SAS 9.

3
®

Management Console
Guide to Users and Permissions

SAS® Documentation
The correct bibliographic citation for this manual is as follows: SAS Institute Inc 2011. SAS® 9.3 Management Console: Guide to Users and
Permissions. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.
SAS ® 9.3 Management Console: Guide to Users and Permissions
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Contents
Chapter 1 • Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction to User Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction to Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Getting Information About a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Who Can Manage Users, Groups, and Roles? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Add Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Add Administrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Manage Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Add Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Create a Custom Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Create a Custom Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Change a Role's Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Adjust Group or Role Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Make a SAS Copy of DBMS Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Unlock an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Adjust Policies for an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Manage Authentication Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Rename a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Delete a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Delegate Management of a Group or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Include a User in Batch Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Import or Export Users, Groups, and Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tips for Finding a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 3 • Exercises in User Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Assign Capabilities to a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Create and Use an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Examining Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Who Can Set Permissions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Add an Explicit Grant or Denial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Use an Access Control Template (ACT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Create a Custom ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Update or Delete an ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Set a Permission Condition (OLAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Adjust the Repository-Level Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Import or Export ACTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What Happens When I Select a Check Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Tips for Efficiently Using Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 5 • Exercises in Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Working with Explicit Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Working with ACTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Working with Inherited Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
WriteMetadata and WriteMemberMetadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
iv Contents

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
 1

Chapter 1
Concepts

About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction to User Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About User Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
About Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
About Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
About Logins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About Internal Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About Authentication Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About External Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Requirement: Unique Names and IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Introduction to Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
About Access Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Granularity and Mechanics of Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Inheritance and Precedence of Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Use and Enforcement of Each Permission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

About This Document

This document helps you administer users and permissions in SAS Management
Console. It explains key concepts and provides step-by-step instructions for selected
tasks. For more information about security, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

Introduction to User Administration

About User Administration

In order to make access distinctions and track user activity, security systems must know
who is making each request. The primary purpose of user administration is to provide
information that helps systems make this determination. The central piece of user
information that the SAS environment requires is one external account ID for each user.
The SAS environment uses its copy of these IDs to establish a unique SAS identity for
2 Chapter 1 • Concepts

each connecting user. All of a user's group memberships, role memberships, and
permission assignments are ultimately tied to their SAS identity.
Note: For identification purposes, only the account IDs are needed. SAS does not
maintain copies of external passwords for identification purposes.
To access user administration features in SAS Management Console, select the User
Manager node on the Plug-ins tab. Your roles and permissions determine which user
administration tasks you can perform.
TIP As an alternative to interactively creating and maintaining identity information,
you can write a program that performs these tasks as batch processes. See the user
import macros documentation in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

About Users

A user is an individual person or service identity.

We recommend that you create an individual SAS identity for each person who uses the
SAS environment. This enables you to make access distinctions in the metadata layer
and establishes a personal folder for each user. If generic access is sufficient for some of
your users, those users can instead share the generic PUBLIC group identity.
An individual SAS identity is established by coordination between two sets of identity
information:
• in an external system, a user account
• in the metadata, a user definition that includes a copy of the external account ID
To give someone an individual SAS identity, you create a metadata user definition that
includes a copy of their external account ID. This list provides details for several
configurations:
• In the simplest configuration, each user needs an account that is known to the
metadata server's host.
• If the metadata server is on Windows, users typically have Active Directory
accounts.
• If the metadata server is on UNIX, users might have UNIX accounts. Sometimes
a UNIX host recognizes LDAP, Active Directory, or other types of accounts.
• In a common alternate configuration, the metadata server trusts authentication that is
performed at the Web perimeter. In this configuration, anyone who uses a Web
application needs a Web realm account.
• In a less common alternate configuration, the metadata server directly uses an LDAP
provider such as Active Directory. This is appropriate only if you have accounts that
are not already accepted by the metadata server's host. For example, if the metadata
server is on Windows, it is not necessary (or appropriate) to configure direct use of
Active Directory.
Note: A PUBLIC-only user does not need a metadata user definition. For metadata
administrators and certain service identities, it is appropriate to use a SAS internal
account.
 Introduction 3

About Groups

A group is a set of users.

We recommend that you create groups to simplify security management as follows:
• It is more efficient to assign permissions to groups than to individual users.
• If you need to store passwords in the metadata, you can reduce the amount of
required maintenance by using a group to make one shared account available to
multiple users.
• It is sometimes more efficient to manage role membership by assigning groups to
roles instead of assigning users directly to roles.
This table introduces three predefined groups:

Table 1.1 PUBLIC, SASUSERS, and SAS Administrators

Group Description

PUBLIC Includes everyone who can access the metadata server (directly or through a
trust relationship).

SASUSERS Includes those members of the PUBLIC group who have a well-formed user
definition.

SAS Should include only users who perform metadata administrative tasks. In a
Administrators standard configuration, this group has broad access but is not unrestricted.

TIP A group's membership can include other groups as well as individual users. This
enables you to create a nested group structure.

About Roles

A role manages the availability of application features such as menu items.

An application feature that is under role-based management is called a capability.
Anyone who is a member of a role has all of that role's capabilities. This list highlights
key points:
• Roles determine which user interface elements (such as menu items or plug-ins) you
see when you use an application. Roles do not protect data or metadata (other than a
few system items).
• Having a certain capability is not an alternative to meeting permission requirements.
Permission requirements and capability requirements are cumulative.
• Roles and groups serve distinct purposes. You cannot assign permissions to a role or
capabilities to a group.
• Capabilities are always additive. Assigning someone to a role never reduces what
that person can do.
Each application that supports roles offers a fixed set of capabilities. You cannot convert
an application feature that is not a capability into a capability.
4 Chapter 1 • Concepts

Note: If you add custom plug-ins (in SAS Management Console) or custom tasks (in
SAS Enterprise Guide or the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office), you can register
those features as capabilities. For further information, see the administrative
documentation for those applications.
Each application that supports roles provides one or more predefined roles. Each
predefined role has a unique initial set of capabilities. The capabilities that a role
provides should reflect the activities and responsibilities of that role's members. You can
adjust the distribution of capabilities in these ways:
• Change role memberships. For example, to prevent regular users from seeing plug-
ins in SAS Management Console, you might narrow the membership of the
Management Console: Content Management role by making changes on that
role's Members tab.
• Customize the initial roles-to-capabilities mapping by using any of these techniques:
• Incrementally select or clear explicit capabilities for a role. You cannot deselect
capabilities for the unrestricted role.
• Aggregate existing roles so that one or more roles contributes all of their
capabilities to another role.
• Create new roles that provide unique combinations of capabilities.
This table introduces the main administrative roles:

Table 1.2 Main Administrative Roles

Role Capabilities

Metadata Server: Members have all capabilities and cannot be denied any permissions in
Unrestricted the metadata environment.*

Metadata Server: Members can create, update, and delete users, groups, roles (other than
User Administration the unrestricted role), internal accounts, logins, and authentication
domains.**

Metadata Server: Members can administer the metadata server (monitor, stop, pause,
Operation resume, quiesce) and its repositories (add, initialize, register, unregister,
delete).***

Management Members can see all plug-ins in SAS Management Console (in the
Console: Advanced initial configuration).

* Unrestricted users are subject to denials in other authorization layers, can use only those logins that are
assigned to them (or to groups to which they belong), and do not have implicit capabilities that are
provided by components other than the metadata server.
** Restricted user administrators cannot update identities for which they have an explicit (white) or ACT
(green) denial of WriteMetadata.
*** Only someone who has an external user ID that is listed in the adminUsers.txt file with a preceding
asterisk can delete, unregister, add, or initialize a foundation repository. Only an unrestricted user can
analyze and repair metadata or perform tasks when the metadata server is paused for administration.
 Introduction 5

About Logins

What is a Login?
A login is a SAS copy of information about an external account. Every login must
include a user ID. In a login for a Windows account, the ID must be qualified (for
example, [email protected]), domain\user, or machine\user.
TIP The requirement to provide a qualified ID for a Windows account applies to the
SAS copy of the ID. It is usually not necessary to qualify the user ID that you
provide when you launch a SAS application.
TIP If you do provide a qualified ID when you log on, you must use the same format
that was used in your login. For example, Windows might accept both WIN\me and
[email protected], but SAS can understand only one of these
qualified forms (the form in which the SAS copy of the ID is stored).

Logins for Users

Each user should have a login that establishes their SAS identity. It is not necessary to
include a password in this login. For example, this is how Joe's login might look when a
user administrator views Joe's Accounts tab:
DefaultAuth | WIN\Joe |

A user might have additional logins that provide access to other systems. For example, if
Joe has his own Oracle account, he might have these two logins:
DefaultAuth | joe |

OracleAuth | ORAjoe | ********

Note: The Oracle login should include a copy of Joe's Oracle password.
If a site uses Web authentication, the requirements are different. For example, if Joe uses
both Web and desktop applications at such a site, Joe might have these three logins:
DefaultAuth | WIN\Joe |

OracleAuth | ORAjoe | ********

web | WEBjoe |

Note: Like his DefaultAuth login, Joe's Web login does not need to include a password.

Logins for Groups

Groups do not have to have logins. The main reason to give a login to a group is to make
a shared account available to multiple users. A group login contains a SAS copy of the
user ID and password for a shared account. For example, to provide shared access to
DB2, a group might have a login that looks like this:
DB2Auth | sharedDB2id | ********

All members of the group can see and use this login. Since this login is for a third-party
database, a copy of the DBMS account password should be stored in this login.
6 Chapter 1 • Concepts

About Internal Accounts

What is an Internal Account?

An internal account is a SAS account that the metadata server authenticates
independently, without relying on an external authentication provider such as the
operating system. Use internal accounts for only metadata administrators and certain
service identities. For these identities, an internal account is an acceptable substitute for
an external account with a corresponding login. For example, the SAS Administrator and
the SAS Trusted User can be based on internal accounts.

Benefits of Internal Accounts

Internal accounts have these advantages:
• Internal accounts provide an alternative to creating external accounts for SAS
internal purposes such as inter-process communication.
• Internal accounts can be maintenance free. You do not have to synchronize internal
accounts with some other user registry. Internal accounts do not have to conform to
the security policies of the rest of your computing environment. For example, even if
your host security policy forces password changes every 30 days, you can retain the
initial policy for internal account passwords (which is that these passwords never
expire).
• Internal accounts are usable only in the SAS realm, so they reduce exposure to the
rest of your security environment.

