Cluster Security Scenarios

Out-of-box security

Out-of-box security uses the default Virtual Member Manager file-based repository security on both the portal nodes and the deployment manager. When the node is federated into the dmgr cell, the node's security settings are replaced with the deployment manager security settings. Before federating the first node into the cell, the required administrative group and administrative user (wpsadmins and wpsadmin) must be defined in the deployment manager's security repository. Otherwise, the WebSphere Portal administrators group and administrative user are lost when you federate the node into the deployment manager.

After setting up the cluster, we can use the WAS console to modify security in the cell. Use the WebSphere Portal security tasks to change cell security to ensure the security configuration settings for WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal are identical.

Using the WAS console to configure or update the out-of-box security is NOT supported in a stand-alone environment. This option is only supported in a clustered environment that uses the dmgr console.

Modified security with Virtual Member Manager federated

This scenario is when the existing deployment manager default security is modified before the first portal node joins the cell. WebSphere Portal supports the capability of using two different sets of administrative user ID and password credentials when you federate a WebSphere Portal node into a cell. One set is for the node authentication and one set is for deployment manager authentication. It is not necessary to define a common administrative user ID before WebSphere Portal joins the cell. If the dmgr cell is using federated VMM with extra repositories, the security settings on the portal node are replaced with the modified deployment manager VMM federated security settings. The original stand-alone environment security settings are preserved and revert to the original settings if you remove the node from the cluster.

Parent Cluster considerations