Role
- Deleting a User Role
- Configuring Locales
- Creating a Locale
- Assigning an Organization to a Locale
- Deleting an Organization from a Locale
- Deleting a Locale
- Configuring User Accounts
- Creating a User Account
- Enabling the Password Strength Check for Locally Authenticated Users
- Setting the Web Session Limits for Cisco UCS Manager GUI Users
- Changing the Locales Assigned to a Locally Authenticated User Account
- Changing the Roles Assigned to a Locally Authenticated User Account
- Enabling a User Account
- Disabling a User Account
- Deleting a Locally Authenticated User Account
- Monitoring User Sessions
Configuring Role-Based Access Control
This chapter includes the following sections:
- Role-Based Access Control
- User Accounts for Cisco UCS Manager
- User Roles
- User Locales
- Configuring User Roles
- Configuring Locales
- Configuring User Accounts
- Monitoring User Sessions
Role-Based Access Control
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a method of restricting or authorizing system access for users based on user roles and locales. A role defines the privileges of a user in the system and the locale defines the organizations (domains) that a user is allowed access. Because users are not directly assigned privileges, management of individual user privileges is simply a matter of assigning the appropriate roles and locales.
A user is granted write access to desired system resources only if the assigned role grants the access privileges and the assigned locale allows access. For example, a user with the Server Administrator role in the Engineering organization could update server configurations in the Engineering organization but could not update server configurations in the Finance organization unless the locales assigned to the user include the Finance organization.
User Accounts for Cisco UCS Manager
User accounts are used to access the system. Up to 48 user accounts can be configured in each Cisco UCS instance. Each user account must have a unique username and password.
A user account can be set with a SSH public key. The public key can be set in either of the two formats: OpenSSH and SECSH.
Default User Account
Each Cisco UCS instance has a default user account, admin, which cannot be modified or deleted. This account is the system administrator or superuser account and has full privileges. There is no default password assigned to the admin account; you must choose the password during the initial system setup.
The admin account is always active and does not expire. You cannot configure the admin account as inactive.
Local User Accounts
Local user accounts are authenticated directly through the fabric interconnect and can be enabled or disabled by anyone with admin or aaa privileges. Once a local user account is disabled, the user cannot log in. Configuration details for disabled local user accounts are not deleted by the database. If you re-enable a disabled local user account, the account becomes active again with the existing configuration, including username and password.
Remote User Accounts
A remotely authenticated user account is any user account that is authenticated through LDAP, RADIUS, or TACACS+.
If a user maintains a local user account and a remote user account simultaneously, the roles defined in the local user account override those maintained in the remote user account.
Expiration of User Accounts
User accounts can be configured to expire at a predefined time. When the expiration time is reached, the user account is disabled.
By default, user accounts do not expire.
Note
After you configure a user account with an expiration date, you cannot reconfigure the account to not expire. You can, however, configure the account with the latest date available.
- Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Usernames
- Reserved Words: Local User Accounts
- Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Passwords
- Web Session Limits for User Accounts
Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Usernames
The username is also used as the login ID for Cisco UCS Manager. When you assign usernames to Cisco UCS Manager user accounts, consider the following guidelines and restrictions:
The login ID can contain between 1 and 32 characters, including the following:
The unique username for each user account cannot be all-numeric. You cannot create a local user with an all-numeric username.
The unique username must start with an alphabetic character. It cannot start with a number or a special character, such as an underscore.
After you create a user account, you cannot change the username. You must delete the user account and create a new one.
Guidelines for Cisco UCS Manager Passwords
A password is required for each locally authenticated user account. A user with admin or aaa privileges can configure Cisco UCS Manager to perform a password strength check on user passwords. If the password strength check is enabled, each user must have a strong password.
Cisco recommends that each user have a strong password. If you enable the password strength check for locally authenticated users, Cisco UCS Manager rejects any password that does not meet the following requirements:
Must contain a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 64 characters.
Must contain at least three of the following:
Must not contain a character that is repeated more than 3 times consecutively, such as aaabbb.
Must not be identical to the username or the reverse of the username.
Must pass a password dictionary check. For example, the password must not be based on a standard dictionary word.
Must not contain the following symbols: $ (dollar sign), ? (question mark), and = (equals sign).
