Resources and Virtual Resources

Resources and Virtual Resources

Resources are organized in a hierarchy. Resources in the hierarchy propagate their access control configuration to all of their child resources. If a user has the Editor role on the Market News page, then that user also has the Editor role on child pages of the Market News page. Resource instances are specific resources, such as a single portlet or page. Each resource instance belongs to only one resource type. For example, the resource instance Market News Page would belong to the Content Nodes resource type.
Virtual resources are a unique resource type that have two functions:

Protect operations that affect the entire portal or specific services in the portal. For example, the virtual resource xmlaccess protects the ability to run XML configuration interface scripts.

Parent resources for resource instances. For example, the Web Modules virtual resource is the root node of all web modules instances. So by default role assignments on the Web Modules virtual resource are propagated to all individual Web Modules resources through inheritance.

Resource data is stored in one of four different database domains. To have a consistent database back-up and restore, access control data protecting individual resources is stored in the same database domain as the resource data. In each of the four domains, protected resources are stored in a hierarchy as a single tree of resources (resource hierarchy).
Resources might be in different domains depending on the type of resource. JCR nodes are exclusively contained in the JCR domain. User customization data represented by private resources are exclusively contained in the customization domain. The community domain contains resources related to collaborative applications, and the release domain contains all remaining resources. Resources can be administered in the following ways:

Protected Resources of the release domain can be managed through the access control administration portlets and through the XML Configuration interface

Policy resources are stored in the JCR domain and can also be managed through the access control administration portlets and through the XML Configuration interface

Resources in the community domain can be managed only through collaboration application-specific administrative portlets. Resources in this domain are not shown in the access control administration portlets

The customization domain holds private resources for users only. No role assignments are possible in this domain, so resources in this domain are also not shown in the access control administration portlets

Role inheritance never crosses domain boundaries, thus limiting the inheritance scope. A role assignment for a user on the Content Nodes virtual resource in the release domain grants access only to Content Nodes resources (pages) in the release domain.

Release domain

JCR domain

This image represents an access control-specific view of resources in the JCR domain. It is not intended to show how the resources are stored and organized in the JCR domain. Resource Permission inheritance applies to this hierarchy and to the release domain. Permission granted on the JCR Content Root node are propagated to all children in the hierarchy. Use Policies, Web Content Manager Libraries, Inheritance, and Propagation role blocks to reduce this propagation of permissions to children in the hierarchy.

A different user interface is provided to administer access control for each type of resource in the JCR domain. The following list shows the path to take within WebSphere Portal
To reach the access control portlet for each resource stored in the JCR domain:

Access Control Administration User Interface (UI):

Administration > WebSphere Portal > Access > Resource Permissions > Resource Permissions portlet

Administration > WebSphere Portal > Access > User and Group Permissions > User and Group Permissions portlet

Personalization user interface: Personalization > Business Rules > Personalization Navigator portlet

Web Content Libraries user interface: Administration > WebSphere Portal > Portal Content > Web Content Libraries > Web Content Libraries portlet

Web Content Manager user interface: Applications > Content > Web Content Management > Authoring portlet

Virtual Resources

We can assign roles on virtual resources and on resource instances. Assigning roles on virtual resources reduces the time required to administer access control. All child resources inherit roles assigned to the parent resource by default. Assigning roles to specific resource instances offers more granular access control. We can assign roles to specific resource instances to override role blocks that block inheritance. For more information about role blocks, see the Roles topic.

