Security Overview of the Integrity Virtual Machines Architecture

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Graphical User Interface
Virtual machine management with Integrity Virtual Machines may be achieved through the Integrity
Virtual Machine Manager GUI. The GUI relies on Web Based Enterprise Management (WBEM)
providers. These providers establish communication between the browser and the VM Host system
with privileged login and the session is SSL-encrypted. These WBEM providers check all data request
types and buffer ranges; all validated requests are for read-only data. Request types, options, and
parameters are checked and validated before being passed on to the Integrity VM programmer
interface libraries on the VM Host system.
Customizable Roles for Access and Management
Integrity VM provides secure access to virtual machine consoles. When you create the virtual
machine, you can specify groups and user accounts that will have administration or operator
privileges on that virtual machine. These users are allowed to log in to the VM Host under their own
user accounts and to use the hpvmconsole command to perform system administration tasks on the
virtual machine.
A captive virtual console account is a special-purpose user account that may be created on the VM
Host for each virtual machine administrator or operator. These types of user accounts have the
console access command line interface for a login shell, and the desired virtual machine's per-virtual-
machine-directory for a home directory. For virtual console access, the account also requires a
password, and access to its associated guest. The net result is that a virtual machine’s console may
be accessed by a user without their having access to the VM Host itself.
These types of console users are specified as either admin (guest administrators) or oper (virtual
machine operators). Virtual machine operators can access to the virtual machine console, shut down
and reboot the virtual machine, display system status, transfer control to another virtual machine
operator or administrator, and set system identification.
General Security for the VM Host System
Depending on the environment, limiting access to the VM Host may be a good idea. The potential
impact from an interruption of service on the VM Host is comparable for its virtual machines to a lab-
wide service interruption. As such, HP recommends considering the use of bastille(1M) to help
limit unintended access to VM Hosts. For many environments, the pre-defined configuration known
as "Managed DMZ" is appropriate. Note, however, that this depends on local configuration needs
and security policies. Even when those settings are not precisely what are required, they can be a
good starting point. To run bastille with the “Managed DMZ” settings initially selected, first copy that
configuration policy to the default location:
# cp /etc/opt/sec_mgmt/bastille/configs/defaults/MANDMZ.config \
/etc/opt/sec_mgmt/bastille/config
Then make changes to that configuration file as appropriate before running bastille:
# bastille
Be sure to read the information in the bastille(1M) manual and any security considerations for
management software to be run on the VM Host before applying any bastille configuration.