Should not be blank for local user and admin accounts.
Web Session Limits for User Accounts
Web session limits are used by Cisco UCS Manager to restrict the number of web sessions (both GUI and XML) a given user account is permitted to access at any one time.
By default, the number of concurrent web sessions allowed by Cisco UCS Manager is set to 32; although this value can be configured up to the system maximum of 256.
User Roles
User roles contain one or more privileges that define the operations allowed for the user who is assigned the role. A user can be assigned one or more roles. A user assigned multiple roles has the combined privileges of all assigned roles. For example, if Role1 has storage related privileges, and Role2 has server related privileges, users who are assigned to both Role1 and Role2 have storage and server related privileges.
A Cisco UCS instance can contain up to 48 user roles, including the default user roles.
All roles include read access to all configuration settings in the Cisco UCS instance. The difference between the read-only role and other roles is that a user who is only assigned the read-only role cannot modify the system state. A user assigned another role can modify the system state in that user's assigned area or areas.
Roles can be created, modified to add new or remove existing privileges, or deleted. When a role is modified, the new privileges are applied to all users assigned to that role. Privilege assignment is not restricted to the privileges defined for the default roles. That is, you can use a custom set of privileges to create a unique role. For example, the default Server Administrator and Storage Administrator roles have different set of privileges, but a new Server and Storage Administrator role can be created that combines the privileges of both roles.
If a role is deleted after it has been assigned to users, it is also deleted from those user accounts.
User profiles on AAA servers (RADIUS or TACACS+) should be modified to add the roles corresponding to the privileges granted to that user. The attribute is used to store the role information. The AAA servers return this attribute with the request and parse it to get the roles. LDAP servers return the roles in the user profile attributes.
Note
If a local user account and a remote user account have the same username, any roles assigned to the remote user are overridden by those assigned to the local user.
Default User Roles
The system contains the following default user roles:
- AAA Administrator
Read-and-write access to users, roles, and AAA configuration. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Administrator
Complete read-and-write access to the entire system. The default admin account is assigned this role by default and it cannot be changed.
- Facility Manager
Read-and-write access to power management operations through the power-mgmt privilege. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Network Administrator
Read-and-write access to fabric interconnect infrastructure and network security operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Operations
Read-and-write access to systems logs, including the syslog servers, and faults. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Read-Only
Read-only access to system configuration with no privileges to modify the system state.
- Server Equipment Administrator
Read-and-write access to physical server related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Server Profile Administrator
Read-and-write access to logical server related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Server Security Administrator
Read-and-write access to server security related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Storage Administrator
Read-and-write access to storage operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
Privileges
Privileges give users assigned to user roles access to specific system resources and permission to perform specific tasks. The following table lists each privilege and the user role given that privilege by default.
Table 1 User Privileges Privilege
Description
Default Role Assignment
aaa
System security and AAA
AAA Administrator
admin
System administration
Administrator
ext-lan-config
External LAN configuration
Network Administrator
ext-lan-policy
External LAN policy
Network Administrator
ext-lan-qos
External LAN QoS
Network Administrator
ext-lan-security
External LAN security
Network Administrator
ext-san-config
External SAN configuration
Storage Administrator
ext-san-policy
External SAN policy
Storage Administrator
ext-san-qos
External SAN QoS
Storage Administrator
ext-san-security
External SAN security
Storage Administrator
fault
Alarms and alarm policies
Operations
operations
Logs and Smart Call Home
Operations
pod-config
Pod configuration
Network Administrator
pod-policy
Pod policy
Network Administrator
pod-qos
Pod QoS
Network Administrator
pod-security
Pod security
Network Administrator
power-mgmt
Read-and-write access to power management operations
Facility Manager
read-only
Read-only access
Read-only cannot be selected as a privilege; it is assigned to every user role.
Read-Only
server-equipment
Server hardware management
Server Equipment Administrator
server-maintenance
Server maintenance
Server Equipment Administrator
server-policy
Server policy
Server Equipment Administrator
server-security
Server security
Server Security Administrator
service-profile-config
Service profile configuration
Server Profile Administrator
service-profile-config-policy
Service profile configuration policy
Server Profile Administrator
service-profile-ext-access
Service profile end point access
Server Profile Administrator
service-profile-network
Service profile network
Network Administrator
service-profile-network-policy
Service profile network policy
Network Administrator
service-profile-qos
Service profile QoS
Network Administrator
service-profile-qos-policy
Service profile QoS policy
Network Administrator
service-profile-security
Service profile security
Server Security Administrator
service-profile-security-policy
Service profile security policy
Server Security Administrator
service-profile-server
Service profile server management
Server Profile Administrator
service-profile-server-oper
Service profile consumer
Server Profile Administrator
service-profile-server-policy
Service profile pool policy
Server Security Administrator
service-profile-storage
Service profile storage
Storage Administrator
service-profile-storage-policy
Service profile storage policy
Storage Administrator
User Locales
A user can be assigned one or more locales. Each locale defines one or more organizations (domains) the user is allowed access, and access would be limited to the organizations specified in the locale. One exception to this rule is a locale without any organizations, which gives unrestricted access to system resources in all organizations.
A Cisco UCS instance can contain up to 48 user locales.
Users with AAA privileges (AAA Administrator role) can assign organizations to the locale of other users. The assignment of organizations is restricted to only those in the locale of the user assigning the organizations. For example, if a locale contains only the Engineering organization then a user assigned that locale can only assign the Engineering organization to other users.
Note
You cannot assign a locale to users with one or more of the following privileges:
You can hierarchically manage organizations. A user that is assigned at a top level organization has automatic access to all organizations under it. For example, an Engineering organization can contain a Software Engineering organization and a Hardware Engineering organization. A locale containing only the Software Engineering organization has access to system resources only within that organization; however, a locale that contains the Engineering organization has access to the resources for both the Software Engineering and Hardware Engineering organizations.
Creating a User Role
Procedure
Adding Privileges to a User Role
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the Roles node. Step 4 Choose the role to which you want to add privileges. Step 5 In the General tab, check the boxes for the privileges you want to add to the role. Step 6 Click Save Changes.
Removing Privileges from a User Role
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the Roles node. Step 4 Choose the role from which you want to remove privileges. Step 5 In the General tab, uncheck the boxes for the privileges you want to remove from the role. Step 6 Click Save Changes.
Deleting a User Role
ProcedureWhen you delete a user role, Cisco UCS Manager removes that role from all user accounts to which the role has been assigned.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the Roles node. Step 4 Right-click the role you want to delete and choose Delete. Step 5 In the Delete dialog box, click Yes.
Creating a Locale
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Right-click Locales and choose Create a Locale. Step 4 In the Create Locale page, do the following:
Step 5 In the Assign Organizations dialog box, do the following:
- Expand the Organizations area to view the organizations in the Cisco UCS instance.
- Expand the root node to see the sub-organizations.
- Click an organization that you want to assign to the locale.
- Drag the organization from the Organizations area and drop it into the design area on the right.
- Repeat Steps b and c until you have assigned all desired organizations to the locale.
Step 6 Click Finish.
What to Do Next
Add the locale to one or more user accounts. For more information, see Changing the Locales Assigned to a Locally Authenticated User Account.
Assigning an Organization to a Locale
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the Locales node and click the locale to which you want to add an organization. Step 4 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 5 In the Organizations area, click + on the table icon bar. Step 6 In the Assign Organizations dialog box, do the following:
- Expand the Organizations area to view the organizations in the Cisco UCS instance.
- Expand the root node to see the sub-organizations.
- Click an organization that you want to assign to the locale.
- Drag the organization from the Organizations area and drop it into the design area on the right.
- Repeat Steps b and c until you have assigned all desired organizations to the locale.
Step 7 Click OK.
Deleting an Organization from a Locale
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the Locales node and click the locale from which you want to delete an organization. Step 4 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 5 In the Organizations area, right-click the organization that you want to delete from the locale and choose Delete. Step 6 Click Save Changes.
Creating a User Account
Before You BeginProcedurePerform the following tasks, if the system includes any of the following:
Remote authentication services, ensure the users exist in the remote authentication server with the appropriate roles and privileges.
Multi-tenancy with organizations, create one or more locales. If you do not have any locales, all users are created in root and are assigned roles and privileges in all organizations.
SSH authentication, obtain the SSH key.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Right-click User Services and choose Create User to open the User Properties dialog box. You can also right-click Locally Authenticated Users to access that option.
Step 4 Complete the following fields with the required information about the user:
Name Description Login ID field
The account name that is used when logging into this account. This account must be unique and meet the guidelines and restrictions for Cisco UCS Manager user accounts.
The login ID can contain between 1 and 32 characters, including the following:
The unique username for each user account cannot be all-numeric. You cannot create a local user with an all-numeric username.
The unique username must start with an alphabetic character. It cannot start with a number or a special character, such as an underscore.
After you save the user, the login ID cannot be changed. You must delete the user account and create a new one.
First Name field
The first name of the user. This field can contain up to 32 characters.
Last Name field
The last name of the user. This field can contain up to 32 characters.
Email field
The email address for the user.
Phone field
The telephone number for the user.
Password field
The password associated with this account. If password strength check is enabled, a user's password must be strong and Cisco UCS Manager rejects any password that does not meet the following requirements:
Must contain a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 64 characters.
Must contain at least three of the following:
Must not contain a character that is repeated more than 3 times consecutively, such as aaabbb.
Must not be identical to the username or the reverse of the username.
Must pass a password dictionary check. For example, the password must not be based on a standard dictionary word.
Must not contain the following symbols: $ (dollar sign), ? (question mark), and = (equals sign).
Should not be blank for local user and admin accounts.
Confirm Password field
The password a second time for confirmation purposes.
Account Status field
If the status is set to active, a user can log into Cisco UCS Manager with this login ID and password.
Account Expires check box
If checked, this account expires and cannot be used after the date specified in the Expiration Date field.
Note After you configure a user account with an expiration date, you cannot reconfigure the account to not expire. You can, however, configure the account with the latest date available.
Expiration Date field
The date on which the account expires. The date should be in the format yyyy-mm-dd.
Click the down arrow at the end of this field to view a calendar that you can use to select the expiration date.
Note Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays this field when you check the Account Expires check box.
Step 5 In the Roles area, check one or more boxes to assign roles and privileges to the user account.
Note Do not assign locales to users with an admin or aaa role.
Step 6 (Optional)If the system includes organizations, check one or more check boxes in the Locales area to assign the user to the appropriate locales. Step 7 In the SSH area, complete the following fields:
Step 8 Click OK.
Enabling the Password Strength Check for Locally Authenticated Users
ProcedureYou must be a user with admin or aaa privileges to enable the password strength check. If the password strength check is enabled, Cisco UCS Manager does not permit a user to choose a password that does not meet the guidelines for a strong password.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Click the Locally Authenticated Users node. Step 4 In the Work pane, check the Password Strength Check check box in the Properties area. Step 5 Click Save Changes.
Setting the Web Session Limits for Cisco UCS Manager GUI Users
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Click the Communication Services tab. Step 4 In the Web Session Limits area, complete the following fields:
Name Description Maximum Sessions Per User field
The maximum number of concurrent HTTP and HTTPS sessions allowed for each user.
Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Maximum Sessions field
The maximum number of concurrent HTTP and HTTPS sessions allowed for all users within the system.
Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Step 5 Click Save Changes.
Changing the Locales Assigned to a Locally Authenticated User Account
Changing the Roles Assigned to a Locally Authenticated User Account
ProcedureChanges in user roles and privileges do not take effect until the next time the user logs in. If a user is logged in when you assign a new role to or remove an existing role from a user account, the active session continues with the previous roles and privileges.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Click the user account that you want to modify. Step 4 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 5 In the Roles area, do the following: Step 6 Click Save Changes.
Disabling a User Account
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Click the user that you want to disable. Step 4 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 5 In the Account Status field, click the inactive radio button. The admin user account is always set to active. It cannot be modified.
Step 6 Click Save Changes.
Monitoring User Sessions
ProcedureYou can monitor Cisco UCS Manager sessions for both locally authenticated users and remotely authenticated users, whether they logged in through the CLI or the GUI.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 In the Admin tab, expand . Step 3 Click the User Services node. Step 4 In the Work pane, click the Sessions tab. The tab displays the following details of user sessions:
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