Limitations of Internal Accounts

Although the Create Internal Account button is available on all user definitions,
internal accounts are not intended for regular users. Someone who has only an internal
account cannot do these things:
• launch a standard workspace server without interactively providing some external
credentials
• participate in Integrated Windows authentication or Web authentication
• add, delete, initialize, or unregister a foundation repository

Policies for Internal Accounts

By initial policy, these server-level settings are in effect:
• Accounts do not expire and are not suspended due to inactivity.
• Passwords must be at least six characters, do not have to include mixed case or
numbers, and do not expire.
• The five most recent passwords for an account cannot be reused for that account.
• There is no mandatory time delay between password changes.
• After three failed attempts to log on, an account is locked. If an account is locked
because of logon failures, further log on attempts cannot be made for one hour.
• For an account that has a password expiration period, there is a forced password
change on first use and after the password is reset by someone other than the account
owner. By initial policy, passwords do not expire so there are no forced password
changes.
 Introduction 7

Note: These settings are defined in the metadata server's omaconfig.xml file. In User
Manager, you can customize some of these settings on a per-account basis.
CAUTION:
Passwords for a few required accounts (such as the SAS Administrator and the
SAS Trusted User) are included in configuration files. If you change these
passwords, you must also update the configuration. See the SAS Intelligence
Platform: Security Administration Guide.

About Authentication Domains

What is an Authentication Domain?

An authentication domain is a name that facilitates the matching of logins with the
servers for which they are valid. This matching is not important when you launch a
client, but it is important when you access certain secondary servers such as a third-party
DBMS or a standard workspace server.

When Do I Need to Add an Authentication Domain?

In the simplest case, all logins and SAS servers are associated with one authentication
domain (DefaultAuth). This list describes the most common reasons for using more
authentication domains:
• If you use Web authentication, you might need a second authentication domain for
the logins that contain Web realm user IDs.
• If you want to provide seamless access to a third-party server (such as a DBMS
server) that has its own user registry, you need a separate authentication domain for
that server and its logins.
• If both of the following criteria are met, you need a separate authentication domain
for the standard workspace server and its logins:
• The standard workspace server does not share an authentication provider with the
metadata server (and cannot be configured to do so).
• You want to provide seamless individualized access to the standard workspace
server.

About Passwords

Passwords in Logins
In general, it is not necessary to create a SAS copy of an external password. An
exception is if you want to provide seamless access to a server that requires credentials
that are different from the credentials that users initially submit. These are the most
common examples:
• A third-party DBMS server might require a different set of credentials.
• In a multi-platform environment, the standard workspace server might require a
different set of credentials.
If credentials are not otherwise available, some applications prompt users for an
appropriate user ID and password.
8 Chapter 1 • Concepts

Passwords in Internal Accounts

Internal accounts exist only in the metadata. Each internal account includes a password.
By initial policy, internal passwords do not expire.

Passwords in Configuration Files

Passwords for a few required accounts (such as the SAS Administrator and the SAS
Trusted User) are included in configuration files. If you change these passwords, you
must also update the configuration. See the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

About External Identities

What is an External Identity?

While logins and internal accounts are involved in the logon process, external identities
are not. An external identity is an optional synchronization key for a user, group, or role.
If you use batch processes to coordinate SAS identity information with your primary
user registry, you need external identities (such as employee IDs) to facilitate matching.
This list explains the circumstances in which a user, group, or role needs an external
identity:
• For a user, group, or role that you maintain interactively in SAS Management
Console, no external identity is needed.
• For a user, group, or role that you maintain using batch processes, one external
identity is needed.

Where do External Identities Come From?

External identities can be added in these ways:
• For a user, group, or role that is created by an import process, an external identity is
added as part of that process.
• For any user, group, or role, you can interactively add an external identity on the
General tab of their definition.

Requirement: Unique Names and IDs

Within a metadata server, these uniqueness requirements apply:
• You cannot create a user definition that has the same name as an existing user
definition.
• You cannot create a group or role definition that has the same name as an existing
group or role definition.
• You cannot assign the same user ID to different users or groups. All of the logins
that include a particular user ID must be owned by the same identity. This enables
the metadata server to resolve each user ID to a single identity.
• This requirement is case-insensitive. For example, you cannot assign a login with
a user ID of smith to one user and a login with a user ID of SMITH to another
user.
• This requirement applies to the qualified form of the user ID. For example, you
can assign a login with a user ID of winDEV\brown to one user and a login with a
user ID of winPROD\brown to another user.
 Introduction 9

• This requirement cannot be mitigated by associating the logins with different

SAS authentication domains. For example, if one user has a login with a user ID
of smith in DefaultAuth, you cannot give any other user a login with the user ID
smith, even if you put that login in another authentication domain.
• If you give a user two logins that contain the same user ID, the logins must be in
different authentication domains. Within an authentication domain, each user ID
must be unique. For example, if you give Tara O'Toole two logins that both have a
user ID of tara, then you cannot associate both of those logins with the OraAuth
authentication domain. As with the previous requirement, this requirement is case-
insensitive and is applied to the fully qualified form of the user ID.

Introduction to Access Management

About Access Management

Access management determines which items a user can interact with. The permissions
that you set in SAS Management Console are part of a metadata-based access control
system that SAS provides. These permission settings supplement protections in other
layers (such as the operating system and the WebDAV). Across layers, protections are
cumulative. You cannot perform a task unless you have sufficient access in all layers.
CAUTION:
Do not rely exclusively on metadata layer permissions to protect data. Manage
physical access (operating system and DBMS permissions) in addition to metadata
layer access.
You manage access to an item as part of the item's properties (on the item's
Authorization tab). Your roles and permissions determine which access management
tasks you can perform.

Granularity and Mechanics of Permissions

Repository-Level Controls
Repository-level controls function as a gateway. Participating users usually need
ReadMetadata and WriteMetadata permissions for the foundation repository.
Repository-level controls also serve as a parent-of-last-resort, defining access to
resources that do not have more specific settings. Repository-level controls are defined
on the Permission Pattern tab of the repository ACT.

Resource-Level Controls
Resource-level controls manage access to a specific item such as a report, an
information map, a stored process, a table, a cube, or a folder. You can define resource-
level controls individually (as explicit settings) or in patterns (by using access control
templates).

Fine-Grained Controls
Fine-grained controls affect access to subsets of data within a resource. To establish
fine-grained controls, you define permission conditions that constrain access to rows
within a table or members within an OLAP dimension.
10 Chapter 1 • Concepts

Feature-Level Controls
Some applications use roles to limit access to functionality. These applications check
each user's roles in order to determine which menu items and features to display for that
user. Roles are not an authorization feature; they are managed and documented as part of
user administration.

Inheritance and Precedence of Permissions

Two Relationship Networks

Permission settings are conveyed across two distinct relationship networks, a resource
network and an identity network. Permissions that are set directly on an item have
priority over permissions that are set on the item's parent. For example, when access to a
report is evaluated, a denial that is set on the report (and assigned to the PUBLIC group)
overrides a grant that is set on the report's parent folder (even if the grant is assigned to
you).

The Resource Relationships Network

Permissions that you set on one item can affect many other items. For example, a
report inherits permissions from the folder in which the report is located. This
relationship network consists primarily of a folder tree. This list highlights exceptions:
• The root folder is not the ultimate parent. This folder inherits from the repository
(through the permission pattern of the repository ACT ).

• The root folder is not a universal parent. Some system resources (such as
application servers, identities, and ACTs) have the repository as their immediate and
only parent.
• Inheritance within a table or cube follows the data structure. For example, table
columns and cube hierarchies do not have a folder as their immediate parent. Instead,
a column inherits from its parent table and a hierarchy inherits from its parent cube.
• In unusual circumstances, it is possible for an item to have more than one immediate
parent. If there is a tie in this network (for example, if there are no settings on an
item, the item has two immediate parents, and one parent provides a grant while the
other parent provides a denial), the outcome is a grant. In other words, a grant from
any inheritance path is sufficient to provide access.
• In general, specialized folders (such as search folders, favorites folders, and virtual
folders) don’t convey permissions to the objects that they contain. An exception is
that a favorites folder does convey permissions to any child favorites folders
(favorites groups) that it contains.

The Identity Relationships Network

Permissions that you assign to one group can affect many other identities. For
example, if you grant a group access to an OLAP cube, that grant applies to all users
who are members of the group. This relationship network is governed by a precedence
order that starts with a primary identity, can incorporate multiple levels of group
memberships, and ends with implicit memberships in SASUSERS and then PUBLIC. If
there is a tie in this network (for example, if you directly assign a user to two groups and
give one group a grant and another group a deny), the outcome is a deny.
 Introduction 11

Use and Enforcement of Each Permission

Table 1.3 Use and Enforcement of Each Permission

Permission
(Abbreviation) Actions Affected and Limitations on Enforcement

ReadMetadata (RM) View an item or navigate past a folder. For example, to see an information map you need RM
for that information map. To see or traverse a folder you need RM for that folder.

WriteMetadata (WM) Edit, delete, change permissions for, or rename an item. For example, to edit a report you need
WM for the report. To delete a report you need WM for the report (and WMM for the report's
parent folder). WM affects the ability to create associations. For example, you need WM on an
application server in order to associate a library to that server. WM affects the ability to create
items in certain containers. For example, to add an item anywhere in a repository, you need
WM at the repository level. For folders, adding and deleting child items is controlled by
WMM, not WM.

WriteMemberMetadata Add an item to a folder or delete an item from a folder. For example, to save a report to a
(WMM) folder, you need WMM for the folder. To remove a report from a folder, you need WMM for
the folder (and WM for the report). To enable someone to interact with a folder's contents but
with not the folder itself, grant WMM and deny WM.*

CheckInMetadata (CM) Check in and check out items in a change-managed area. Applicable only in SAS Data
Integration Studio.**

Read (R) Read data. For example, while you need RM for a cube in order to see a cube, you need R for
that cube in order to run a query against it. Enforced for OLAP data, information maps, data
that is accessed through the metadata LIBNAME engine, and dashboard objects.

Write (W) Update data. For example, on a table, W controls updating the rows in the table. Enforced for
data that is accessed through the metadata LIBNAME engine, for publishing channels, and for
dashboard objects.

Create (C) Add data. For example, on a table, C controls adding rows to the table. Enforced for data that
is accessed through the metadata LIBNAME engine.

Delete (D) Delete data. For example, D on a library controls the deletion of tables from the library.
Enforced for data that is accessed through the metadata LIBNAME engine and for dashboard
objects.

Administer (A) Operate (monitor, stop, pause, resume, refresh, or quiesce) servers and spawners. For the
metadata server, the availability of similar tasks is managed by the Metadata Server: Operation
role (not by this permission).

* A folder's WMM settings mirror its WM settings unless the folder has explicit or ACT (green) settings of WMM. A grant
(or deny) of WMM on a folder becomes an inherited grant (or deny) of WM on the items and subfolders within that folder. WMM is
not inherited from one folder to another. WMM is not applicable to specialized folders (such as virtual folders, favorites folders, or
search folders).
** For any change-managed areas or resources, change-managed users should have CM (instead of WM or WMM). Change management
is a SAS Data Integration Studio feature.