Virtual resource Description
ADMIN_SLOTS Root node of all administrative vault slots. It protects the administrative slot access and therefore the access to the credentials the slot holds.
CONTENT NODES Root node of all pages, labels, and external URLs. Pages contain the content that determines the portal navigation hierarchy. If a new top-level page is created, it is automatically a child resource of the Pages virtual resource. If a new page is created beneath an existing page, the new page is automatically child of the existing page. Pages inherit access control configuration from their parent page unless role blocks are used.
DESIGNER DEPLOY SERVICE Protects the ability to run the automatic deployment feature of IBM Workplace Designer.
EVENT HANDLERS Protects management of Event Handlers. No child resources.
EXTERNAL ACCESS CONTROL Protects access control configurations resources controlled an external security manager such as Security Access Manager. Also protects the ability to externalize or internalize a resource. No child resources.
MARKUPS Protects the ability to control markups for the portal. No child resources.
PORTAL This resource is the root node of all resources in the release domain. Roles on this resource affect all other resources in the release domain by default through inheritance unless role blocks are used. Resources in other domains like Templates and Policies are not affected through role mappings on this resource.
PORTAL SETTINGS Protects portal settings that can be modified through the Portal Settings Portlet or xmlaccess.sh. No child resources.
PORTLET APPLICATIONS Root node of all installed portlet applications. Portlet applications are the parent containers for portlets. If a new web module is installed, the applications contained within that module become child resources of the Portlet Applications virtual resource. Portlets contained within a portlet application are child nodes of that portlet application. Thus a two-layer hierarchy consisting of portlet applications and the corresponding portlets exists beneath the Portlet Applications virtual resource. Portlets inherit access control configuration from their parent portlet applications unless role blocks are used.
PSE Sources Root node of all search collections. If a new search collection is created, it is automatically a child of this virtual resource. Roles on this resource affect all defined search collections unless role blocks are used.
URL Mapping Contexts Root node of all URL mapping contexts. URL mapping contexts are user-defined definitions of URL spaces that map to portal content. If a new top-level URL mapping context is created, it is automatically a child resource of the URL Mapping Contexts virtual resource. If a new URL mapping context is created beneath an existing context, the new context is automatically a child of the existing context. URL mapping contexts inherit access control configuration from their parent context unless role blocks are used.
User Groups Root node of all user groups. Each user group in the portal inherits its access control configuration from the User Groups virtual resource. It is not possible to create role blocks on individual user groups.
User Self Enrollment Protects the Selfcare and User Enrollment facilities (sign up and Edit My Profile). No child resources.
Users Protects sensitive operations that deal with user management. For example, in order to add a user to a user group, we must have the Security Administrator@Users role. Users are implicitly protected resources. Users cannot be protected individually, but only through their group membership. As a result, it is not possible to have a role assignment on a specific user. Roles must be on user groups instead. So, we can edit the user profile of Mary if we have a role assignment on some user group to which Mary belongs. No child resources.
VP URL Mappings Protects the ability to modify a URL Mapping linked to a virtual portal.
Web Modules Root node of all Web Modules. Web Modules are portlet WAR files that are installed on WebSphere Application Server. Web Modules can contain multiple portlet applications. If a new Web Modules is installed, it is automatically a child of the Web Modules virtual resource. Roles on this resource affect all child resources (all installed Web Modules) unless role blocks are used.
WSRP Parent resource of the virtual resources WSRP Export and producers. By default, roles on the WSRP resource affect the other two virtual WSRP resources and all WSRP resource instances through inheritance. If there are no role blocks in between, users who have role assignments on the WSRP resource have access rights on all WSRP resources.
WSRP export Controls the ability of a user to provide and withdraw portlets as a WSRP Service.
Producers Root node of all registered Producer instances. Each registered Producer in the portal inherits access control configuration from the producers virtual resource unless role blocks are used.
XML configuration interface Protects the ability to run XML configuration interface scripts. Has no child resources.
ADMIN_SLOTS Root node of all shared administrative credential vault slots system credential. This node controls access to modify and delete such vault slots and to retrieve its credentials.
POLICY MAPPING CONTEXTS Identifies the Root node to all Policy items. Independent of the Mapping of a Policy.
SERVER INFORMATION Protects the ability to create/modify/delete Mappings between a remote server information used for Federation and this WebSphere Portal server instance.
STEP UP AUTHENTICATION Protects the ability to modify the binding of resources such as Portlets or Pages to an authentication level.
TAGS Users can apply keywords to describe, classify, or label web content resources.
RATINGS Users can assign numeric values to web content resources for evaluation.
THEME MANAGEMENT Users can update, and modify the portal theme.

Role blocks for resources
Role blocks prevent inheritance and propagation through the resource hierarchy. This topic describes role blocks and provides examples of how role blocks affect resources.

