Access Control Guide
You will need:
- An account on the smallstep platform. Need one → Register here
- SSO and User Sync configured and functioning
- Hosts Registered with Tags
The following features are supported:
- Access control by Host Tags configuration using Groups synchronized from your IDP
Host Tags (key-value pairs) are the pillar our access control model. Rather than mapping people or groups directly to hosts, you'll map tag combinations to your hosts and to your user groups. First you'll put your hosts into logical groups using tags, eg. role:web or env:staging. Then, you'll grant user groups access to all hosts with a specific tag combination. Finally, you'll choose which user group tag combinations will allow sudo privileges on any matching hosts.
Let's look at an example:
- The
developersgroup will have access tomyserver #1only. - The
datagroup will have access tomyserver #2andmyserver #3. - The
opsgroup will havesudoaccess tomyserver #2andmyserver #3.
Of course, hosts and groups can have as many tag combinations as you like. Take a minute to think about how you'd like to use Host Tags in your environment.
Sign in at https://smallstep.com/app/[Team ID]
- Choose "Hosts"
- Find and select a Host that includes the Host Tags you wish to use for access grants.
- In the example below that combination is
database:production.
- In the example below that combination is
- Make a note of the tag combination, you will need this in Step 2
You should see two Directories. The "Smallstep" directory contains Administrators who can manage the application. The other directory contains users and groups synchronized from your identity provider.
- Select your identity provider directory
- Choose the "GROUPS" tab.
- Select the User Group that you want to configure for access control. You will see the user group detail page with a list of existing Host Grants and a form to add additional grants.
- Enter the tag values from Step 1
- If Sudo access is permitted for this user group, select the "Allow Sudo" checkbox
- Click the checkbox to enable access control
- All users in the group now have access to all hosts with the specified tag combination.
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