System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices

Chapter 4. Administrative Roles

AIX Version 4.3 supports assigning portions of root user authority to non-root users. Different root user tasks are assigned different authorizations. These authorizations are grouped into roles and assigned to different users.

This chapter covers the following topics:

Roles Overview

Roles consist of authorizations that allow a user to execute functions normally requiring root user permission.

The following is a list of valid roles:

Add and Remove Users	Allows any user to act as the root user for this role. They are able to add and remove users, change information about a user, modify audit classes, manage groups, and change passwords. Anyone who performs user administration must be in group security.
Change Users Password	Allows a user to change a passwords.
Manage Roles	Allows a user to create, change, remove and list roles. The user must be in group security.
Backup and Restore	Allows a user to back up and restore file systems and directories. This role requires authorizations to enable a system backup and restore.
Backup Only	Allows a user only to back up file systems and directories. The user must have the proper authorization to enable a system backup.
Run Diagnostics	Allows a user, Customer Engineer or Service Support Representative to run diagnostics and diagnostic tasks. The user must have system as the primary group and also a group set that includes shutdown. Note: Users in the Run Diagnostics role can change the system configuration, update microcode, and so on. Users in this role must understand the responsibility the role requires.
System Shutdown	Allows a user to shut down, reboot, and halt a system.