This topic explains how authorization works in VMware Tanzu GemFire and how to implement it.

How Authorization Works

When a component requests an operation, the SecurityManager.authorize method is invoked. It is passed the principal of the operation’s requester and a ResourcePermission, which describes the operation requested.

The implementation of the SecurityManager.authorize method makes a decision as to whether the principal will be granted permission to carry out the operation. It returns a boolean in which a return value of true permits the operation, and a return value of false prevents the operation. The operation can also throw an AuthenticationExpiredException.

In case of an AuthenticationExpiredException the Tanzu GemFire client code will make one automatic attempt to re-connect to the member that sent the exception.

A well-designed authorize method will have or will have a way of obtaining a mapping of principals to the operations (in the form of resource permissions) that they are permitted to do.

Resource Permissions

All operations are described by an instance of the ResourcePermission class. A permission contains the Resource data member, which classifies whether the operation as working on

  • cache data; value is DATA
  • the cluster; value is CLUSTER

A permission also contains the Operation data member, which classifies whether the operation as

  • reading; value is READ
  • changing information; value is WRITE
  • making administrative changes; value is MANAGE

The operations are not hierarchical; MANAGE does not imply WRITE, and WRITE does not imply READ.

Some DATA operations further specify a region name in the permission. This permits restricting operations on that region to only those authorized principals. And within a region, some operations may specify a key. This permits restricting operations on that key within that region to only those authorized principals.

Some CLUSTER operations further specify a finer-grained target for the operation. Specify the target with a string value of:

  • DISK to target operations that write to a disk store
  • GATEWAY to target operations that manage gateway senders and receivers
  • QUERY to target operations that manage both indexes and continuous queries
  • DEPLOY to target operations that deploy code to servers
  • LUCENE to target Lucene index operations

This table classifies the permissions assigned for operations common to a Client-Server interaction.

Client Operation Assigned ResourcePermission
get function attribute CLUSTER:READ
create region DATA:MANAGE
destroy region DATA:MANAGE
Region.Keyset DATA:READ:RegionName
Region.query DATA:READ:RegionName
Region.getAll DATA:READ:RegionName
Region.getAll with a list of keys DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
Region.getEntry DATA:READ:RegionName
Region.containsKeyOnServer(key) DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
Region.get(key) DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
Region.registerInterest(key) DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
Region.registerInterest(regex) DATA:READ:RegionName
Region.unregisterInterest(key) DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
Region.unregisterInterest(regex) DATA:READ:RegionName
execute function Defaults to DATA:WRITE. Override Function.getRequiredPermissions to change the permission.
clear region DATA:WRITE:RegionName
Region.putAll DATA:WRITE:RegionName
Region.clear DATA:WRITE:RegionName
Region.removeAll DATA:WRITE:RegionName
Region.destroy(key) DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
Region.invalidate(key) DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
Region.destroy(key) DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
Region.put(key) DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
Region.replace DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
queryService.newCq DATA:READ:RegionName
CqQuery.stop CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY

This table classifies the permissions assigned for gfsh operations.

gfsh Command Assigned ResourcePermission
alter async-event-queue CLUSTER:MANAGE:DEPLOY
alter disk-store CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
alter query-service CLUSTER:MANAGE
alter region DATA:MANAGE:RegionName
alter runtime CLUSTER:MANAGE
backup disk-store DATA:READ and CLUSTER:WRITE:DISK
change loglevel CLUSTER:WRITE
clear defined indexes CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
close durable-client CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
close durable-cq CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
compact disk-store CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
configure pdx CLUSTER:MANAGE
create async-event-queue CLUSTER:MANAGE:DEPLOY, plus CLUSTER:WRITE:DISK if the associated region is persistent
create defined indexes CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
create disk-store CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
create gateway-receiver CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
create gateway-sender CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
create index CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
create jndi-binding CLUSTER:MANAGE
create lucene index CLUSTER:MANAGE:LUCENE
create region DATA:MANAGE, plus CLUSTER:WRITE:DISK if the associated region is persistent
define index CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
deploy CLUSTER:MANAGE:DEPLOY
describe client CLUSTER:READ
describe config CLUSTER:READ
describe disk-store CLUSTER:READ
describe jndi-binding CLUSTER:READ
describe lucene index CLUSTER:READ:LUCENE
describe member CLUSTER:READ
describe offline-disk-store CLUSTER:READ
describe query-service CLUSTER:READ
describe region CLUSTER:READ
destroy async-event-queue CLUSTER:MANAGE
destroy disk-store CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
destroy function CLUSTER:MANAGE:DEPLOY
destroy index CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
destroy jndi-binding CLUSTER:MANAGE
destroy lucene index CLUSTER:MANAGE:LUCENE
destroy region DATA:MANAGE
execute function Defaults to DATA:WRITE. Override Function.getRequiredPermissions to change the permission.
export cluster-configuration CLUSTER:READ
export config CLUSTER:READ
export data CLUSTER:READ
export logs CLUSTER:READ
export offline-disk-store CLUSTER:READ
export stack-traces CLUSTER:READ
gc CLUSTER:MANAGE
get ‑key=key1 ‑region=region1 DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
import data DATA:WRITE:RegionName
import cluster-configuration CLUSTER:MANAGE
list async-event-queues CLUSTER:READ
list clients CLUSTER:READ
list deployed CLUSTER:READ
list disk-stores CLUSTER:READ
list durable-cqs CLUSTER:READ
list functions CLUSTER:READ
list gateways CLUSTER:READ
list indexes CLUSTER:READ:QUERY
list jndi-binding CLUSTER:READ
list lucene indexes CLUSTER:READ:LUCENE
list members CLUSTER:READ
list regions CLUSTER:READ
load-balance gateway-sender CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
locate entry DATA:READ:RegionName:Key
netstat CLUSTER:READ
pause gateway-sender CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
put ‑‑key=key1 ‑‑region=region1 DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
query DATA:READ:RegionName
rebalance DATA:MANAGE
remove DATA:WRITE:RegionName or DATA:WRITE:RegionName:Key
resume async-event-queue-dispatcher CLUSTER:MANAGE
resume gateway-sender CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
revoke mising-disk-store CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
search lucene DATA:READ:RegionName
show dead-locks CLUSTER:READ
show log CLUSTER:READ
show metrics CLUSTER:READ
show missing-disk-stores CLUSTER:READ
show subscription-queue-size CLUSTER:READ
shutdown CLUSTER:MANAGE
start gateway-receiver CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
start gateway-sender CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
start server CLUSTER:MANAGE
status cluster-config-service CLUSTER:READ
status gateway-receiver CLUSTER:READ
status gateway-sender CLUSTER:READ
status locator CLUSTER:READ
status server CLUSTER:READ
stop gateway-receiver CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
stop gateway-receiver CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
stop locator CLUSTER:MANAGE
stop server CLUSTER:MANAGE
undeploy CLUSTER:MANAGE:DEPLOY

