Created by James Hurrell, last modified on Dec 15, 2022

Summary: This section describes how to configure roles for users/groups in ≥ 2.x.

How are roles managed in ≥ 2.x?

Roles are managed in a graphical user interface. This interface is available to users that have been assigned the ADMIN role and can be accessed by clicking the User Configuration option in the user menu:

The interface is then displayed. There are two panels that are relevant for roles: Profiles and Users. By default the Profiles tab is displayed.

Any changes made in the interface to assigned roles are taken into account only when the user logs out and logs back in again.

Profiles panel

The Profiles panel is used to manage profiles. Roles (and also Data authorization - 2.x and above) are assigned to profiles:

Search and Add


Search option lets you to search a Profile from the list of available Profiles. Enter the Profile name and click   to view the selected Profile.

Add a profiles option lets you add a new Profile.
Edit and Delete 

This option allows you to edit the roles/authorizations assigned to the selected user/group. This is particularly useful if you need to modify multiple users/groups in one go.

This option will remove all the roles/authorizations granted to selected the user/group.
Profiles

Lists all profiles that are available, by name:

On first login, a profile called "admin_profile" will be created automatically. This profile has the role "Admin" assigned to it. The first user to login and become admin (see First login and become admin) will be automatically assigned this profile.
Roles

Lists the available built-in Roles and allows you to assign them to the selected Profile. It also allows you to view the roles that have already been assigned to a specific Profile:

In CAST Dashboards ≥ 2.10, by default, when a new profile is created, the No Role role (see NO_ROLE) will automatically be assigned to it. In older releases, the profile does not have any roles assigned to it.

Assign applications by Names / Assign applications by Technologies / Assign applications by Tags

These columns list the data authorizations that have been assigned to the corresponding Profile, i.e., by:

  • application name
  • by technology
  • by tags

The Assign applications by tags column will NOT be visible:

You can directly modify them in this column:

Note about the All Applications option for Assign Applications by Name:

  • Users can assign "All Applications" to multiple profiles or a single profile without adding any role to the selected profile/s.
  • When using the "All Applications" authorization, any new Applications that are onboarded will automatically be included in the authorization.

Users/Groups panel

The Users/Groups panel is used to assign profiles (managed in the Profiles tab) to Users/Groups:

Search

Lets you search a User or a Group from the list of available Users/Groups.

Users/Groups

This column lists all users/groups:

  • When local authentication is active:
    • all users that have been defined in the users.properties file will be listed here and CANNOT be removed.
    • it is not possible to create groups, therefore assigning roles or data authorizations to groups is also not possible
  • When LDAP or SAML authentication are active:
    • only users/groups that have specifically been assigned a profile will be listed. In ≥ 2.10 users/groups can be removed from the list.
    • Groups are taken directly from the LDAP/SAML directory and must therefore be created there before they can be exploited by the CAST Dashboards

You can search for users/groups that have already been granted a profile (i.e. that are present in the list) using the Search panel in the column header:

Profiles

This columns lists all profiles that have been created in the Profiles tab and allows you to assign them to your users/groups:

Edit

Lets you edit the selected Users/Groups, i.e. change the profile assigned to the User/Group:

Delete (available in ≥ 2.10)

The delete option is only available when either LDAP or SAML authentication mode is in use. It allows users or groups to be removed from the list - for example if you granted a role to a user/group and now want to revoke this permission:

A warning is displayed before the user/group is deleted. The User/Group is only deleted from the CAST Dashboard Administration panel, not the LDAP/SAML authentication directory:

What roles are available?

See User roles.

Use of NO_ROLE in the user interface

In CAST Dashboards ≥ 2.10, the NO_ROLE role (No Role) is available for selection.

If you are using an older release of CAST Dashboards, this role is not directly made available in the interface to be assigned. Instead, NO_ROLE can be assigned simply by granting a Data authorization and none of the roles. For example, test_profile in the image below has no roles assigned to it, but it has one data authorization assigned (to access the application called "MEUDON") - therefore a user/group with this profile can log in and access the application but has no other permissions:

Click to enlarge

Creating new profiles

To create or edit a profile, use the Profiles tab:

Click the Add button to add a new profile:

Name the profile and click the tick icon to save:

The profile will then appear in the list - by default the No Role role will be assigned to the role - this is a read only role. See User roles for more information about this role.

Assign or remove roles to/from profiles

To assign or remove roles to/from a profile, use the Profiles tab:

...and then click the expandable item in the Roles column:

Select the role or roles you require for the profile. Changes are automatically saved but are only taken into account when the user logs out and logs back in again in a new session:

If you assign All Roles or just the ADMIN role, then automatically All Applications, All Technologies and All Tags (if available) are also assigned:

Click to enlarge

Assign profiles to users/groups

Ensure you create the profile first. Then to assign or remove roles to/from a profile, use the Users tab:

and then the expandable item in the Profiles column. Changes are automatically saved but are only taken into account when the user logs out and logs back in again in a new session:

Assign profiles to SAML users/groups from UI

Ensure you create the profile first. Then to assign or remove roles to/from a profile, use the Users tab:

and then the expandable item in the Profiles column. Changes are automatically saved but are only taken into account when the user logs out and logs back in again in a new session: