Accessing Applications in Trusted Extensions

In Trusted Extensions, you can access only those programs that you need to do your job. As in the Solaris OS, an administrator provides access by assigning one or more rights profiles to your account. A rights profile is a special collection of programs and security attributes. These security attributes enable successful use of the program that is in the rights profile.

The Solaris OS provides security attributes such as privileges and authorizations. Trusted Extensions provides labels. Any of these attributes, if missing, can prevent use of the program or parts of the program. For example, a rights profile might include an authorization that enables you to read a database. A rights profile with particular security attributes might be required for you to modify the database or read information that is classified as Confidential.

The use of rights profiles that contain programs with associated security attributes helps prevent users from misusing programs and from damaging data on the system. If you need to perform tasks that override the security policy, the administrator can assign to you a rights profile that contains the necessary security attributes. If you are prevented from running a certain task, check with your administrator. You might be missing required security attributes.

In addition, the administrator might assign you a profile shell as your login shell. A profile shell is a special version of the Bourne shell that provides access to a particular set of applications and capabilities. Profile shells are a feature of the Solaris OS. For details, see the pfsh(1) man page.

If you try to run a program and receive a Not Found error message or if you try to run a command and receive a Not in Profile error message, you might not be permitted to use this program. Check with your security administrator.