5.5

Table Of Contents
Working With Roles and Rights
A role associates a role name with a set of rights. A newly created organization includes a set of predefined
roles and rights inherited from the containing cloud. An organization administrator can add new roles or
modify predefined roles.
vCloud Director uses roles, and their associated rights, to determine whether a user or group is authorized
to perform an operation. When you create or import a user or group, you must assign it a role. You can use
one of the predefined roles, or you can create a role from existing rights.
Predefined roles and rights are properties of a cloud. Roles that an organization administrator creates are
properties of the organization.
NOTE You can create and modify rights associated with extension services, but not those associated with
vCloud Director. See “Create a Service-Specific Right,” on page 349
Predefined Roles and Their Rights
vCloud Director includes predefined roles. Each of these roles includes a set of default rights.
System Administrator
The system administrator has super-user rights for the entire system. System administrator credentials are
established during installation and configuration. A system administrator can create additional system
administrator accounts. All system administrators are members of the system organization. You cannot
modify the rights associated with this role.
Organization Roles
After creating an organization, a system administrator can assign the role of organization administrator to
any user in the organization. An organization administrator has super-user rights within that organization,
and can assign any of the predefined roles to the organization's users and groups.
Organization
Administrator
An organization administrator can assign the role of organization
administrator to any member of an organization.
Catalog Author
The rights associated with the catalog author role allow a user to create and
publish catalogs.
vApp Author
The rights associated with the vApp Author role allow a user to use catalogs
and create vApps.
vApp User
The rights associated with the vApp User role allow a user to use existing
vApps.
Console Access Only
The rights associated with the Console Access Only role allow a user to view
virtual machine state and properties and to use the guest OS.
Each predefined role includes a set of default rights. If an organization administrator modifies the set of
rights associated with a predefined role, those modifications apply only in the context of that organization.
If a system administrator modifies the set of rights associated with a predefined role, those modifications
apply to all organizations in the system.
You classify rights according to the objects to which they apply.
Rights Associated with Catalogs
Admin rights are granted to the system administrator throughout the system, and to an organization
administrator within the organization.
Chapter 6 Creating and Managing Organizations
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