Note: For information about the Insert, Update, Select, Create Table, Drop Table, and
Alter Table permissions, and an additional use of the Delete permission, see the SAS
Guide to Metadata-Bound Libraries.
12 Chapter 1 • Concepts
 13

Chapter 2
User Administration Tasks

Getting Information About a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

What Groups is This User In? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
What Roles is This User In? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
What Can This User Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
What Logins Are Available to This User? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Does This User Have an External Identity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Does This User Have an Internal Account? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Who Can Manage Users, Groups, and Roles? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Add Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Add Administrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Manage Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Update the Password in a Login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Reset an Internal Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Add Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Create a Custom Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Why Create a Custom Group? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How to Create a Custom Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Create a Custom Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Why Create a Custom Role? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How to Create a Custom Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Change a Role's Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Adjust Group or Role Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Make a SAS Copy of DBMS Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Store Shared Credentials for a DBMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Store Individual Credentials for a DBMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Unlock an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Adjust Policies for an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Manage Authentication Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Add an Authentication Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Rename an Authentication Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Delete an Authentication Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Rename a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Delete a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
14 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

Delegate Management of a Group or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Include a User in Batch Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Import or Export Users, Groups, and Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tips for Finding a User, Group, or Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Getting Information About a User

What Groups is This User In?

This list explains how group memberships are displayed for a user named Joe:
direct groups
If Joe is directly assigned to any groups, those assignments are displayed in the
Member of list box on the Groups and Roles tab in Joe's Properties dialog box.
indirect groups
If Joe is a member of a group that is a member of another group, Joe is an indirect
member of the second group. Because indirect membership is not displayed in Joe's
Member of list box, you must check the properties of each group that Joe belongs to
in order to determine whether that group is a member of another group.
implicit groups
If Joe has a well-formed user definition, he automatically belongs to both the
PUBLIC and SASUSERS groups. These implicit memberships are not reflected in
Joe's Member of list box.

What Roles is This User In?

This list explains how role memberships are displayed for a user named Joe:
direct roles
If Joe is directly assigned to any roles, those assignments are displayed in the
Member of list box on the Groups and Roles tab in Joe's Properties dialog box.
indirect roles
If Joe is a member of a group that is assigned to a role, Joe is an indirect member of
that role. Because indirect membership is not displayed in Joe's Member of list box,
you must check the properties of each group that Joe belongs to in order to determine
whether that group is a member of any roles. Remember that Joe's Member of list
box does not reflect his implicit membership in SASUSERS and PUBLIC. Users get
most of their non-administrative capabilities through implicit membership in these
groups.
contributing roles
If Joe is in a role that has contributing roles, Joe has the capabilities of the
contributing roles. To determine whether a role has contributing roles, access the
role's Properties dialog box and select the Contributing Roles tab.
 Getting Information About a User 15

What Can This User Do?

Which Items Can This User Access?

Joe's access is not displayed as part of his user definition. Instead, Joe's permissions for a
particular item are displayed on that item's Authorization tab.
TIP SAS programmers can create reports that document access to resources. See the
discussion of security report macros in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

Which Application Features are Visible to This User?

Joe has all of the capabilities that are provided by any of his roles. This list highlights
key points about a role's Capabilities tab:
• Some roles provide implicit capabilities, which are not displayed. For example, the
ability to create users is provided by the Metadata Server: User Administration role,
but there is no Create Users check box on the Capabilities tab.
• A capability that has a gray check box comes from a contributing role.
• These icons indicate the status of the items beneath a node in the tree:
• A full tree icon indicates that all of the capabilities are assigned.

• An empty tree icon indicates that none of the capabilities are assigned.

• A partial tree icon indicates that some of the capabilities are assigned.

What Logins Are Available to This User?

This list explains how the logins that are available to a user named Joe are displayed:
personal logins
Joe's personal logins are displayed on the Accounts tab in his Properties dialog box.
Only Joe and users who have user administration capabilities can see Joe's logins.
group logins
A login that is assigned to a group can be used by any member of that group.
Because Joe's group logins are not displayed on his Accounts tab, you must check
the properties of each group that Joe belongs to in order to determine whether any of
those groups have logins.
Note: On an Accounts tab, logins are visible only if you have user administration
capabilities, you are looking at your own user definition, or you are looking at a
group that you belong to.

Does This User Have an External Identity?

To determine whether a user has an external identity, click the External Identities
button on the user's General tab.
16 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

Does This User Have an Internal Account?

To determine whether a user has an internal account, examine the bottom of the user's
Accounts tab. If a user has an internal account, their internal ID is listed in that location.
Regular users usually do not have internal accounts.
Note: Internal accounts are visible only if you have user administration capabilities or
you are looking at your own user definition.

Who Can Manage Users, Groups, and Roles?

Table 2.1 Requirements for Managing Identities

Task Requirements

Create users, User administration capabilities, the User Manager capability, and these permissions:
groups, and roles.
• WriteMetadata permission to the identities (to update or delete them)
Update or delete
• WriteMetadata permission to the software components that provide role capabilities (to change
users, groups, and
capability assignments)
roles (other than
the unrestricted • WriteMetadata permission to the repository (to add identities, logins, and related items).
role). In the initial configuration, the SAS Administrators group meets all of these requirements.
Reset other user's
passwords (in
metadata).

Manage the Unrestricted status. In the initial configuration, only one user (the SAS Administrator) meets this
unrestricted role requirement.

Note: Each user can manage their own personal logins in SAS Personal Login Manager.
Note: You can delegate management of an existing identity to someone who does not
have user administration capabilities. See “Delegate Management of a Group or
Role” on page 26.

Add Users
To create an individual SAS identity:
1. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager. Make sure that you are in the foundation
repository.
2. For each user:
a. Right-click and select New ð User.
b. On the General tab, enter a name.
 Add Administrators 17

TIP We recommend that you avoid using spaces or special characters in the
name of a user, group, or role that you create. Not all components support
spaces and special characters in identity names.
c. On the Accounts tab, click New. In the New Login dialog box, select
DefaultAuth and enter the user's external account ID.
Note: In the standard configuration, you can use any account (LDAP, Active
Directory, host, or other) that is known to the metadata server's host.
Note: For a Windows account, qualify the ID (for example, WIN\user or
[email protected]).
Table 2.2 Adapted Instructions for Sites That Use Web Authentication

Type of User Adapted Instructions*

Someone who uses only Select the Web realm authentication domain (such as
Web applications web) instead of DefaultAuth and enter the user's Web
realm ID.

Someone who uses both Complete the standard instructions and also add a Web
Web and desktop realm login.
applications

* If the Web user IDs and the metadata server user IDs are identical, and the Web applications do
not use a standard workspace server, it is not necessary to follow these adapted instructions.

TIP Do not include a password in this login.

d. Click OK to save the new login. Click OK again to save the new user.
3. (Optional) Use the Groups and Roles tab to make a user a direct member of another
group or a role.
Note: The user automatically belongs to PUBLIC (everyone who can access the
metadata server) and SASUSERS (those members of PUBLIC who have a well-
formed user definition).
4. Make sure that anyone who uses Windows host credentials to access a standard
workspace server has the "Log on as a batch job" Windows privilege. For example,
you might add the user's Windows account to a Windows group that is named SAS
Server Users.
5. If you need to provide seamless access to a third-party server that uses proprietary
authentication, either give the user a second login or make the user a member of a
group that has a shared login for that server. See “Make a SAS Copy of DBMS
Credentials” on page 23.

Note: You do not have to make changes on the user's Authorization tab. This tab has
no effect on what the user can do.

Add Administrators
To create an individual SAS identity that is based on an internal account:
1. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager. Make sure that you are in the foundation
repository.
18 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

2. For each administrator:

a. Right-click and select New ð User.
b. On the General tab, enter a name.
Note: The administrator's internal user ID will be based on this name, so it is a
good idea to use a short identifier.
c. On the Accounts tab, click Create Internal Account. In the New Internal
Account dialog box, enter and confirm an initial password.
Note: By initial policy, internal passwords must be at least six characters, do not
have to include mixed case or numbers, and do not expire.
TIP If you want to force a password change on first use, set a password
expiration period.
d. On the Groups and Roles tab, move the SAS Administrators group to the
Member of list box. This makes the new user a member of SAS Administrators.
e. Click OK to save the new administrator.
3. (Optional) To verify your work, examine the SAS Administrators group:
a. In the main display, select the SAS Administrators group, right-click, and select
Properties.
b. On the Members tab, verify that the new administrators are in the Current
Members list box.
c. On the Groups and Roles tab, verify that the Member of list box includes at
least these standard memberships:
• Metadata Server: User Administration
• Metadata Server: Operation
• Management Console: Advanced
In a standard configuration, members of the SAS Administrators group are able
to perform almost all administrative tasks.

This list highlights key points:

• You do not have to use internal accounts for your administrators. You can choose to
give an administrator an external account and a corresponding login as you would for
a regular user.
• When you log on with an internal account, remember to include the @saspw suffix
(for example, sasadm@saspw).
• A few administrative tasks (such as validating a workspace server, testing prompts,
performing backups, and importing and exporting physical content) use a standard
workspace server. Someone who has only an internal account cannot perform such
tasks without interactively providing external credentials.
• If you want to make someone an unrestricted administrator, move the Metadata
Server: Unrestricted role to the Member of list box in step 2d.
• We recommend that administrators do not also serve as regular users. If you want
someone to be an administrator only some of the time, create two user definitions for
that person.
• One definition is based on an external account and is not a member of SAS
Administrators.
 Manage Passwords 19

• The other definition is based on an internal account and is a member of SAS

Administrators.
A dual user logs on with their internal account when they need administrative
privileges and with their external account the rest of the time.

Manage Passwords
Passwords for a few required accounts (such as the SAS Administrator and the SAS
Trusted User) are included in configuration files. If these passwords change, you must
also update the configuration. See the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

Update the Password in a Login

Password management for logins is driven by changes that occur in other systems. For
example, if you have a personal login for a third-party DBMS, and you change your
DBMS password, you must also update the SAS copy of that password.
Note: Most logins do not include passwords, so this is not an extremely common task.
Note: Each user can update their own logins as necessary in SAS Personal Login
Manager.
1. Select the user (or group) whose external password has changed.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. On the Accounts tab, select the login that you need to update and click Edit.
Note: Only someone who has user administration capabilities can see logins that do
not belong to them.
4. In the Login Properties dialog box, enter and confirm the new password.

Reset an Internal Password

Note: Typically, each administrator updates their own internal password as necessary
(in SAS Management Console or SAS Personal Login Manager).
1. Select the user whose internal password you want to reset.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. At the bottom of the user's Accounts tab, click Update.
Note: If this button is not present, the user does not have an internal account.
Internal accounts are intended for only metadata administrators and certain
service identities.
4. In the user's Internal Account Properties dialog box, enter and confirm a new
password.
Note: By initial policy, internal passwords must be at least six characters, do not
have to include mixed case or numbers, and do not expire.
5. If you are resetting someone else's password, inform the owner of the account that
their password has been reset and tell them what the new password is.
20 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

Note: By initial policy, the owner of the account is forced to change the password on
first use following a password reset. This policy applies only to accounts that have a
password expiration period. This policy does not apply when you reset your own
password.