Parent Resources, roles, access rights, and initial access control settings

Virtual resource	Description
ADMIN_SLOTS	Root node of all administrative vault slots. It protects the administrative slot access and therefore the access to the credentials the slot holds.
CONTENT NODES	Root node of all pages, labels, and external URLs. Pages contain the content that determines the portal navigation hierarchy. If a new top-level page is created, it is automatically a child resource of the Pages virtual resource. If a new page is created beneath an existing page, the new page is automatically child of the existing page. Pages inherit access control configuration from their parent page unless role blocks are used.
DESIGNER DEPLOY SERVICE	Protects the ability to run the automatic deployment feature of IBM Workplace Designer.
EVENT HANDLERS	Protects management of Event Handlers. No child resources.
EXTERNAL ACCESS CONTROL	Protects access control configurations resources controlled an external security manager such as Security Access Manager. Also protects the ability to externalize or internalize a resource. No child resources.
MARKUPS	Protects the ability to control markups for the portal. No child resources.
PORTAL	This resource is the root node of all resources in the release domain. Roles on this resource affect all other resources in the release domain by default through inheritance unless role blocks are used. Resources in other domains like Templates and Policies are not affected through role mappings on this resource.
PORTAL SETTINGS	Protects portal settings that can be modified through the Portal Settings Portlet or xmlaccess.sh. No child resources.
PORTLET APPLICATIONS	Root node of all installed portlet applications. Portlet applications are the parent containers for portlets. If a new web module is installed, the applications contained within that module become child resources of the Portlet Applications virtual resource. Portlets contained within a portlet application are child nodes of that portlet application. Thus a two-layer hierarchy consisting of portlet applications and the corresponding portlets exists beneath the Portlet Applications virtual resource. Portlets inherit access control configuration from their parent portlet applications unless role blocks are used.
PSE Sources	Root node of all search collections. If a new search collection is created, it is automatically a child of this virtual resource. Roles on this resource affect all defined search collections unless role blocks are used.
URL Mapping Contexts	Root node of all URL mapping contexts. URL mapping contexts are user-defined definitions of URL spaces that map to portal content. If a new top-level URL mapping context is created, it is automatically a child resource of the URL Mapping Contexts virtual resource. If a new URL mapping context is created beneath an existing context, the new context is automatically a child of the existing context. URL mapping contexts inherit access control configuration from their parent context unless role blocks are used.
User Groups	Root node of all user groups. Each user group in the portal inherits its access control configuration from the User Groups virtual resource. It is not possible to create role blocks on individual user groups.
User Self Enrollment	Protects the Selfcare and User Enrollment facilities (sign up and Edit My Profile). No child resources.
Users	Protects sensitive operations that deal with user management. For example, in order to add a user to a user group, we must have the Security Administrator@Users role. Users are implicitly protected resources. Users cannot be protected individually, but only through their group membership. As a result, it is not possible to have a role assignment on a specific user. Roles must be on user groups instead. So, we can edit the user profile of Mary if we have a role assignment on some user group to which Mary belongs. No child resources.
VP URL Mappings	Protects the ability to modify a URL Mapping linked to a virtual portal.
Web Modules	Root node of all Web Modules. Web Modules are portlet WAR files that are installed on WebSphere Application Server. Web Modules can contain multiple portlet applications. If a new Web Modules is installed, it is automatically a child of the Web Modules virtual resource. Roles on this resource affect all child resources (all installed Web Modules) unless role blocks are used.
WSRP	Parent resource of the virtual resources WSRP Export and producers. By default, roles on the WSRP resource affect the other two virtual WSRP resources and all WSRP resource instances through inheritance. If there are no role blocks in between, users who have role assignments on the WSRP resource have access rights on all WSRP resources.
WSRP export	Controls the ability of a user to provide and withdraw portlets as a WSRP Service.
Producers	Root node of all registered Producer instances. Each registered Producer in the portal inherits access control configuration from the producers virtual resource unless role blocks are used.
XML configuration interface	Protects the ability to run XML configuration interface scripts. Has no child resources.
ADMIN_SLOTS	Root node of all shared administrative credential vault slots system credential. This node controls access to modify and delete such vault slots and to retrieve its credentials.
POLICY MAPPING CONTEXTS	Identifies the Root node to all Policy items. Independent of the Mapping of a Policy.
SERVER INFORMATION	Protects the ability to create/modify/delete Mappings between a remote server information used for Federation and this WebSphere Portal server instance.
STEP UP AUTHENTICATION	Protects the ability to modify the binding of resources such as Portlets or Pages to an authentication level.
TAGS	Users can apply keywords to describe, classify, or label web content resources.
RATINGS	Users can assign numeric values to web content resources for evaluation.
THEME MANAGEMENT	Users can update, and modify the portal theme.