Why Use the Solaris Management Console?

The console provides a set of tools with many benefits for administrators.

The console does the following:

• Supports all experience levels

  Inexperienced administrators can complete tasks by using the GUI, which includes dialog boxes, wizards, and context help. Experienced administrators find that the console provides a convenient, secure alternative to using vi to manage hundreds of configuration parameters spread across dozens or hundreds of systems.

• Controls user access to the system

  Although any user can access the console by default, only superuser can make changes in the initial configuration. As described in Role-Based Access Control (Overview) in System Administration Guide: Security Services, it is possible to create special user accounts called roles can be created and assigned to users, typically administrators, who are permitted to make specific system changes.

  The key benefit of RBAC is that roles can be limited so that users have access to only those tasks that are necessary for doing their jobs. RBAC is not required for using the Solaris management tools. You can run all tools as superuser without making any changes.

• Provides a command line interface

  If preferred, administrators can operate the Solaris management tools through a command-line interface (CLI). Some commands are written specifically to mimic the GUI tool functions, such as the commands for managing users. These new commands are listed in Table 1–6, which includes the names and brief descriptions of each command. There is also a man page for each command.

  For Solaris management tools that have no special commands, such as the Mounts and Shares tool, use the standard UNIX commands.

For in-depth information about how RBAC works, its benefits, and how to apply those benefits to your site, see Role-Based Access Control (Overview) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

To learn more about using RBAC with the Solaris management tools, see Using the Solaris Management Tools With RBAC (Task Map).