The gfsh connect does not have a permission, as it is the operation that invokes authentication. These gfsh commands do not have permission defined, as they do not interact with the cluster:

  • gfsh describe connection, which describes the gfsh end of the connection
  • gfsh debug, which toggles the mode within gfsh
  • gfsh exit
  • gfsh help
  • gfsh hint
  • gfsh history
  • gfsh run, although individual commands within the script will go through authorization
  • gfsh set variable
  • gfsh sh
  • gfsh sleep
  • validate offline-disk-store
  • gfsh version

This table classifies the permissions assigned for JMX operations.

JMX Operation Assigned ResourcePermission
DistributedSystemMXBean.shutdownAllMembers CLUSTER:MANAGE
ManagerMXBean.start CLUSTER:MANAGE
ManagerMXBean.stop CLUSTER:MANAGE
ManagerMXBean.createManager CLUSTER:MANAGE
ManagerMXBean.shutDownMember CLUSTER:MANAGE
Mbeans get attributes CLUSTER:READ
MemberMXBean.showLog CLUSTER:READ
DistributedSystemMXBean.changerAlertLevel CLUSTER:WRITE
ManagerMXBean.setPulseURL CLUSTER:WRITE
ManagerMXBean.setStatusMessage CLUSTER:WRITE
CacheServerMXBean.closeAllContinuousQuery CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
CacheServerMXBean.closeContinuousQuery CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
CacheServerMXBean.executeContinuousQuery DATA:READ
CqQuery.execute DATA:READ:RegionName and CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
CqQuery.executeWithInitialResults DATA:READ:RegionName and CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
DiskStoreMXBean.flush CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DiskStoreMXBean.forceCompaction CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DiskStoreMXBean.forceRoll CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DiskStoreMXBean.setDiskUsageCriticalPercentage CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DiskStoreMXBean.setDiskUsageWarningPercentage CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DistributedSystemMXBean.revokeMissingDiskStores CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK
DistributedSystemMXBean.setQueryCollectionsDepth CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
DistributedSystemMXBean.setQueryResultSetLimit CLUSTER:MANAGE:QUERY
DistributedSystemMXBean.backupAllMembers DATA:READ and CLUSTER:WRITE:DISK
DistributedSystemMXBean.queryData DATA:READ
DistributedSystemMXBean.queryDataForCompressedResult DATA:READ
GatewayReceiverMXBean.pause CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewayReceiverMXBean.rebalance CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewayReceiverMXBean.resume CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewayReceiverMXBean.start CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewayReceiverMXBean.stop CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewaySenderMXBean.pause CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewaySenderMXBean.rebalance CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewaySenderMXBean.resume CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewaySenderMXBean.start CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
GatewaySenderMXBean.stop CLUSTER:MANAGE:GATEWAY
LockServiceMXBean.becomeLockGrantor CLUSTER:MANAGE
MemberMXBean.compactAllDiskStores CLUSTER:MANAGE:DISK

Implement Authorization

Complete these items to implement authorization.

  • Decide upon an authorization algorithm. The Authorization Example stores a mapping of which principals (users) are permitted to do which operations. The algorithm bases its decision on a look up of the permissions granted to the principal attempting the operation.
  • Define the security-manager property. See Enable Security with Property Definitions for details about this property.
  • Implement the authorize method of the SecurityManager interface.
  • Define any extra resources that the implemented authorization algorithm needs in order to make a decision.

Authorization of Function Execution

By default, a function executed on servers requires that the entity invoking the function have DATA:WRITE permission on the regions involved. Since the default permission may not be appropriate for all functions, the permissions required may be altered.

To implement a different set of permissions, override the Function.getRequiredPermissions() method in the function’s class. The method should return a Collection of the permissions required of the entity that invokes an execution of the function.

Authorization of Methods Invoked from Queries

Enabling the SecurityManager affects queries by restricting the methods that a running query may invoke. See Method Invocations and Method Invocation Authorizers for details.

check-circle-line exclamation-circle-line close-line
Scroll to top icon