Security

Solaris Resource Manager has a wide effect on the administration of a Solaris system, so it is important that it be installed and maintained in a manner that ensures the system is secure.

There are a number of ways in which the system administrator can ensure that the security of the Solaris Resource Manager system is maintained. The most important, as with any Solaris system, is to ensure the privacy of the root password. Anyone who knows the root user password has unrestricted access to the system's resources, the same as the central administrator.

A number of special administrative privileges can be granted to users within Solaris Resource Manager by setting certain system flags within their respective lnodes. These can help increase the security of a system because they allow delegated users to carry out the tasks that are required of them without giving them full superuser privileges.

Some of these privileges should not be granted lightly because they give the recipient user broad-ranging powers. The passwords of users possessing special privileges should be protected diligently, just as the superuser password should be protected.

There are several security precautions taken within Solaris Resource Manager to prevent misuse of the administrative privilege granted to sub-administrators: Refer to A Typical Application Server and Lnode Maintenance Programs.

There are circumstances in which the central administrator can leave the system open to security breaches if not careful with the manipulation of the structure of the scheduling tree. It is important for the central administrator to know how to correctly modify the scheduling tree and how to detect potential problems in the current structure. This is discussed in Scheduling Tree Structure.