Add Contact Information

Some application features (such as subscriptions to publishing channels) can use contact
information that is stored in user definitions.
1. Select the user whose phone number, e-mail address, or location that you want to
store.
Note: You cannot store contact information for groups or roles.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. On the General tab, select the Email, Phone, or Address tab and then click New.
4. In the Properties dialog box, enter contact information.
TIP If you batch synchronize users and want to preserve contact information that
you enter interactively, use a consistent value in the Type field. In your
synchronization code, you can use this value to define exceptions that exclude
this data from the batch update.

Create a Custom Group

Why Create a Custom Group?

Most predefined groups are either very broad (PUBLIC, SASUSERS) or very narrow
and highly privileged (SAS Administrators). Create more groups for these reasons:
• To manage permissions for distinct classes of access. For example, you might create
a group for each business unit or functional area of responsibility.
• To make a shared credential available to multiple users. See “Store Shared
Credentials for a DBMS” on page 24.

How to Create a Custom Group

1. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager and make sure you are in the correct
repository.
Note: You usually create groups in the foundation repository. You can also create
groups in custom repositories.
2. Right-click and select New ð Group.
3. In the Properties dialog box:
a. On the General tab, enter a name.
 Create a Custom Role 21

TIP We recommend that you avoid using spaces or special characters in the
name of a user, group, or role that you create. Not all components support
spaces and special characters in identity names.
b. On the Members tab, assign user or groups to the new group.
c. If you want to make this group a member of other groups or roles, use the
Groups and Roles tab.
d. If you are using this group to make a shared account available, add a shared login
on the Accounts tab.

Note: You do not have to make changes on the group's Authorization tab. This tab has
no effect on what the group can do.

Create a Custom Role

Why Create a Custom Role?

In many cases, the predefined roles are sufficient. You might choose to create additional
roles for these reasons:
• To decrease the level of granularity by creating an umbrella role that aggregates two
or more existing roles. For example, you might create a role that includes all
capabilities other than those of the most privileged roles.
• To increase the level of granularity by creating a mini-role that provides only a
subset of the capabilities of a predefined role. For example, you might create a
custom role called Report Distribution that provides only the report scheduling and
distribution capabilities for SAS Web Report Studio.
• To create a cross-application role for a particular type of functionality. For example,
you might create an OLAP role that includes the OLAP capabilities from SAS
Enterprise Guide and the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office.

How to Create a Custom Role

1. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager and make sure you are in the correct
repository.
Note: You usually create roles in the foundation repository. You can also create
roles in custom repositories.
2. Right-click and select New ð Role.
3. In the Properties dialog box:
a. On the General tab, enter a name.
TIP We recommend that you avoid using spaces or special characters in the
name of a user, group, or role that you create. Not all components support
spaces and special characters in identity names.
b. On the Members tab, assign users and groups to the role.
c. Define the role's capabilities using either or both of these techniques:
22 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

• Assign capabilities to the role by selecting check boxes on the Capabilities

tab. Clicking a tree icon changes the status of the selections beneath that
icon's node.
• Give this role all of the capabilities of one or more other roles by using the
Contributing Roles tab. For example, to create a role that includes all
capabilities other than those of the most privileged roles, select the
Contributing Roles tab, move all roles over and then move the metadata
server roles back.
Note: Changes that you make to a role's capabilities affect any roles to which
that role contributes its capabilities.
Note: You cannot selectively assign or incrementally remove a contributed
capability.

Note: You do not have to make changes on the role's Authorization tab. This tab has no
effect on what the role can do.

Change a Role's Capabilities

CAUTION:
There is no automated method for reverting a role back to its original set of
capabilities. The initial capabilities-to-roles mapping is appropriate in many cases.
Instead of adjusting the capabilities of a predefined role, consider creating a new
role.
To change the set of capabilities that a role provides:
1. Make sure you have a current backup.
2. In User Manager, select the role.
3. Right-click and select Properties.
4. Use either or both of these techniques:
• Incrementally add or remove capabilities from the role by selecting or clearing
check boxes on the Capabilities tab.
Note: A capability that has gray shading behind its check box comes from a
contributing role and cannot be removed individually.
Note: If you click a selected white check box (because you want to clear that
check box) and you then see a selected gray check box , your removal of
the explicit assignment has revealed an underlying contributed capability.
Note: You cannot deselect capabilities for the unrestricted role.
• Give the role the capabilities of one or more other roles by using the
Contributing Roles tab.
Note: These relationships are dynamic; changes that you make to a role's
capabilities affect any roles to which that role contributes its capabilities.
Note: These relationships are monolithic; you cannot selectively assign or
incrementally remove a contributed capability.
This list provides details about the Capabilities tab:
 Make a SAS Copy of DBMS Credentials 23

• Some roles include implicit capabilities, which are not displayed on this tab. For
example, the ability to create users is part of the Metadata Server: User
Administration role but there is no Create Users check box on the Capabilities
tab.
• The tree icons indicate the status of the items beneath a node in the tree. Clicking
a tree icon changes the status of the selections beneath that icon's node. The
status cycles between full, empty, and partial states, with these exceptions:
• The empty state does not occur if there are contributed capabilities.

• The partial state occurs only if the original settings were mixed (some
capabilities selected, some capabilities not selected).
Note: The original settings are a cache of the selections that were in place at
the time that you first click a particular tree icon. Any intervening action
(such as clicking a check box or clicking the tree icon for a different
node) causes an update to the original settings cache. There is no cache of
earlier states. If you want to undo all of your changes, click Cancel.
5. (Optional) On the General tab, update the role's description to reflect its revised
capabilities.
6. Click OK to save the changes to the role.

Adjust Group or Role Membership

1. In User Manager, select the group or role whose membership you want to change.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. On the Members tab, add or remove identities from the group or role.
Note: The Current Members list box displays only direct members.
Note: You cannot make a role a member of a group or of another role. You can
instead make one role contribute all of its capabilities to another role.
Note: On a group definition, do not confuse the Members tab with the Groups and
Roles tab. Use a group's Groups and Roles tab only if you want to make that
group a member of other groups or roles.
TIP You can filter the contents of the Available Members list box by using the
Search radio button and the Show Users, Show Groups, and Search All
Repositories check boxes.

Make a SAS Copy of DBMS Credentials

To provide seamless access to a third-party DBMS, add a login that contains the user ID
and password for a DBMS account. These instructions are also appropriate for providing
seamless access to other servers that require credentials that are different from the
credentials with which a user initially logs on.
24 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

Store Shared Credentials for a DBMS

1. Verify the authentication domain for the DBMS:
a. On the Plug-ins tab, expand the Server Manager node and select the DBMS
server.
b. In the display area, right-click the server's connection object, select Properties,
and access the Options tab. Note which authentication domain is specified.
2. In User Manager, identify or create the group that you will use to manage the
shared DBMS account that you want to share. For example, if you want all users to
share the account, use the PUBLIC group.
3. On the group's Accounts tab, click New.
4. In the New Login Properties dialog box:
a. Enter the user ID and password for the DBMS account.
b. Select the authentication domain that you saw in step 1b.
c. Click OK to save the login.
5. On the group's Members tab, make sure that everyone who needs to use the shared
account is a member. Remember that only direct memberships are displayed, but
indirect or implicit membership is also sufficient for making the credentials
available.

Store Individual Credentials for a DBMS

Follow the instructions in the preceding topic but add the login to a user's Accounts tab
instead of a group's Accounts tab.
Note: If a user has more than one available login in a particular authentication domain,
the login that is closest to the user is used. If there is tie (for example, if a user is a
direct member of two groups and both groups have logins in the same authentication
domain), the same login is used consistently but you cannot control which of the two
logins is used.

Unlock an Internal Account

By initial policy, three consecutive failed attempts to log on with an internal account
locks that account for one hour. To immediately unlock a locked internal account:
1. In User Manager, select the user whose internal account is locked. Right-click and
select Properties.
2. Select the Accounts tab. In the confirmation message box, click Yes.
 Manage Authentication Domains 25

Adjust Policies for an Internal Account

You can use per-account settings to selectively override some of the server-level policies
for internal accounts.
TIP To verify the current server-level settings, examine the metadata server's
omaconfig.xml file.
1. On the user's Accounts tab, click Update to open the Internal Account Properties
dialog box.
2. Make changes in the Custom Settings group box.
Note: There are two distinct expiration settings. Do not confuse the account
expiration date with the password expiration period.
TIP A few required accounts (such as the SAS Administrator and the SAS
Trusted User) are included in configuration files. To minimize administrative
effort, do not add expiration dates to these accounts or expiration periods to these
passwords.

Manage Authentication Domains

Add an Authentication Domain

1. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager (or Server Manager).
2. Right-click and select Authentication Domains.
Note: This menu item is available only if you have user administration capabilities.
3. In the Authentication Domain Management dialog box, click New.
4. In the New Authentication Domain dialog box, enter a name.

Rename an Authentication Domain

CAUTION:
Changing the name of an authentication domain can interfere with single sign-
on. Do not rename an authentication domain unless you need to make a correction.
In particular, avoid renaming DefaultAuth because this requires that users update
their connection profiles to use the new name.
This list explains how users can access their connection profiles:
• In most Java desktop clients, select File ð Connection Profile and then click Edit.
• In SAS Enterprise Guide, select Tools ð Options ð Administration ð Modify and
then click Modify.
• In the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office, select SAS ð Tools ð Connections and
then click Modify.
26 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

Note: If Web applications reuse initial logon credentials, renaming an authentication

domain can also require that you update and redeploy the Web applications.
To change the name of an authentication domain, select a row in the Authentication
Domain Management dialog box and click Edit.

Delete an Authentication Domain

CAUTION:
When you delete an authentication domain, all of the logins in that
authentication domain are deleted. Before you delete an authentication domain,
make sure you have a current backup.
To delete an authentication domain, select a row in the Authentication Domain
Management dialog box and click Delete.

Rename a User, Group, or Role

CAUTION:
Do not change the name of a predefined role. If you change the name of a user
who has an internal account, that user's internal ID changes too. We recommend
that you avoid changing identity names and instead add or update display names.
1. In User Manager, select the user, group, or role that you want to rename.
2. Right-click and select Properties.
3. On the General tab, add or edit text in the Display Name field. For an identity that
does not have a display name, the name serves as the display name.

Delete a User, Group, or Role

CAUTION:
When you delete a user, group, or role, you lose all of that identity's
associations (such as permission settings and memberships). Creating a new
identity with the same name does not restore the associations.

