Portal, V6.1

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Portal administration tools

 

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Overview

You can administer portal resources by using...

• Administration portlets
• XML configuration interface
• Portal Scripting Interface
• ReleaseBuilder
• SLCheckerTool

 

Security considerations

IBM WebSphere Portal provides a delegation model for administering portal resources. A master administrator can delegate administration work to subadministrators. For example, delegating the responsibility for different administrative tasks to different departments in the same business.

The delegation model is implemented by access control. Users can only perform a task if they have the access permissions required for that task. Access permissions are implemented as user rights on actions related to portal resources, not on the resources themselves.

 

Administration portlets

Portal administrative users can use the administration portlets to...

• Configure individual portal resources, together with their dependent resources. For example, pages and derived pages.

• Give subadministrators limited access rights to perform a subset of administrative tasks.

• Deploy custom artefacts, such as portlets, themes and skins.

You cannot use the administration portlets to perform scripted or automated administration or configuration tasks.

 

XML configuration interface

The XML configuration interface provides a batch processing interface for portal configuration updates, allowing one to export an entire portal configuration or parts of a configuration, for example specific pages, to an XML file. You can then re-create the exported configuration from such a file on another portal.

The XML configuration interface is a command line tool that connects to the server using an HTTP connection. You can therefore use it remotely.

Use the XML configuration interface to process portal resources but not portal actions or tasks.

Use the XML configuration interface to process the configuration of portal resources that already exist, for example pages. In this context the XML configuration interface processes derived resources, but it does not automatically create them.

The XML configuration interface does not reflect the access control authorization model with delegated administration. You only need the access permission to use the XML configuration interface. An administrator who works with the XML configuration interface does not need access permission for the portal resources processed by the XML request. The reason for this is that access control gives users access permissions on actions and not on resources.

Use the XML configuration interface to..

• Export, import, and update complete or partial portal installations.
  • Transfer or migration between machines
  • Backup of the portal configuration
  • Overview of the portal configuration.
  • Cloning of a portal using the object ID generation mode of the XML configuration interface.

• Copy parts of a configuration, such as specific pages, from one portal to another.

• Transfer portal configurations from one installation to another. You do this by exporting and importing the portal configuration. This usage scenario includes the case where you try out a new portal configuration on a test portal for evaluation, and then transfer it to a production portal in a separate step using the portal configuration interface.

• Create a portal configuration file by XML export. You do this by an XML export.

• Install additional resources on a portal.

• Perform recurring administration tasks in an automated and reproducible manner.

• Perform these administrative tasks remotely, that is from another server through an HTTP connection.

Security: A user who uses the XML configuration interface to perform administrative tasks only needs the access right on the virtual resource XML_ACCESS. The user does not need access rights on the portal resources that are updated by the XML configuration interface.

Use of the XML configuration interface for the following tasks is limited:

• Delegating administrative tasks, that is having other administrative users with specific access permissions perform these tasks.

• Limiting administrative tasks to a particular user or to particular portal resources.

The XML configuration interface is also used for release staging, that is for staging a portal from development through test to production.

 

Portal Scripting Interface

The Portal Scripting Interface is a command line tool that behaves just like the portal administration portlets.

It provides delegated administration in the same manner as the portal administration portlets and access control.

To work with Portal Scripting Interface, a user needs access permission on the WebSphere Portal and on the portal resources that the user administers.

It allows implicit derivation during administrative work. This means that when you modify a portal resource, the Portal Scripting Interface creates the derivations of that resource in the same process, depending on your access rights.

Use the Portal Scripting Interface Portal Scripting Interface to...

• Make fine tuned changes to a portal configuration.

• Transfer configuration updates in a safe and controlled manner, and without disturbing the production portal. For example, this can happen by the following steps:

  1. On a development system, a development team develops configuration updates for the portal, and the script for performing these updates.

  2. After the script has been completed, a test team tests both the script and the new configuration.

  3. After the script and the new configuration have been tested and approved, they can be applied to the production portal.

  4. An operator team processes the scripts that update the production portal.

The Portal Scripting Interface has the following advantages:

• Security: The user IDs and access roles of the involved teams provide separation between the responsibilities for the subtasks:

  • The development and test team do not have access rights on the production portal.

  • The operator who executes the script needs to have access rights on the resources that are created and updated by the script. Therefore, if you limit the access rights for that user as required, the script cannot affect other resources unintentionally.

• Safety and availability of the production portal:

  • The scripts can be tested and verified before being put into production.

  • Once the scripts are tested and verified, they perform the update in a reliable way. Human errors that might happen when working with the administration portlets are not possible.

  • The production portal does not even require an Administration page for performing the update.

  • The update can be performed over night without disturbing production.

In WebSphere Portal V6.1 you can use the Portal Scripting Interface for administering portal pages only. Portal Scripting Interface does not process any other portal resources.

 

Parent topic

Administering WebSphere Portal

 

Related concepts

Portal administration portlets
XML configuration interface
Portal Scripting Interface
Control access
Auditing
Browser behavior and scenarios
Manage portal resources with policies
Manage portlets and portlet applications
Creating pages
Use Web clipping to import content
Multiple virtual portals
Language support
Use WSRP services

 

Related tasks

Change database passwords that are used by WebSphere Portal
Include static content in the portal
Manage pages
Use portlet wires
Manage your cluster
Manage your site

 

Related reference

Reference

 

Related information

Users and groups
Manage portlets on a page
Customizing pages
Portal Search