Role-based Permissions

The User Management module in WSO2 products enables role-based access. With this functionality, the permissions enabled for a particular role determines what that user can do using the management console of a WSO2 product. Permissions can be granted to a role at two levels:

Super tenant level: A role with super tenant permissions is used for managing all the tenants in the system and also for managing the key features in the system, which are applicable to all the tenants.
Tenant level: A role with tenant level permissions is only applicable to individual tenant spaces.

The permissions navigator that you use to enable permissions for a role is divided into these two categories (Super Admin permissions and Admin permissions) as shown below. However, note that there may be other categories of permissions enabled for a WSO2 product, depending on the type of features that are installed in the product.

You can access the permissions navigator for a particular role by clicking Permissions as shown below.

By default, every WSO2 product comes with the following User, Role and Permissions configured:

The Admin user and Admin role is defined and linked to each other in the user-mgt.xml file, stored in the <PRODUCT_HOME>/repository/conf/ directory as shown below.
```
<AddAdmin>true</AddAdmin>
<AdminRole>admin</AdminRole>
<AdminUser>
     <UserName>admin</UserName>
     <Password>admin</Password>
</AdminUser>
```
The Admin role has all the permissions in the system enabled by default. Therefore, this is a super tenant, with all permissions enabled.

You will be able to log in to the management console of the product with the Admin user defined in the user-mgt.xml file. You can then create new users and roles and configure permissions for the roles using the management console. However, note that you cannot modify the permissions of the Admin role. The possibility of managing users, roles and permissions is granted by the User Management permission. See the documentation on configuring the user realm for more information.

Description of role-based permissions

Note that the descriptions given in this document only explains how permissions control access to operations available on the management console.

The descriptions of permissions in the Permissions navigator are as follows:

The Login permission defined under Admin permissions allows users to log in to the management console of the product. Therefore, this is the primary permission required for using the management console.

The following table describes the permissions at Super Tenant level. These are also referred to as Super Admin permissions.

Permission

Description of UI menus enabled

Configuration permissions:

The Super Admin/Configuration permissions are used to grant permission to the key functions in a product server, which are common to all the tenants. In each WSO2 product, several configuration permissions will be available depending on the type of features that are installed in the product.

- Feature Management permission ensures that a user can control the features installed in the product using the management console. That is, the Features option will be enabled under the Configure menu.
- Logging permission enables the possibility to configure server logging from the management console. That is, the Logging option will be enabled under the Configure menu.

Management permissions:

The Super Admin/Manage permissions are used for adding new tenants and monitoring them.

- Modify/Tenants permission enables the Add New Tenant option in the Configure menu of the management console, which allows users to add new tenants.
- Monitor/Tenants permission enables the View Tenants option in the Configure menu of the management console.

Server Admin permissions:

Selecting the Server Admin permission enables the Shutdown/Restart option in the Main menu of the management console.

The following table describes the permissions at Tenant level. These are also referred to as Admin permissions.

Note that when you select a node in the Permissions navigator, all the subordinate permissions that are listed under the selected node are also automatically enabled.

Permission level	Description of UI menus enabled
Admin	When the Admin permission node is selected, the following menus are enabled in the management console: - User Store Management: This permission allows users to add new user stores and manage them with the management console. Note that only secondary user stores can be added using this option. See the topic on user store management for more details. - Identity Providers: See the topic on working with identity providers for details on how to use this option. - Additionally, all permissions listed under Admin in the permissions navigator are selected automatically.
Admin/Configure	When the Admin/Configure permission node is selected, the following menus are enabled in the management console: - Main menu/PAP: See the topic on working with entitlement for details on how to use this option. - Main menu/PDP: See the topic on working with entitlement for details on how to use this option. - Configure menu/Server Roles: See the topic on server roles for more details. - Tools menu/Tryit (XACML): See the topic on working with the TryIt tool for details on how to use this option. - Additionally, all permissions listed under Configure in the permissions navigator are selected automatically.
Admin/Configure/Security	When the Admin/Configure/Security permission node is selected, the following menus are enabled in the Configure menu of the management console: - Claim Management: See the topic on claim management for details on how to use this option. - Keystores: See the topic on keystores for details on how to use this option. - Service Principle (Kerberos KDC): See the topic on kerberos security for details on how to use this option. - Email Templates: See the topics on email templates for details on how to use this option. - This permission will also enable the Roles option under Configure/Users and Roles. See the topic on configuring users, roles and permissions for more information. - Additionally, all permissions listed under Security in the permissions navigator are selected automatically.
Admin/Configure/Security/Identity Management/User Management	This permission enables the possibility to add users from the management console. That is, the Users option will be enabled under Configure/Users and Roles.
Admin/Configure/Security/Identity Management/Password Management	This permission enables the Change Password option for the users listed in the User Management/Users and Roles/Users screen, which allows the log in user to change the passwords
Admin/Configure/Security/Identity Management/Profile Management	This permission enables the User Profile option for the users listed in the User Management/Users and Roles/Users screen, which allows the log in user to update user profiles.
Admin/Manage	When the Admin/Manage permission is selected, the following menus will be enabled in the management console: - Main menu/Service Providers: See the topic on working with service providers for details on how to use this option. - Tools menu/SAML: See the topic on working with the SAML tool kit for more details. - Additionally, all permissions listed under Admin/Manage in the permissions navigator will be enabled automatically.
Admin/Manage/Resources/Browse	This permission enables the Browse option under the Registry menu in the main navigator. This option allows users to browse the resources stored in the registry by using the Registry tree navigator.
Admin/Manage/Search	This permission enables the Search option under the Registry sub menu in the Main menu. This option allows users to search for specific resources stored in the registry by filling in the search criteria.
Admin/Monitor	When the Admin/Monitor permission node is selected, the following menus are enabled in the management console: - Monitor menu/System Statistics: See the topic on system statistics for information on how to use this option. - Monitor menu/SOAP Message Tracer: See the topic on the SOAP tracer for information on how to use this option. - Additionally, all permissions listed under Admin/Monitor in the permissions navigator will be enabled automatically.
Admin/Monitor/Logs	When the Admin/Monitor/Logs permission node is selected, the following menus are enabled in the management console: - Monitor menu/Application Logs - Monitor menu/System Logs See the topic on system logs for information on how to use these options.