HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

This section describes how to set up a project account that uses access control lists (ACLs) to control access to files shared by members of a project group. See the OpenVMS Guide to System Security for complete details on setting up accounts with ACLs.

How to Perform This Task

You must first add an identifier to the rights database for the project account. Use the AUTHORIZE command ADD/IDENTIFIER to add identifiers to the rights database and then associate users as holders of existing ACL identifiers with the AUTHORIZE command GRANT/IDENTIFIER. All users who hold the project's identifier can use the disk space of the project account.

You can set up the project account so that disk space is charged to the project, rather than to individual users, by assigning the resource attribute to the project identifier.

Example

The following example summarizes the steps for setting up a project account:

1. Set up individual user accounts for each member sharing the project account (as described in Section 7.5 and Section 7.6 on adding a user account).
2. Create the project identifier with the resource attribute and grant it to those users who will have access to the project account. In the example that follows, the project identifier KITE_FLYING is given the resource attribute. This identifier is then granted to users GEORGE and LINDORF.

   $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:AUTHORIZE UAF> ADD/IDENTIFIER KITE_FLYING/ATTRIBUTES=RESOURCE {message} UAF> GRANT/IDENTIFIER KITE_FLYING GEORGE/ATTRIBUTES=RESOURCE {message} UAF> GRANT/IDENTIFIER KITE_FLYING LINDORF/ATTRIBUTES=RESOURCE {message} UAF> EXIT

3. Create the disk quota authorization for the project identifier. For example, the following command invokes SYSMAN and assigns the identifier KITE_FLYING 2000 blocks of disk quota with 200 blocks of overdraft:

   $ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:SYSMAN SYSMAN> DISKQUOTA ADD KITE_FLYING/PERMQUOTA=2000/OVERDRAFT=200 SYSMAN> EXIT

4. Create the project directory. For example, the following DCL command creates the project directory [KITE_FLYING] and establishes the identifier KITE_FLYING as the owner:

   $ CREATE/DIRECTORY [KITE_FLYING]/OWNER=[KITE_FLYING]

5. Set up the necessary ACL and default ACL on the project directory. For example, the following DCL command places an ACL on the directory [KITE_FLYING] that permits any holder of the identifier KITE_FLYING to gain read, write, or execute access to the directory; it also ensures that files created in the directory receive the same ACE (access control list entry) as a default:

   $ SET SECURITY [000000]KITE_FLYING.DIR;1 - _$ /ACL=((DEFAULT_PROTECTION,S:RWED,O:RWED,G,W) - _$ (IDENTIFIER=KITE_FLYING, ACCESS=READ+WRITE+EXECUTE), - _$ (IDENTIFIER=KITE_FLYING,OPTIONS=DEFAULT,ACCESS=READ+WRITE+EXECUTE))

Access must be granted through ACL entries, because the owner identifier of the directory and the files (KITE_FLYING) does not match the UIC of any of the project members; thus, only world access is available through the UIC-based protection mask. The first ACE of the specified ACL gives all project members read, write, and execute access to the directory; the second ACE gives them read, write, and execute access for all files created in the directory.

Note that project members are not allowed to delete (or control) files created by others. However, the members each have complete access to files that they have created in the directory, because the file system supplies an additional default ACL entry that grants to the creator control access plus the access specified in the OWNER field of the UIC-based protection mask. This ACE appears only when the owner of the created file does not match the UIC of the creator.

Thus, when LINDORF creates the file [KITE_FLYING]THURSDAY.TXT, the file receives the following access control list by default:

(IDENTIFIER=LINDORF,OPTIONS=NOPROPAGATE,
ACCESS=READ+WRITE+EXECUTE+CONTROL)
(IDENTIFIER=KITE_FLYING,ACCESS=READ+WRITE+EXECUTE)

You can use the Creator ACE command in the ACL editor to add an extra ACE to the ACL for a file created within the directory to which you assign the Creator ACE. The Creator ACE applies only when the following conditions exist:

• The file being created is not owned by the user identification code (UIC) of the process creating the file.
• The process creating the file does not have system privileges.

See the OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual and the OpenVMS Guide to System Security for more information about the Creator ACE.

7.9.3 Understanding Network Proxy Accounts

A network proxy account allows users on a remote node in a network to access data by way of a local account on your system. Proxy accounts are useful when you want to grant one or more users on a remote node access to specific files, but you do not want to give them a private account on your system. Very often, system managers set up proxy accounts as restricted. You establish and control proxy accounts with the Authorize utility (AUTHORIZE).

With proxy accounts, you can authorize one or more users on a remote node to enter DCL commands that access data from a particular account on your system. Proxy accounts allow remote users to access specific local data (for example, type and print files) without having to log in to your system or use an access control string. Remote users assume the same file access rights as the local account and also receive the default privileges of the local account. The following sections explain the procedures for setting up proxy accounts.