1. Select the user, group, or role that you want to delete.

2. Right-click and select Delete. In the confirmation message box, click Yes.

Delegate Management of a Group or Role

To delegate management to someone who does not have user administration capabilities,
use explicit (white) or ACT (green) grants of the WriteMetadata permission. For
example, to delegate management of a group named ETL Developers to a user named
Tara, you would access the Authorization tab for the ETL Developers group, add Tara,
and explicitly grant the WriteMetadata permission to her.
 Tips for Finding a User, Group, or Role 27

Note: Do not assume that someone who has only indirect (gray) settings on someone
else's Authorization tab has not been delegated management. The best way to check
for delegation of an identity is to check each entry in the Users and Groups list box
on that identity's Authorization tab to see whether there are any explicit (white) or
ACT (green) grants of the WriteMetadata permission.

Include a User in Batch Synchronization

Note: Only users, groups, and roles that have an external identity can participate in
batch synchronization. The external identity serves as a synchronization key.
1. Select the user, right-click, and select Properties.
2. On the user's General tab, click External Identities.
3. Click New. In the Identifier field, enter a value that identifies the user in your
external source.
CAUTION:
An inaccurate external identity value can cause inadvertent deletion of an
identity during the synchronization process. Make sure that any external
identity value that you add corresponds to a key ID value in the tables that you
extract from your primary user registry.
Note: SAS does not enforce uniqueness when you store external identity values.
Note: The synchronization process uses only the first external identity in each list.

Import or Export Users, Groups, and Roles

You can use the standard metadata import and export framework to copy identities from
one metadata server to another. For example, to export users:
1. On the Folders tab, select SAS Folders ð System ð Security ð Users.
2. Right-click and select Export SAS Package.

For additional information, click Help in the wizard, or see the SAS Intelligence
Platform: System Administration Guide.
TIP Do not confuse these promotion tools with the user import macros that help you
create and synchronize metadata identities from an external provider, such as Active
Directory. The user import macros are documented in the SAS Intelligence Platform:
Security Administration Guide.

Tips for Finding a User, Group, or Role

This list explains how you can modify the User Manager display of users, groups, and
roles:
28 Chapter 2 • User Administration Tasks

• To sort the list of identities in ascending or descending order, click a column

heading.
• To revert to the order in which identities were added to the repository, right-click a
column heading and select Sort Original.
• To hide a column, right-click the column heading and select Hide Column.
• To show a hidden column, right-click any column heading and select Show ð the
column name.
• To change the width of a column, click and drag the edge of the column heading.
• To move a column, click and drag the column heading.
• To set a different default view, select the User Manager node on the Plug-ins tab,
right-click, and select Options.
• To limit the type of identities displayed, clear the Show Users, Show Groups, or
Show Roles check boxes.
• To filter the list of identities displayed, select the Search radio button.
Note: The User, Group, or Role column lists display names. For an identity that does
not have a display name, the name is listed instead.
To find an identity in the User Manager display:
1. Make sure the correct repository is selected at the top of the Plug-ins tab.
2. Ensure that the appropriate Show check box is selected.
3. If you cannot easily locate the identity, select the Search radio button, specify
criteria, and click Search Now. The generated list includes all identities that meet all
of the specified criteria. To specify additional criteria, click Advanced. When
advanced search criteria are applied, a yellow symbol appears on the Advanced
button.
 29

Chapter 3
Exercises in User Administration

Assign Capabilities to a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Create and Use an Internal Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Assign Capabilities to a Role

To practice customizing the distribution of capabilities across roles, complete this
exercise in SAS Management Console:
1. Log on as someone who has user administration capabilities and is a member of the
SAS Administrators group (for example, sasadm@saspw).
2. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager (make sure you are in the foundation
repository). In the display area, clear the Show Users and Show Groups check
boxes. The roles that exist in your deployment are displayed.
3. Right-click User Manager and select New ð Role. On the General tab, enter Test
Role in the Name field.
Note: Creating a new role isolates this exercise from the rest of your deployment,
ensuring that your current configuration is preserved.
4. To learn how to directly assign capabilities, select the Capabilities tab:
a. Notice that a message at the top of the tab reminds you that a few capabilities
(for example, those of the metadata server's roles) are not listed on this tab
(because those capabilities are implicit).
b. Notice that the first node (Applications) has an empty branch icon . This
indicates that no explicit capabilities are assigned to this role.
c. Notice that there is a second-level node for each component that provides explicit
capabilities. A role can provide capabilities from multiple applications.
d. Click + to expand the Management Console node. Click + to expand the Plug-
ins node. Select the Authorization Manager check box. Notice that the branch
icons are now partial . This indicates that some of the capabilities are
selected.
Note: To see a description of any capability, click that capability's text and look
at the Description field at the bottom of the tab.
e. Click the partial icon for the Plug-ins folder. This action causes all of the
capabilities beneath that node to be explicitly selected. Click again to cycle back
30 Chapter 3 • Exercises in User Administration

to the empty branch icon (no capabilities assigned). Click a third time to revert to
the immediately preceding state (only the Authorization Manager check box
selected).
f. Click the Authorization Manager check box to clear it.
5. To learn how to indirectly assign capabilities, select the Contributing Roles tab:
a. In the Available Roles list, select Management Console: Content
Management. Before you make this a contributing role, verify its capabilities.
b. Move the Management Console: Content Management role to the Current
Roles list. This role now contributes all of its capabilities to your new role. If
capabilities of this contributing role change, the capabilities of your test role
change also.

It is necessary to use contributing roles in these circumstances:

• You want to extend implicit capabilities (like the capabilities of the metadata
server roles) to other roles.
• You want to provide dynamic aggregation of roles so that changes to one role
propagate to other roles that have the first role as a contributing role.
6. To learn about interactions between contributed and directly assigned capabilities,
select your test role's Capabilities tab again.
a. Under Management Console ð Plug-ins, notice that capabilities from the
Management Console: Content Management role are now selected. A visual
indicator identifies these as contributed capabilities.
b. Select the already-selected Authorization Manager check box. This adds a
direct assignment on top of the contributed assignment, making the assignment
independent from the underlying contributing role.
c. Click the tree icon for the Plug-ins folder three times (stop when only the
Authorization Manager check box is explicitly selected).
d. Select the Authorization Manager check box again. It reverts back to the
contributed state. You cannot incrementally remove a contributed capability.
7. To close the dialog box (and not save the test role), click Cancel.

Create and Use an Internal Account

To practice creating and using an internal account, complete this exercise in SAS
Management Console:
1. Log on as someone who has user administration capabilities (for example,
sasadm@saspw).
2. On the Plug-ins tab, select User Manager. Make sure you are in the foundation
repository.
3. Right-click User Manager and select New ð User. On the General tab, enter a
short word such as test in the Name field.
4. On the Accounts tab, click Create Internal Account. In the New Internal Account
dialog box:
 Create and Use an Internal Account 31

a. Notice that the user ID is constructed from the name that you entered on the
General tab and an @saspw suffix.
b. Enter and confirm a simple initial password such as 123456.
Note: These instructions assume that the default server-level policies for internal
accounts are in place.
c. Select the Set a custom password expiration period check box and the never
expires radio button.
d. Click OK to save the new internal account.
5. Notice that the new account appears at the bottom of the Accounts tab. Click OK to
save the new user.
6. Log on to SAS Management Console as the new internal user:
a. From the main menu, select File ð Connection Profile. In the informational
message box, click Yes.
b. In the Connection Profile dialog box, select Create a new connection profile
and click OK.
c. In the Connection Profile wizard, name the profile internal, provide the
machine name and port of the metadata server, and enter the internal credentials
(for example, test@saspw and 123456). . Select the Save user ID and
password in this profile check box. Click Finish.
d. In the Connection Profile dialog box, click OK.
7. Notice that you have the permissions and capabilities of the SASUSERS and
PUBLIC groups (because you did not make any additional group or role assignments
for the test user).

Note: To clean up, log back on as someone who has user administration capabilities. In
User Manager, delete the user that you created for this exercise. To delete the test
user's home directory and MyFolder, select the Folders tab, navigate to SAS Folders
ð Users, right-click the test folder, and select Delete.

Note: There are no server configuration activities for SAS internal authentication. The
metadata server always accepts valid internal account credentials. However, internal
accounts are intended for only metadata administrators and certain service accounts.
Internal accounts are not intended for regular users.
32 Chapter 3 • Exercises in User Administration
 33

Chapter 4
Access Management Tasks

Examining Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
How to Interpret the Authorization Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
How to Check the Permissions of an Unlisted User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Which Items are Parents to This Item? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Who Can Set Permissions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Add an Explicit Grant or Denial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Use an Access Control Template (ACT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Why Use ACTs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
How to Use an ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Create a Custom ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Why Create Custom ACTs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
How to Create a Custom ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Update or Delete an ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Set a Permission Condition (OLAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Adjust the Repository-Level Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Why Adjust the Repository-Level Settings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Make Changes to the Repository ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Designate a Different ACT to Serve as the Repository ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Import or Export ACTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What Happens When I Select a Check Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Tips for Efficiently Using Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Assign Permissions To Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Use Folders To Organize Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Centralize Permissions with ACTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Deny Broadly, Grant Selectively (To the Extent Possible) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Examining Permissions
You can not view someone's permissions by looking at their user definition. To view
someone’s permissions, navigate instead to an object or container that you are interested
in, open the Properties dialog box, and select the Authorization tab.
34 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

How to Interpret the Authorization Tab

The List of Names

The Users and Groups list box includes only those users and groups who participate in
the current item's settings. An identity participates if they are included in any of these
places:
• the repository ACT's Permission Pattern tab
• a setting that this item inherits from a parent item
• an applied ACT's Permission Pattern tab
• an explicit setting on this item
Note: You cannot remove identities that participate through the repository ACT, an
applied ACT, or an inherited setting.
Any restricted user who is not listed has the access of their closest listed group. For each
unlisted user, group memberships and identity precedence determine which listed group
is closest. For example, the closest listed group for an administrator might be SAS
Administrators, and the closest listed group for a regular user might be SASUSERS. For
a full discussion of identity precedence, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.

The List of Permissions

The Effective Permissions list box displays the metadata layer access that the selected
user or group has to the current item. Effective permissions are a calculation of the net
effect of all applicable permission settings. Effective permissions do not reflect role-
based constraints or access controlled in other layers such as the operating system.
This table explains the significance of the check box colors:

Table 4.1 Significance of Color in the Permissions List

Color Term Significance

(clear)* Explicit The permission is set on the current item and assigned to the selected identity.
 Examining Permissions 35

Color Term Significance

(green) ACT The permission comes from an applied ACT whose pattern explicitly assigns the grant
or denial to the selected identity.

(gray) Indirect The permission comes from someone else (the unrestricted role or a group that has an
explicit or ACT setting) or somewhere else (a parent item or the repository ACT).**

* Explicit controls are usually white because the background color for the permissions list box is usually white.
** For the WriteMemberMetadata permission, gray means that the setting either mirrors the setting for the WriteMetadata permission or is
derived from group settings.

How to Check the Permissions of an Unlisted User

Basic Technique
Click Add and temporarily add the user to the Authorization tab.
Note: Each restricted identity that you add gets an explicit grant of the
ReadMetadata permission. If you remove the user from the Users and Groups list
box, the automatically created explicit grant of ReadMetadata is deleted.

