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Chapter 27. Delegating permissions to user groups to manage users using Ansible playbooks

Delegation is one of the access control methods in IdM, along with self-service rules and role-based access control (RBAC). You can use delegation to assign permissions to one group of users to manage entries for another group of users.

27.1. Delegation rules
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You can delegate permissions to user groups to manage users by creating delegation rules.

Delegation rules allow a specific user group to perform write (edit) operations on specific attributes for users in another user group. This form of access control rule is limited to editing the values of a subset of attributes you specify in a delegation rule; it does not grant the ability to add or remove whole entries or control over unspecified attributes.

Delegation rules grant permissions to existing user groups in IdM. You can use delegation to, for example, allow the managers user group to manage selected attributes of users in the employees user group.

27.2. Creating an Ansible inventory file for IdM
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When working with Ansible, it is good practice to create, in your home directory, a subdirectory dedicated to Ansible playbooks that you copy and adapt from the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/* and /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/* subdirectories. This practice has the following advantages:

  • You can find all your playbooks in one place.
  • You can run your playbooks without invoking root privileges.

Procedure

  1. Create a directory for your Ansible configuration and playbooks in your home directory: 

    $ mkdir ~/MyPlaybooks/
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  2. Change into the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory: 

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks
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  3. Create the ~/MyPlaybooks/ansible.cfg file with the following content: 

    [defaults]
inventory = /home/<username>/MyPlaybooks/inventory

[privilege_escalation]
become=True
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  4. Create the ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory file with the following content: 

    [eu]
server.idm.example.com

[us]
replica.idm.example.com

[ipaserver:children]
eu
us
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

    This configuration defines two host groups, eu and us, for hosts in these locations. Additionally, this configuration defines the ipaserver host group, which contains all hosts from the eu and us groups.

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to define privileges for a new IdM delegation rule and ensure its presence. In the example, the new basic manager attributes delegation rule grants the managers group the ability to read and write the following attributes for members of the employees group:

  • businesscategory
  • departmentnumber
  • employeenumber
  • employeetype

Prerequisites

  • On the control node:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.13 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory: 

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
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  2. Make a copy of the delegation-present.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/ directory: 

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/delegation-present.yml delegation-present-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Open the delegation-present-copy.yml Ansible playbook file for editing.

  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables in the ipadelegation task section:

    • Set the ipaadmin_password variable to the password of the IdM administrator.
    • Set the name variable to the name of the new delegation rule.
    • Set the permission variable to a comma-separated list of permissions to grant: read and write.
    • Set the attribute variable to a list of attributes the delegated user group can manage: businesscategory, departmentnumber, employeenumber, and employeetype.
    • Set the group variable to the name of the group that is being given access to view or modify attributes.
    • Set the membergroup variable to the name of the group whose attributes can be viewed or modified.

    This is the modified Ansible playbook file for the current example: 

    ---
- name: Playbook to manage a delegation rule
  hosts: ipaserver

  vars_files:
  - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml
  tasks:
  - name: Ensure delegation "basic manager attributes" is present
    ipadelegation:
      ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}"
      name: "basic manager attributes"
      permission: read, write
      attribute:
      - businesscategory
      - departmentnumber
      - employeenumber
      - employeetype
      group: managers
      membergroup: employees
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  5. Save the file.

  6. Run the Ansible playbook. Specify the playbook file, the file storing the password protecting the secret.yml file, and the inventory file: 

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory delegation-present-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to ensure a specified delegation rule is absent from your IdM configuration. The example below describes how to make sure the custom basic manager attributes delegation rule does not exist in IdM.

Prerequisites

  • On the control node:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.13 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory: 

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks>/
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Make a copy of the delegation-absent.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/ directory: 

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/delegation-present.yml delegation-absent-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Open the delegation-absent-copy.yml Ansible playbook file for editing.

  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables in the ipadelegation task section:

    • Set the ipaadmin_password variable to the password of the IdM administrator.
    • Set the name variable to the name of the delegation rule.
    • Set the state variable to absent.

    This is the modified Ansible playbook file for the current example: 

    ---
- name: Delegation absent
  hosts: ipaserver

  vars_files:
  - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml
  tasks:
  - name: Ensure delegation "basic manager attributes" is absent
    ipadelegation:
      ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}"
      name: "basic manager attributes"
      state: absent
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  5. Save the file.

  6. Run the Ansible playbook. Specify the playbook file, the file storing the password protecting the secret.yml file, and the inventory file: 

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory delegation-absent-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to ensure that a delegation rule has specific settings. You can use this playbook to modify a delegation role you have previously created. In the example, you ensure the basic manager attributes delegation rule only has the departmentnumber member attribute.

Prerequisites

  • On the control node:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.13 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.
  • The basic manager attributes delegation rule exists in IdM.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory: 

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Make a copy of the delegation-member-present.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/ directory: 

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/delegation-member-present.yml delegation-member-present-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Open the delegation-member-present-copy.yml Ansible playbook file for editing.

  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables in the ipadelegation task section:

    • Set the ipaadmin_password variable to the password of the IdM administrator.
    • Set the name variable to the name of the delegation rule to modify.
    • Set the attribute variable to departmentnumber.
    • Set the action variable to member.

    This is the modified Ansible playbook file for the current example: 

    ---
- name: Delegation member present
  hosts: ipaserver

  vars_files:
  - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml
  tasks:
  - name: Ensure delegation "basic manager attributes" member attribute departmentnumber is present
    ipadelegation:
      ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}"
      name: "basic manager attributes"
      attribute:
      - departmentnumber
      action: member
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  5. Save the file.

  6. Run the Ansible playbook. Specify the playbook file, the file storing the password protecting the secret.yml file, and the inventory file: 

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory delegation-member-present-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to ensure that a delegation rule does not have specific settings. You can use this playbook to make sure a delegation role does not grant undesired access. In the example, you ensure the basic manager attributes delegation rule does not have the employeenumber and employeetype member attributes.

Prerequisites

  • On the control node:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.13 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.
  • The basic manager attributes delegation rule exists in IdM.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory: 

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Make a copy of the delegation-member-absent.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/ directory: 

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/delegation/delegation-member-absent.yml delegation-member-absent-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  3. Open the delegation-member-absent-copy.yml Ansible playbook file for editing.

  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables in the ipadelegation task section:

    • Set the ipaadmin_password variable to the password of the IdM administrator.
    • Set the name variable to the name of the delegation rule to modify.
    • Set the attribute variable to employeenumber and employeetype.
    • Set the action variable to member.
    • Set the state variable to absent.

    This is the modified Ansible playbook file for the current example: 

    ---
- name: Delegation member absent
  hosts: ipaserver

  vars_files:
  - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml
  tasks:
  - name: Ensure delegation "basic manager attributes" member attributes employeenumber and employeetype are absent
    ipadelegation:
      ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}"
      name: "basic manager attributes"
      attribute:
      - employeenumber
      - employeetype
      action: member
      state: absent
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  5. Save the file.

  6. Run the Ansible playbook. Specify the playbook file, the file storing the password protecting the secret.yml file, and the inventory file: 

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory delegation-member-absent-copy.yml
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
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