Software Distributor Administration Guide (March 2009)

required for the operation are all granted by the entry, access is authorized, and SD-UX
proceeds with the requested operation.
9.8.1 How Agents Handle Controller Requests
When a controller requests an agent to do an operation requiring the participation of
another agent, the two agents must each grant access to the objects under their control
before the operation can complete.
Figure 9-3 SD-UX Security Process
Authorized to
insert?
2
3
4
7
5
6
swagentA
Host H
swinstall
Issue RPC
1
User U
Controller
Root R ACL
Root R
Product P ACL
Product P
Read the
product
Proceed
with Install
Proceed
with Install
Proceed
with Install
Host H and
User U, “read”
permission?
Depot D
swagentB
For example, to install a product P from depot D to root R:
1. User U sends an RPC request to swagentA on the target host H. User U wants to
install the product in root R (on the target host).
2. SwagentA checks the ACL protecting root R to confirm that user U is authorized
to insert products.
3. SwagentA (running as principal H) forms a request to swagentB (running where
depot D resides) to read the product.
4. SwagentB checks the ACL protecting the product to make sure that both the
destination system (principal H) and the user U have read permission before
honoring the request, and the installation proceeds.
The ACL on swagentB neither knows of nor depends on user U. The ACL on root R
acts to screen U; then (and only then) the product’s ACL acts to screen H.
9.8 RPC Authorization 209