Advanced Technique
If you are unrestricted, an Advanced button on each item's Authorization tab provides
access to the item's Explore Authorizations tab. On the Explore Authorizations tab,
you can add any user or group and view their permissions for the current item. You
cannot change settings on the Explore Authorizations tab. It is not necessary to remove
identities from this tab. This tab is for investigation only.
Note: Both the Authorization tab and the advanced Explore Authorizations tab
always display effective permissions.

Which Items are Parents to This Item?

If you are unrestricted, an Advanced button on each item's Authorization tab provides
access to the Inheritance tab. On this tab, you can trace the current item's parents.
The Inheritance tab displays a tree of items, organized by their security relationships.
The first item in the tree is always the current item. If the current item has an immediate
parent other than the repository ACT, you can expand the first node in the tree to see
those parents. You can continue expanding nodes to further trace the inheritance. The
repository-level parent (the repository ACT ) is not displayed in the tree.
TIP When you move from the Folders tab to the Inheritance tab, there is a shift in
orientation. On the Folders tab, you expand parent nodes in order to get to an item
that you are interested in. On the Inheritance tab, you begin with the item that you
are interested in and expand nodes to move up that item's inheritance path.
These examples describe how the Inheritance tab displays inheritance paths:
• Each user, group, role, ACT, and application server inherits only from the repository
ACT. On the Inheritance tab for any of these items, only the item itself is listed.
• Each BI content item (such as a report, information map, folder, or stored process)
inherits from one immediate parent. On the Inheritance tab for each of these items,
there is one expandable node immediately below the item.
36 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

Who Can Set Permissions?

Table 4.2 Requirements for Setting Permissions

Task Requirements

Set permissions on an item WriteMetadata for the item

Change the permission pattern on an ACT WriteMetadata for the ACT

Designate a different repository ACT WriteMetadata for the ACT

Note: In SAS Management Console, you cannot see the Authorization Manager or
any Authorization tabs unless you have the Authorization Manager capability.

Add an Explicit Grant or Denial

1. Navigate to the item that you want to protect or make available.
2. On the item's Authorization tab, select a user or group. Or, if you want to assign a
permission to someone who is not listed, click Add. Each restricted identity that you
add gets an explicit grant of the ReadMetadata permission.
3. In the Effective Permissions list box, select check boxes to adjust the settings for the
currently selected identity. Each click adds an explicit control to the item's
protections (except that clicking an explicit control removes that control and
reveals an underlying grant or denial).
Note: If the identity that is selected in the Users and Groups list box has the
unrestricted role, all permissions are granted and you cannot change the settings.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for any other identities whose access to this item you want to
adjust.
5. Review the settings for each identity in the Users and Groups list box. This is
important because settings that you add for a group can affect access for all members
of that group. For example, a denial that you add for the PUBLIC group blocks
access for all restricted users, unless there are other explicit or ACT (green)
grants. You must offset a broad explicit denial with explicit or ACT grants for any
restricted identities whose access you want to preserve.
6. In the Properties dialog box, click OK to save your changes.

TIP It is easy to set explicit grants and denials on each item that you want to protect
or make available. However, managing a large number of individual permission
settings can be cumbersome. See “Tips for Efficiently Using Permissions” on page
43.
 Use an Access Control Template (ACT) 37

Use an Access Control Template (ACT)

Why Use ACTs?

Use ACTs to avoid having to repeatedly set the same explicit permissions for the same
identities on multiple items. When you apply an ACT to an item, the ACT settings are
added to the item's protections.

How to Use an ACT

1. Determine whether there is an existing ACT that you can use.
a. On the Plug-ins tab of SAS Management Console, select Authorization
Manager ð Access Control Templates.
b. On the Permission Pattern tab of each ACT, examine the settings for each
identity. If you do not find an appropriate ACT, consider using a combination of
ACTs and explicit settings or creating a new ACT.
Note: Do not confuse an ACT's Authorization tab with its Permission Pattern
tab. Settings on an ACT's Authorization tab affect who can access that ACT;
settings on an ACT's Permission Pattern tab affect access to the items to
which that ACT is applied.
2. When you have identified an ACT that you want to use, navigate to an item to which
you will add that ACT's settings. On the item's Authorization tab, click Access
Control Templates.
3. Expand the nodes in the Available list box, move the ACT to the Currently Using
list box, and click OK.
Note: The repository ACT is typically not in the Currently Using list box
because that ACT is typically not applied to any items.
Note: You can apply multiple ACTs. For example, on a report folder, you might
apply one ACT that grants read access to a SALES group and also apply another
ACT that grants read and write access to a Report Creators group. If there is a tie
(for example, a group is granted ReadMetadata in one applied ACT and denied
ReadMetadata in another applied ACT), the outcome is a denial. For a full
discussion of precedence, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: Security
Administration Guide.
4. On the item's Authorization tab, notice that the Users and Groups list box now
includes the identities that participate in the ACT that you selected. Select each
identity and verify that the revised settings are as you expect. On the Authorization
tab of an item to which an ACT is applied, settings that are explicit in the ACT's
pattern are green .
5. In the item's Properties dialog box, click OK.
38 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

Create a Custom ACT

Why Create Custom ACTs?

Several predefined ACTs are provided. To further centralize access management, create
an ACT for each access pattern that you use multiple times. This list outlines common
patterns and provides tips:
• It is often useful to create ACTs to manage read access for different business units.
• It is often useful to create an ACT that manages write access for a functional group
that includes users from multiple business units.
• You do not have to capture all of an item's protections in one ACT. You can use
combinations of ACTs, explicit settings, and inherited settings to define access to an
item.

How to Create a Custom ACT

1. Review the existing ACTs to make sure that the pattern does not already exist.
a. On the Plug-ins tab of SAS Management Console, select Environment
Management ð Authorization Manager ð Access Control Templates
b. On the Permission Pattern tab of each ACT, examine the settings for each
identity.
Note: Do not confuse an ACT's Authorization tab with its Permission Pattern
tab. Settings on an ACT's Authorization tab affect who can access that ACT;
settings on an ACT's Permission Pattern tab affect access to the items to
which that ACT is applied.
2. Create the ACT.
a. On the Plug-ins tab in SAS Management Console, select Authorization
Manager ð Access Control Templates.
b. Right-click and select New Access Control Template.
c. On the General tab, enter a name. It is a good idea to use the description field to
document the intended purpose of the ACT.
d. On the Permission Pattern tab, add one or more identities and select check
boxes. Each restricted identity that you add gets a grant of the ReadMetadata
permission in the pattern.
Note: The pattern is a collection of settings that will be added to the protections
for each item to which you apply this ACT. Any gray check boxes come from
group memberships. The gray settings are not part of the ACT's pattern; they
just show the net effect of that pattern for the selected identity.
Note: For each identity, the pattern can provide a grant, a deny, or a blank
setting for each permission. Settings that are unspecified (neither granted nor
denied) in an ACT's pattern have no effect when that ACT is applied to an
item.
 Update or Delete an ACT 39

Note: If the identity that is selected in the Users and Groups list box has the
unrestricted role, all permissions are granted and you cannot change the
settings.
e. On the Authorization tab, define who can do what to the new ACT. It is
important to prevent regular users from modifying or removing an ACT. A
typical approach is to add an explicit denial of WriteMetadata for PUBLIC
and an offsetting explicit grant of WriteMetadata for SAS Administrators.
f. In the Properties dialog box, click OK. The new ACT is now in the list of ACTs
under Authorization Manager ð Access Control Templates.
3. Apply the ACT to one or more items. For each item to which you want to add the
ACT's settings, complete these steps:
a. Navigate to the item's Authorization tab.
b. Click Access Control Templates.
c. In the Available list box, open the nodes and move the new ACT to the
Currently Using list box. Click OK to close the dialog box.
d. On the item's Authorization tab, verify that the revised settings are as you
expect. On the Authorization tab of an item to which an ACT is applied, settings
that are explicit in the ACT's pattern are green .
Note: The applied ACT contributes its settings to the item's protections. The
item can also have explicit settings and other applied ACTs (as well as
inherited settings).
4. If necessary, adjust the ACT's pattern. The advantage of using an ACT is that you
can change the pattern without revisiting the items to which the pattern is applied.
Simply make changes on the ACT's Permission Pattern tab.

Update or Delete an ACT

CAUTION:
One ACT can protect thousands of items. Changes that you make to an ACT's
pattern affect every item that ACT is applied to.

CAUTION:
When you delete an ACT, you lose all of that ACT's associations to items where
it is applied. Creating a new ACT with the same name does not restore those
associations.

1. On the Plug-ins tab of SAS Management Console, navigate to Authorization

Manager ð Access Control Templates and select an ACT.
2. To modify the ACT's pattern:
a. Right-click and select Properties.
b. Adjust settings on the Permission Pattern tab.
Note: Do not confuse an ACT's Authorization tab with its Permission Pattern
tab. Settings on an ACT's Authorization tab affect who can access that ACT;
settings on an ACT's Permission Pattern tab affect access to the items to
which that ACT is applied.
c. Click OK to save your changes.
40 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

d. (Optional) Navigate to the Properties dialog box of an item that uses this ACT
and verify that the revised settings are as you expect. On the Authorization tab
of an item to which an ACT is applied, settings that are explicit in the ACT's
pattern are green .
3. To delete the ACT, right-click and select Delete. In the confirmation message box,
click Yes.

Set a Permission Condition (OLAP)

Permission conditions limit explicit grants of the Read permission, so that different users
access different subsets of data.
1. Access the Authorization tab of the dimension for which you are defining a
permission condition.
Note: In SAS Management Console, you can access dimensions on the Plug-ins tab
under Authorization Manager ð Resource Management ð By Location ð
<server> ð <OLAP schema>.
2. Select or add the identity whose access to measures you want to limit.
3. In the permissions list, add an explicit grant of the Read permission for the
selected identity.
4. Click the Add Authorization button, and then define a condition that filters the data
as appropriate for the selected identity. For detailed assistance, click the Help button
in the dialog box.
Note: If the Edit Authorization button is displayed, a condition already exists for
the selected user or group.

Note: To manage permission conditions for information maps, use SAS Information
Map Studio.
Note: To manage permission conditions for OLAP dimensions, use SAS OLAP Cube
Studio, SAS Data Integration Studio, or SAS Management Console.

See Also
“Fine-Grained Controls” on page 9

Adjust the Repository-Level Settings

Why Adjust the Repository-Level Settings?

CAUTION:
Altering the repository-level settings for service identities can prevent
necessary access. We recommend that you do not change these settings.

This list provides guidance for working with repository-level settings for a foundation
repository:
 Adjust the Repository-Level Settings 41

• All users need ReadMetadata and WriteMetadata access to the foundation repository.
It is appropriate for the SASUSERS group to have these permissions on the
repository ACT's Permission Pattern tab.
• To provide default read access to all data, grant the Read permission at the repository
level.
• To experiment with changing repository-level access, create a new ACT and
designate that ACT as the repository ACT (instead of modifying the original
repository ACT).