To properly maintain proxy database consistency across all members of a mixed-version OpenVMS Cluster system, you must perform all proxy modifications from either of the following systems:

• A VAX Version 6.1 (or later) system
• An Alpha Version 6.2 (or later) system

This restriction ensures that the NET$PROXY.DAT database is updated with correct proxy information.

For more information about proxy accounts, see the OpenVMS Guide to System Security.

7.9.4 Creating Network Proxy Authorization Files

A proxy account permits an authorized user from a remote node to log in to a local node, as if the user owned an account on the local node. Proxy accounts are created and maintained using the Authorize utility (AUTHORIZE). See the OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual for more information about the Authorize utility.

On OpenVMS systems, the following information is stored in two proxy authorization files, NETPROXY.DAT and NET$PROXY.DAT:

• On systems running DECnet for OpenVMS, both NETPROXY.DAT and NET$PROXY.DAT contain proxy information stored using DECnet VAX node names.
• On systems running DECnet-Plus:
  • NET$PROXY.DAT contains proxy information stored using DECnet-Plus full names.
  • NETPROXY.DAT contains proxy information stored using DECnet-Plus node synonyms.

  Note Deleting either NETPROXY.DAT or NET$PROXY.DAT will result in incorrect functioning of proxy access on systems running DECnet for OpenVMS Phase IV. Also, many applications such as ALL-IN-1 rely on NETPROXY.DAT.

The SYSUAF.DAT file, on your local system, must associate proxy accounts with user accounts. You will probably want to create a "standard access" account in the UAF for proxy accounts. For example, you could create an account named REMOTE_MKT with limited privileges, which allows access to certain data files on your local system.

Suppose you have a group of users on your local system who prepare marketing reports and who rely on input from users on other systems. You would assign the REMOTE_MKT account in SYSUAF.DAT the same group number and default privileges you assign to the local marketing group. In this way, the remote contributors could access any data files that are "owned" by users in your marketing group and that are not protected from group access.

How to Perform This Task

Use the AUTHORIZE command CREATE/PROXY to create and initialize network proxy authorization files:

UAF> CREATE/PROXY

Create a proxy account by adding entries to the network proxy authorization file; these entries equate one or more users on a remote node to users on your home node.

How to Perform This Task

The command syntax for adding a proxy account is as follows:

You can allow remote users access to up to 16 total local accounts: 1 default proxy account and 15 alternate proxy accounts. Use the /DEFAULT qualifier to specify the default proxy account.

Examples

1. The following command adds a user proxy account:

   UAF> ADD/PROXY HAL::WALTER REMOTE_MKT/DEFAULT,PROXY2,PROXY3

   
   Assume that you have created three accounts named REMOTE_MKT, PROXY2, and PROXY3 on your home node. The entry in this example permits the user WALTER on remote node HAL to access data by way of the REMOTE_MKT account on your home node. WALTER can access any data from his node that REMOTE_MKT can access locally. To access data through either PROXY2 or PROXY3, WALTER must specify the desired proxy account in the access control string of the DCL command used to perform network file operations.

   Caution Because the remote user receives the same privileges as the local user, do not set up proxy accounts associated with local accounts that have special privilege. Granting remote users such access powers poses a threat to the security of your system.

2. You can specify remote users by user name or, for remote systems that do not recognize the user name syntax, by UIC. The following example allows the user associated with the UIC [360,54] on remote node RSTS32 proxy access to the GENERIC account on the local node:

   UAF> ADD/PROXY RSTS32::[360,54] GENERIC/DEFAULT

3. A number of your users might have accounts on a remote node and require ready access to their local files. You can create a network proxy authorization file record that grants access to each of them, provided the user name on your system is the same as the user name on the remote node. The following form of the ADD/PROXY command adds such a record:

   UAF> ADD/PROXY HAL::* */DEFAULT

   This command authorizes any user on the remote node HAL to access any account with the same user name on your system.
   Similarly, you might want to permit this sort of access for just one user:

   UAF> ADD/PROXY HAL::BARBARA */DEFAULT

4. On systems running DECnet-Plus, the system adds network proxies to the network proxy authorization file NET$PROXY.DAT using DECnet-Plus full names. For example:

   UAF> ADD/PROXY RUBY::DELAPORT DELAPORT/DEFAULT,SYSTEM %UAF-I-NAFADDMSG, proxy from OMNI:.US.RUBY::DELAPORT to DELAPORT added %UAF-I-NAFADDMSG, proxy from OMNI:.US.RUBY::DELAPORT to SYSTEM added

   
   This example adds proxy access from RUBY::DELAPORT to the local accounts DELAPORT (the default) and SYSTEM.
   The system additionally stores node synonyms in NETPROXY.DAT for use by DECnet for OpenVMS and for backward compatibility for layered products.

To remove proxy accounts, use the AUTHORIZE command REMOVE/PROXY; for example:

UAF> REMOVE/PROXY RUBY::DELAPORT SYSTEM

This command removes proxy access from RUBY::DELAPORT to the local SYSTEM account.

