Chapter 2. Permission policies in Red Hat Developer Hub
Permission policies in Red Hat Developer Hub are a set of rules to govern access to resources or functionalities. These policies state the authorization level that is granted to users based on their roles. The permission policies are implemented to maintain security and confidentiality within a given environment.
You can define the following types of permissions in Developer Hub:
- resource type
- basic
The distinction between the two permission types depend on whether a permission includes a defined resource type.
You can define the resource type permission using either the associated resource type or the permission name as shown in the following example:
Example resource type permission definition
p, role:default/myrole, catalog.entity.read, read, allow g, user:default/myuser, role:default/myrole p, role:default/another-role, catalog-entity, read, allow g, user:default/another-user, role:default/another-role
You can define the basic permission in Developer Hub using the permission name as shown in the following example:
Example basic permission definition
p, role:default/myrole, catalog.entity.create, create, allow g, user:default/myuser, role:default/myrole
The following permission policies are supported in the Developer Hub:
- Catalog permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| read | Allows user or role to read from the catalog |
|
| create | Allows user or role to create catalog entities, including registering an existing component in the catalog | |
|
|
| update | Allows user or role to refresh a single or multiple entities from the catalog |
|
|
| delete | Allows user or role to delete a single or multiple entities from the catalog |
|
| read | Allows user or role to read a single or multiple locations from the catalog | |
|
| create | Allows user or role to create locations within the catalog | |
|
| delete | Allows user or role to delete locations from the catalog |
- Scaffolder permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| Allows the execution of an action from a template | |
|
|
| read | Allows user or role to read a single or multiple one parameters from a template |
|
|
| read | Allows user or role to read a single or multiple steps from a template |
|
| create | Allows the user or role to trigger software templates which create new scaffolder tasks | |
|
| Allows the user or role to cancel currently running scaffolder tasks | ||
|
| read | Allows user or role to read all scaffolder tasks and their associated events and logs |
- RBAC permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| read | Allows user or role to read permission policies and roles |
|
|
| create | Allows user or role to create a single or multiple permission policies and roles |
|
|
| update | Allows user or role to update a single or multiple permission policies and roles |
|
|
| delete | Allows user or role to delete a single or multiple permission policies and roles |
- Kubernetes permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| Allows user or role to access the proxy endpoint |
- OCM permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| read | Allows user or role to read from the OCM plugin | |
|
| read | Allows user or role to read the cluster information in the OCM plugin |
- Topology permissions
| Name | Resource type | Policy | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| read | Allows user or role to view the topology plugin | |
|
| Allows user or role to access the proxy endpoint, allowing them to read pod logs and events within RHDH |
2.1. Permission policies configuration
There are two approaches to configure the permission policies in Red Hat Developer Hub, including:
- Configuration of permission policies administrators
- Configuration of permission policies defined in an external file
2.1.1. Configuration of permission policies administrators
The permission policies for users and groups in the Developer Hub are managed by permission policy administrators. Only permission policy administrators can access the Role-Based Access Control REST API.
The purpose of configuring policy administrators is to enable a specific, restricted number of authenticated users to access the RBAC REST API. The permission policies are defined in a policy.csv file, which is referenced in the app-config-rhdh ConfigMap. OpenShift platform administrators or cluster administrators can perform this task with access to the namespace where Red Hat Developer Hub is deployed.
You can enable a permission policy administrator by configuring the app-config.yaml file as follows:
permission:
enabled: true
rbac:
admin:
users:
- name: user:default/joeuser
The permission policy role (role:default/rbac_admin) is a default role in Developer Hub and includes some permissions upon creation, such as creating, reading, updating, and deleting permission policies/roles, as well as reading from the catalog.
If the default permissions are not adequate for your requirements, you can define a new administrator role tailored to your requirements using relevant permission policies. Alternatively, you can use the optional superUsers configuration value, which grants unrestricted permissions across Developer Hub.
You can set the superUsers in the app-config.yaml file as follows:
# ...
permission:
enabled: true
rbac:
admin:
superUsers:
- name: user:default/joeuser
# ...2.1.2. Configuration of permission policies defined in an external file
You can configure the permission policies before starting the Red Hat Developer Hub. If permission policies are defined in an external file, then you can import the same file in the Developer Hub. You must define the permission policies using the following Casbin rules format:
--- `p, <ROLE>, <PERMISSION_NAME or PERMISSION_RESOURCE_TYPE>, <PERMISSION_POLICY_ACTION>, <ALLOW or DENY>` ---
You can define roles using the following Casbin rules format:
--- `g, <USER or GROUP>, <ROLE>` ---
For information about the Casbin rules format, see Basics of Casbin rules.
The following is an example of permission policies configuration:
--- `p, role:default/guests, catalog-entity, read, allow`
p, role:default/guests, catalog.entity.create, create, allow
g, user:default/<USER_TO_ROLE>, role:default/guests
g, group:default/<GROUP_TO_ROLE>, role:default/guests ---
If a defined permission does not contain an action associated with it, then add use as a policy. See the following example:
--- `p, role:default/guests, kubernetes.proxy, use, allow` ---
You can define the policy.csv file path in the app-config.yaml file:
permission:
enabled: true
rbac:
policies-csv-file: /some/path/rbac-policy.csvYou can use an optional configuration value that enables reloading the CSV file without restarting the Developer Hub instance.
Set the value of the policyFileReload option in the app-config.yaml file:
# ...
permission:
enabled: true
rbac:
policies-csv-file: /some/path/rbac-policy.csv
policyFileReload: true
# ...2.1.2.1. Mounting policy.csv file to the Developer Hub Helm chart
When the Red Hat Developer Hub is deployed with the Helm chart, you must define the policy.csv file by mounting it to the Developer Hub Helm chart.
You can add your policy.csv file to the Developer Hub Helm Chart by creating a configMap and mounting it.
Prerequisites
- You are logged in to your OpenShift Container Platform account using the OpenShift Container Platform web console.
- Red Hat Developer Hub is installed and deployed using Helm Chart.
Procedure
In OpenShift Container Platform, create a ConfigMap to hold the policies as shown in the following example:
Example
ConfigMapkind: ConfigMap apiVersion: v1 metadata: name: rbac-policy namespace: rhdh data: rbac-policy.csv: | p, role:default/guests, catalog-entity, read, allow p, role:default/guests, catalog.entity.create, create, allow g, user:default/<YOUR_USER>, role:default/guests-
In the Developer Hub Helm Chart, go to Root Schema
Backstage chart schema Backstage parameters Backstage container additional volume mounts. Select Add Backstage container additional volume mounts and add the following values:
-
mountPath:
opt/app-root/src/rbac -
Name:
rbac-policy
-
mountPath:
Add the RBAC policy to the Backstage container additional volumes in the Developer Hub Helm Chart:
-
name:
rbac-policy configMap
-
defaultMode:
420 -
name:
rbac-policy
-
defaultMode:
-
name:
Update the policy path in the
app-config.yamlfile as follows:Example
app-config.yamlfilepermission: enabled: true rbac: policies-csv-file: ./rbac/rbac-policy.csv