Make Changes to the Repository ACT

To make changes to the repository ACT:
1. On the Plug-ins tab in SAS Management Console, select Authorization Manager
ð Access Control Templates.

2. In the display area, select the repository ACT .

3. Right-click and select Properties. Make changes on the Permission Pattern tab.
Each restricted identity that you add gets a grant of the ReadMetadata permission in
the pattern.
For example, to give all registered users default read access to all data, select the
SASUSERS group and then select the Grant check box for the Read permission.
Note: Any gray check boxes are settings that come from the selected identity's group
memberships.
Note: Do not confuse the Permission Pattern tab with the Authorization tab.
Settings on the Authorization tab affect who can access this ACT; settings on
this Permission Pattern tab define access to the repository.
Note: There is no reason to specify grants or denials of the WriteMemberMetadata
permission as part of the repository-level settings. Unlike other permissions, the
WriteMemberMetadata permission is never inherited from one item to another.
Note: In the repository ACT's pattern, an identity that has a blank setting for a
particular permission (neither a grant nor a denial) is denied that permission.

Designate a Different ACT to Serve as the Repository ACT

To designate a different repository ACT:
1. Identify or create an ACT that has the repository-level settings that you want to use.
2. On the Plug-ins tab in SAS Management Console, under Authorization Manager
ð Access Control Templates, select the ACT that you want to use to define
repository-level access.
3. Right-click and select Repository ACT. In the confirmation message box, click Yes.
In the list of ACTs under Authorization Manager ð Access Control Templates,
the repository ACT icon is now displayed next to the newly designated repository
ACT. The ACT that originally served as the repository ACT still exists, but it is no
longer in use.

Note: To revert to the original repository ACT, select that ACT and repeat step 3.
42 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

Import or Export ACTs

You can use the standard metadata import and export framework to copy access control
templates (ACTs) from one metadata server to another. For example, to export ACTs:
1. On the Folders tab, select SAS Folders ð System ð Security ð Access Control
Templates.
2. Right-click and select Export SAS Package.

For additional information, click Help in the wizard, or see the SAS Intelligence
Platform: System Administration Guide.
TIP When you import an ACT, make sure that all participating users and groups exist
in the target repository (or are included in the import package).

What Happens When I Select a Check Box?

The following table explains what happens when you select a check box on the
Authorization tab. Each pair of check boxes depicts the grant and denial settings for a
permission in the Effective Permissions list. In each row, the pointer indicates an
action (a mouse click) that occurs between the before and the after.

Table 4.3 Mechanics of the Effective Permissions List

Before and After Explanation

A new explicit control overrides and hides the opposing indirect (gray) setting.

A new explicit control overrides and hides the opposing ACT (green) setting.

A new explicit control is added on top of the matching indirect (gray) setting.

A new explicit control is added on top of the matching ACT (green) setting.

A new explicit control replaces the opposing explicit control.

The explicit control is removed and one of these underlying indirect (gray) or
ACT (green) settings is revealed.
 Tips for Efficiently Using Permissions 43

Tips for Efficiently Using Permissions

Assign Permissions To Groups

You can simplify access control management by assigning permissions to groups rather
than to individual users. These examples assume that there are not other explicit or ACT
settings on the item:
• To allow only unrestricted users to access an item, set denials on that item for the
PUBLIC group.
• To enable only registered users to access an item, set denials for the PUBLIC group
and then grant access back to the SASUSERS group.
• To enable only ETL developers and unrestricted users to access an item, create a
group for the ETL developers. Then deny permissions to the PUBLIC group and
grant access back to the ETL developers group.

Use Folders To Organize Content

You can simplify access control management by creating a folder structure that reflects
the access distinctions that you want to make. Instead of setting permissions on each
individual item, set permissions on the folders. The items in a folder inherit the folder's
effective permissions.
TIP To protect the folder structure, do not grant WriteMetadata permission on a
folder to someone for whom WriteMemberMetadata permission is sufficient.

Centralize Permissions with ACTs

You can simplify access control management by using ACTs. An ACT is a reusable
named pattern of settings that you can apply to multiple items. Each ACT consists of
these elements:
• a list of users and groups
• an indication of whether each permission is granted, denied, or unspecified for each
user and group in the list

Deny Broadly, Grant Selectively (To the Extent Possible)

Assign denials to the broadest group (PUBLIC) and then add offsetting grants for users
or groups whose access you want to preserve. Deny access at the highest point of control
and then grant access back on specific containers or items. These constraints apply:
• The highest point of control is the repository-level settings that are defined on the
foundation repository ACT's Permission Pattern tab. The security model requires
that participating users have ReadMetadata and WriteMetadata access at this level,
so broadly denying access here is not a workable approach. Instead, use the next
point of control, which is the top of the folder tree on the Folders tab.
44 Chapter 4 • Access Management Tasks

• Within the folder tree, users need a clear path of grants of ReadMetadata in order to
navigate to the items that they use. For this permission, setting denials on folders at a
high level is not a workable approach.
 45

Chapter 5
Exercises in Access Management

Working with Explicit Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Working with ACTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Working with Inherited Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
WriteMetadata and WriteMemberMetadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Working with Explicit Controls

To experiment with explicit controls, complete this exercise in SAS Management
Console:
1. Log on as someone who has a well-formed user definition.
2. On the Folders tab, right-click your My Folder and select New ð Folder.
Create a new folder named test.
3. Right-click the test folder and select Properties. On the test folder's
Authorization tab, briefly examine the settings for each identity in the Users and
Groups list box. Notice that all of the settings are indirect . These settings come
from the test folder's parent folder.
Note: You cannot remove anyone, because all of the listed identities participate in
settings that are defined elsewhere.
4. To give the SASUSERS group an explicit setting:
a. In the Users and Groups list box on the test folder's Authorization tab, select
SASUSERS. Notice that SASUSERS has an indirect denial of the
ReadMetadata permission.
Note: These instructions assume that your My Folder has standard settings.
If this setting is not present, select another identity (such as PUBLIC) that
does have an indirect denial of ReadMetadata.
b. Select the opposing check box (grant ReadMetadata). This gives the SASUSERS
group an explicit grant of ReadMetadata permission on the test folder.
c. Select the grant ReadMetadata check box again. This removes the explicit grant
and reveals the underlying indirect denial.
d. Select the (already selected) deny ReadMetadata check box. This adds an explicit
denial on top of the indirect denial.
46 Chapter 5 • Exercises in Access Management

e. Click OK. An error message tells you that you cannot save these settings. The
only explicit setting on the test folder is the denial of ReadMetadata permission
for SASUSERS. This denial blocks access for all registered users, including you.
Click OK to close the message box and return to the Authorization tab.
Note: If you are unrestricted, you will not see the error message. Go to step 5.
f. To see the impact that the SASUSERS denial has on you, select yourself in the
Users and Groups list box on the test folder's Authorization tab. Notice that
your previous indirect grant of ReadMetadata permission is now an indirect
denial of ReadMetadata permission.
g. To restore access for yourself, select the grant ReadMetadata check box. This
gives you an explicit grant that offsets the SASUSERS explicit denial. Click OK.
Note: An offsetting grant does not have to be assigned directly to you; it can be
assigned to any group that is closer to you than the group that has the explicit
denial. For example, your custom group memberships are closer to you than
SASUSERS, and SASUSERS is closer to you than PUBLIC.
5. To give an explicit setting to someone who is not already listed:
a. On the test folder's Authorization tab, click Add. In the Add Users and
Groups dialog box, clear the Show Groups check box. Move one user (such as
the SAS Demo User) to the Selected Identities list box and click OK.
Note: In practice, it is preferable to assign permissions to groups rather than to
individual users (for ease of management).
b. On the Authorization tab, notice that the user is selected and has an explicit
grant of ReadMetadata permission. An explicit grant of ReadMetadata
permission is automatically given to every restricted identity that you add.
Select the opposing check box, deny ReadMetadata permission. This replaces the
explicit grant with an explicit denial.
Note: If the selected user has the unrestricted role, you cannot change any
settings.
c. Click Remove and then click Yes in the confirmation message box. You can
remove this user because this user is named only in explicit settings.

Note: Regular users cannot navigate to each other's MyFolder because of a denial
of ReadMetadata permission to PUBLIC on a parent folder.
6. To clean up, right-click the test folder and select Delete.

Working with ACTs

Instead of setting every permission explicitly, use access control templates (ACTs). Each
ACT consists of a pattern of grants and denials that are assigned to different users and
groups. When you apply an ACT to an object, the ACT settings are added to the object's
protections. When you want to assign the same settings to several disparate resources,
using an ACT is beneficial for these reasons:
• It is easier to apply a pattern than it is to set each permission individually on each
resource for which the pattern is appropriate.
 Working with ACTs 47

• If you need to change access to the objects to which a pattern is applied, you can
simply update the permission pattern, rather than revisiting each resource and
individually modifying the settings.
To learn more, complete this exercise in SAS Management Console:
1. Log on as someone who has a well-formed user definition.
2. On the Folders tab, right-click your My Folder and select New ð Folder.
Create a new folder named test2.
3. Right-click the test2 folder and select Properties. On the folder's Authorization
tab, briefly examine the settings for each identity in the Users and Groups list box.
Notice that all of the settings are indirect .
4. To apply an ACT to the test2 folder:
a. Click Access Control Templates. In the Add and Remove Access Control
Templates dialog box, expand the Foundation node in the Available list box and
select Private User Folder ACT.
b. Before you apply this ACT to the test2 folder, click Properties to verify the
settings that this ACT provides. On the Permission Pattern tab, notice that this
ACT provides denials of ReadMetadata, WriteMetadata, and CheckInMetadata
permissions for the PUBLIC group, grants of these permissions for the SAS
Administrators group, and a grant of ReadMetadata permission for the SAS
System Services group.
Note: Each ACT's pattern consists of only the explicit settings on that
ACT's Permission Pattern tab. Settings that are unspecified (blank) on an
ACT's pattern have no effect when that ACT is applied to an object.
Click Cancel to return to the list of ACTs that are applied to the test2 folder.
c. In the Add and Remove Access Control Templates dialog box, move Private
User Folder ACT to the Currently Using list box. This adds that ACT's settings
to the access controls for the test2 folder. Any future changes to this ACT's
permission pattern will affect access to this folder.
Note: The Currently Using list box includes only applied ACTs; so this list
typically does not include the repository ACT (default ACT).
d. Click OK to return to the Authorization tab. Notice that the PUBLIC denials of
ReadMetadata, WriteMetadata, and CheckInMetadata permissions now come
from an ACT (those denials are now green ). Select SAS Administrators
and notice the green grants of the same permissions. These ACT settings override
and hide the underlying indirect settings.
e. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box for the test2 folder.
Note: If you are restricted, an error message indicates that you cannot save the
settings. Click OK to dismiss the message. On the Authorization tab, select
yourself and add explicit grants of ReadMetadata and WriteMetadata
permissions. Click OK.
5. To clean up, right-click the test2 folder and select Delete.

Several predefined ACTs are provided on the Plug-ins tab under Authorization
Manager ð Access Control Templates. You can create additional ACTs in this
location.
48 Chapter 5 • Exercises in Access Management

Working with Inherited Settings

Instead of setting permissions on every individual object, use inherited settings. This
approach reduces the number of access controls that you have to manage. For example,
rather than adding explicit settings or ACTs to every report, you can set permissions on a
folder that contains reports for which those permissions are appropriate.
To learn more, complete this exercise in SAS Management Console:
1. Log on as someone who has a well-formed user definition.
2. On the Folders tab, right–click your My Folder and select New ð Folder.
Create a new folder named parent.
3. Right-click the parent folder and create another folder named child.

4. Right-click the child folder and select Properties. On the Authorization tab,
select SASUSERS. Notice that this group has an indirect denial of the Read
permission. Click Cancel.
5. Right-click the parent folder and select Properties. On the Authorization tab,
select SASUSERS, add an explicit grant of Read permission, and click OK.
6. Right-click the child folder and select Properties. On the Authorization tab,
select SASUSERS. Notice that this group now has an inherited grant of Read
permission.
7. On the child folder's Authorization tab, add an explicit grant of Read
permission on top of the inherited grant of Read permission, and click OK. This
ensures that read access for SASUSERS is preserved even if the setting on the
parent folder changes.
8. To verify that the explicit setting on the child folder is preserved, change the
parent folder setting for SASUSERS to an explicit denial of Read permission,
and then check the child folder settings again. For SASUSERS, the explicit
grant of Read permission is still there. The denial on the parent folder is not
relevant for the child folder because there is an explicit setting on the child
folder.
9. To clean up, right-click the parent folder and select Delete.

WriteMetadata and WriteMemberMetadata

The following permissions affect the ability to create, update, and delete metadata.
WriteMetadata (WM)
Edit, delete, change permissions for, or rename an object. For example, to edit a
report, you need WM for the report. To delete a report, you need WM for the report
(and WMM for the report's parent folder). For containers other than folders (such as
repositories, libraries, and schemas), WM also affects adding and deleting child
objects. For example, to add an object anywhere in a repository, you need WM at the
 WriteMetadata and WriteMemberMetadata 49

repository level. For folders, adding and deleting child objects is controlled by
WMM, not WM.
WriteMemberMetadata (WMM)
Add an object to a folder or delete an object from a folder. For example, to save a
report to a folder, you need WMM for the folder. To remove a report from a folder,
you need WMM for the folder (and WM for the report). To enable someone to
interact with a folder's contents but with not the folder itself, grant WMM and deny
WM.
Note: We recommend that anyone who has a grant of WM is not denied WMM.
To experiment with WM and WMM, complete this exercise in SAS Management
Console:
1. Log on as someone who has a well-formed user definition.
Note: Step 5a assumes that you are restricted and are not in the SAS Administrators
group. To create a temporary restricted user for this exercise, use an internal
account. (for example, use the name temp and log on as temp@saspw).
2. On the Folders tab, right-click your My Folder and select New ð Folder.
Create a new folder named learn.
3. To see how WM influences WMM:
a. Right-click the learn folder, select Properties, and select the Authorization
tab.
b. Notice that WMM is in the permissions list. This permission is meaningful only
for folders.
c. In the Users and Groups list box, select PUBLIC. Notice that this group has
indirect denials for both WM and WMM. Add an explicit grant of WM.
Notice that this causes the WMM setting to change to a grant.
d. Select the grant WM check box again. This clears the check box and removes the
explicit grant. Notice that the WMM setting also reverts to a denial.
e. Add an explicit grant of WMM. Notice that this has no effect on the WM
setting. The mirroring is one-way. WM influences WMM, but WMM does not
influence WM. Remove the grant of WMM to revert to the initial settings
(indirect denials of both WM and WMM). Click OK.
4. To see how WMM on a folder is conveyed to the objects inside the folder:
a. Right-click the learn folder and select New ð Folder. Create a new folder
named child.

b. On the learn folder's Authorization tab, click Add. In the Add Users and
Groups dialog box, clear the Show Groups check box. Move one restricted user
(such as the SAS Demo User) to the Selected Identities list box and click OK.
c. In the permissions list, give the user who you just added an explicit denial of
WM and an explicit grant of WMM. Click OK.
Note: If the permissions list is disabled, the selected user is unrestricted (for
example, the original SAS Administrator is unrestricted). Add a restricted
user to the Authorization tab.
50 Chapter 5 • Exercises in Access Management

d. On the child folder's Authorization tab, select the user who you added in step
4b. Notice that the denial of WM on the learn folder is not conveyed to the
child folder. Instead, the grant of WMM on the learn folder is conveyed to the
child folder as an indirect grant of WM. On the child folder, the WMM setting
mirrors the WM setting as usual.
5. To see which actions each permission controls:
a. Right-click your My Folder . Notice that actions such adding a new folder or
stored process are available (because you have WMM) but, if you are a regular
user, Rename and Delete are disabled (because you do not have WM).
Note: This is an example of a folder that is under administrative control. Certain
users (or groups) can contribute objects to the folder, but the folder itself is
protected.
b. Right-click the learn folder and examine its pop-up menu. Notice that all
actions are all available (because you have both WM and WMM).
6. To clean up, right-click the learn folder and select Delete. If you created a
temporary user for this exercise, log on with your administrative account, delete the
temporary user (on the Plug-ins tab under User Manager) and that user's associated
folder (at SAS Folders ð User Folders ð <the temporary user> or SAS Folders
ð Users ð <the temporary user>).
 51

Glossary

access control template

a reusable named authorization pattern that you can apply to multiple resources. An
access control template consists of a list of users and groups and indicates, for each
user or group, whether permissions are granted or denied. Short form: ACT.

authentication
the process of verifying the identity of a person or process within the guidelines of a
specific authorization policy.

authentication domain
a SAS internal category that pairs logins with the servers for which they are valid.
For example, an Oracle server and the SAS copies of Oracle credentials might all be
classified as belonging to an OracleAuth authentication domain.

authentication provider
a software component that is used for identifying and authenticating users. For
example, an LDAP server or the host operating system can provide authentication.

authorization
the process of determining which users have which permissions for which resources.
The outcome of the authorization process is an authorization decision that either
permits or denies a specific action on a specific resource, based on the requesting
user's identity and group memberships.

capability
an application feature that is under role-based management. Typically, a capability
corresponds to a menu item or button. For example, a Report Creation capability
might correspond to a New Report menu item in a reporting application. Capabilities
are assigned to roles.

credentials
the user ID and password for an account that exists in some authentication provider.

external identity
a synchronization key for a user, group, or role. For example, employee IDs are often
used as external identities for users. This is an optional attribute that is needed only
for identities that you batch update using the user import macros.

identity
a user, group, or role definition.
52 Glossary

internal account
a SAS account that you can create as part of a user definition. Internal accounts are
intended for metadata administrators and some service identities; these accounts are
not intended for regular users.

internal authentication
a process in which the metadata server verifies a SAS internal account. Internal
authentication is intended for only metadata administrators and some service
identities.

login
a SAS copy of information about an external account. Each login includes a user ID
and belongs to one SAS user or group. Most logins do not include a password.

permission condition
a control that defines access to data at a low level, specifying who can access
particular rows within a table or particular members within an OLAP cube. Such
controls are typically used to subset data by a user characteristic such as employee
ID or organizational unit. For example, an OLAP cube that contains employee
information might have member-level controls that enable each manager to see the
salary history of only that manager's employees. Similarly, a table that contains
patient medical information might have row-level controls that enable each doctor to
see only those rows that contain data about that doctor's patients.

restricted identity
a user or group that is subject to capability requirements and permission denials in
the metadata environment. Anyone who isn't in the META: Unrestricted Users Role
and isn't listed in the adminUsers.txt file with a preceding asterisk is a restricted
identity.

role
a set of capabilities. In some applications, certain actions are available only to users
or groups that have a particular role.

service identity
an identity or account that exists only for the purpose of supporting certain system
activities and does not correspond to a real person. For example, the SAS Trusted
User is a service identity.

unrestricted identity
a user or group that has all capabilities and permissions in the metadata environment
due to membership in the META: Unrestricted Users Role (or listing in the
adminUsers.txt file with a preceding asterisk).

Web authentication
a configuration in which users of Web applications are verified at the Web perimeter
and the metadata server trusts that verification.

well-formed user definition

a user definition that includes a login with an appropriate user ID. For a Windows
account, the user ID in the login must be qualified (for example, WIN\marcel or
[email protected]). The login does not have to include a password. For
metadata administrators and some service identities, it is appropriate to use an
internal account instead of a login.
 53

Index

A E
access control templates 43 explicit controls 45
creating 38 explicit permissions 36
deleting 39 external identities 8
exporting 42 adding 27
importing 42
updating 39
using 37 G
access control templates (ACTs) groups 3
permission settings 46 creating 20
ACT permission settings 46 DBMS access 24
ACTs deleting 26
See access control templates membership 23
administrators PUBLIC 3
Administer permission 11 renaming 26
administrative group 3 SASUSERS 3
administrative roles 4
intermittent 18
authentication domains 7 I
managing 25 identity precedence 10
authentication tasks Inheritance tab 35
configuring SAS internal authentication inherited permission settings 48
31 internal accounts 6
Authorization tab 34 policies 25
selecting check boxes on 42 unlock 24
significance of check box colors 34

L
C logins 5
capabilities 3 qualifying Windows user IDs in 5
assigning to a role 22 uniqueness requirement 8
assigning to roles 29 used to establish a SAS identity 17
creating 3 used to provide access to other systems
needed for user administration 16 23

D M
default ACT metadata
See repository ACT WriteMetadata and
WriteMemberMetadata permissions
48
54 Index

P configuring 31
passwords 7
maintenance 19
permissions 11 U
ACT settings 46 user administration 1
best practices for using 43 delegating 26
conditional 40 requirements for performing 16
explicit settings 45 user IDs
inheritance 10 qualifying in logins 5
inherited settings 48 uniqueness requirement 8
who can set 36 users 2
WriteMetadata (WM) and creating 16
WriteMemberMetadata (WMM) 48 creating administrators 17
DBMS access 24
deleting 26
R dual 18
repository ACT 9 finding 27
making changes to 40 intermittent administrators 18
roles 3 renaming 26
assigning capabilities to 29 storing contact information 20
creating 21 unrestricted 4
deleting 26
membership 23
reconfiguring 22 W
renaming 26 WriteMemberMetadata (WMM)
permission 48
WriteMetadata (WM) permission 48
S
SAS internal authentication