7.9.7 Displaying Proxy Accounts

To display proxy accounts, use the AUTHORIZE command SHOW/PROXY. This command displays only the first 255 characters of the node name, although the command can handle a maximum of 1024 characters.

The following examples assume that proxy access from RUBY::DELAPORT to the local account DELAPORT has been added to the network proxy authorization file as the default. (The second example shows the DECnet-Plus equivalent of RUBY::DELAPORT.)

Examples

1. On systems running DECnet for OpenVMS, the system displays the following type of information:

   UAF> SHOW/PROXY *::*

   RUBY::DELAPORT DELAPORT (D)

   
   (D) indicates that DELAPORT is the default proxy.
2. On systems running DECnet-Plus, the system displays information in full names format:

   UAF> SHOW/PROXY *::*

   OMNI:.US.RUBY::DELAPORT DELAPORT (D)

   
   (D) indicates that DELAPORT is the default proxy.
   You can display information in the old format NETPROXY.DAT database by using the /OLD qualifier with the SHOW/PROXY command; for example:

   UAF> SHOW/PROXY/OLD *::*

Whenever a proxy login request occurs, the system verifies that proxy access on the participating nodes is enabled. (By default, both incoming and outgoing proxy access is enabled for each node.)

On systems running DECnet for OpenVMS, you can change proxy access or disable it totally by using the Network Control Program (NCP). The DECnet for OpenVMS Networking Manual describes how to use NCP to control proxy access.

On systems running DECnet-Plus software, you can change proxy access by using the Network Control Language utility (NCL). The DECnet-Plus Network Control Language Reference manual describes how to use NCL.

When managing user accounts, you might have to manage a user's mail account. For example, you may want to perform the following tasks:

• Change a user's mail profile; for example, change a user name or specify a default print queue for the account
• Set a forwarding address for a user who has moved to another location
• Disable a user's account from receiving mail
• Customize a user's mail environment by setting flags in a user's UAF record

The following sections explain how to perform all of these tasks.

7.10.1 Modifying a User Record

All users can modify and display information about their own records using various SET and SHOW commands available within Mail. These commands access SYS$SYSTEM:VMSMAIL_PROFILE.DATA, which is a single-key indexed sequential file containing information for each user.

With SYSNAM, you can change the mail forwarding address for a user (including one without an account) on the system with the Mail utility command SET FORWARD/USER=user.

7.10.2 Removing a User Record

Typically, once you have deleted a user's record in the UAF, you will also want to remove that user's information from the user profile database. You can remove a record from the user profile database with the REMOVE command.

7.10.3 AUTHORIZE Flags and Mail

Certain flags set in a user's UAF record can affect the user's Mail environment. You can set the appropriate flags in a user account by specifying the following flags with the /FLAGS qualifiers using AUTHORIZE:

This section contains detailed descriptions of the resource control attributes you can assign to a user process when creating a record in the UAF.

7.11.1 Understanding Pages and Pagelets

VAX and Alpha systems allocate and deallocate memory for processes in units called pages. A page on a VAX system is 512 bytes. On Alpha systems, the page size will be one of four values: 8KB (8192 bytes), 16KB, 32KB, or 64KB. A particular Alpha system will implement only one of the four page sizes and the initial set of machines use an 8KB page.

In most cases, Alpha systems present to users, and accept from users, units of memory in a 512-byte quantity called a pagelet. Thus, one pagelet is the same size as one VAX page. Also, on an Alpha 8KB computer, 16 pagelets equal 1 Alpha page. The following conversion table shows the relationship between pages, pagelets, and bytes:

One Alpha pagelet = one VAX page      = 512 bytes
One Alpha page    = 16 Alpha pagelets = 16 VAX pages = 8192 bytes

Authorize utility commands, parameters, and default values are identical. However, the default values for process quotas related to memory use might be inappropriate for some Alpha system users.

See A Comparison of System Management on OpenVMS AXP and OpenVMS VAX for more information about Alpha system management. (This manual has been archived but is avalable on the OpenVMS Documentation CD-ROM.)

7.11.2 Setting Limits on System Resources

Each system user is limited in the consumption of such resources as system memory, volatile (pagefile) disk space, number of processes, and I/O requests. You set limits when you create an account for the user with the Authorize utility.

Limits control the way in which a process shares its allotment of a resource with the subprocesses it creates. In addition to restricting the number of processes that a single user or account has at any given time, the system uses four types of limits for sharing resources. Table 7-1 describes these limits.

When you create an account, you assign values to the limits shown in Table 7-8. These limits are described in the following sections. Usually, you simply assign the default values for these limits. However, see the OpenVMS Performance Management for a discussion of how to evaluate and adjust the limits in the context of performance optimization strategies.

Table 7-8 summarizes each of these limits, the value supplied in the UAF record for the SYSTEM and DEFAULT accounts, and the type of limit.

Table 7-9 shows the names and descriptions of the SYSTEM and DEFAULT accounts whose values are listed in Table 7-8. The /EXPIRATION qualifier is also described in Table 7-9.