Portal administration tools

 

Contents

  1. