Configuring Role-Based Access Control
This chapter includes the following sections:
- Role-Based Access Control
- User Accounts
- User Roles
- Privileges
- User Locales
- Monitoring User Sessions
- Creating a User Role
- Adding Privileges to a User Role
- Removing Privileges from a User Role
- Deleting a User Role
- Creating a Locale
- Adding an Organization to a Locale
- Deleting an Organization from a Locale
- Deleting a Locale
- Creating a User Account
- Deleting a Locally Authenticated User Account
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 would not be able to update server configurations in the Finance organization unless the locales assigned to the user include the Finance organization.
User Accounts
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.
The system 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 unique username for each user account cannot be all-numeric and cannot start with a number. If an all-numeric user name exists on an AAA server (RADIUS or TACACS+) and is entered during login, Cisco UCS Manager cannot log in the user. Local users with all-numeric names cannot be created.
For authentication purposes, a password is required for each user account. To prevent users from choosing insecure passwords, each password must meet the following requirements:
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At least eight characters long
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Does not contain more than three consecutive characters, such as abcd
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Does not contain more than two repeating characters, such as aaabbb
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Does not contain dictionary words
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Does not contain common proper names
A user account can also be set with a SSH public key. The public key can be set in one of the two formats: OpenSSH and SECSH.
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.
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.
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.
The system contains the following default user roles:
- AAA Administrator
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Read-and-write access to users, roles, and AAA configuration. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Administrator
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Complete read-and-write access to the entire system. The default admin account is assigned this role by default and it cannot be changed.
- Network Administrator
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Read-and-write access to fabric interconnect infrastructure and network security operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Operations
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Read-and-write access to systems logs, including the syslog servers, and faults. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Read-Only
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Read-only access to system configuration with no privileges to modify the system state.
- Server Equipment Administrator
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Read-and-write access to physical server related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Server Profile Administrator
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Read-and-write access to logical server related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Server Security Administrator
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Read-and-write access to server security related operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
- Storage Administrator
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Read-and-write access to storage operations. Read access to the rest of the system.
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 cisco-av-pair vendor-specific 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.
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.
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 |
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 Security 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.
Users with AAA Administrator 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.
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.
Configuring User Roles
Creating a User Role
Adding Privileges to a User Role
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
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
When 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. |
Configuring Locales
Creating a Locale
One or more organizations must exist before you create a locale.
Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. |
Step 2 | On the Admin tab, expand . |
Step 3 | Right-click on Locales and choose Create a Locale. |
Step 4 |
In the Create Locale page, do the following:
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Step 5 |
In the Assign Organizations page, do the following:
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Step 6 | Click Finish. |
What to Do Next
Add the locale to one or more user accounts.
Adding an Organization to a Locale
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 page, do the following:
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Step 7 | Click OK. |
Deleting an Organization from a Locale
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. |
Deleting a Locale
Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. |
Step 2 | On the Admin tab, expand . |
Step 3 | Expand the Locales node. |
Step 4 | Right-click the locale you want to delete and choose Delete. |
Step 5 | If Cisco UCS Manager displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes. |
Configuring User Accounts
Creating a User Account
At a minimum, we recommend that you create the following users:
If the system includes any of the following:
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Remote authentication services, ensure the users exist in the remote authentication server with the appropriate roles and privileges.
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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.
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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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 4 |
Complete the following fields with the required information about the user:
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Step 5 | In the Roles area, check one or more boxes to assign roles and privileges to the user account. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 6 | (Optional) If the system includes organizations, check one or more boxes in the Locales area to assign the user to the appropriate locales. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the SSH area, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click OK. |
Deleting a Locally Authenticated User Account
Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. |
Step 2 | On the Admin tab, expand . |
Step 3 | Expand the Locally Authenticated Users node. |
Step 4 | Right-click the user account you want to delete and choose Delete. |
Step 5 | In the Delete dialog box, click Yes. |
Monitoring User Sessions
You 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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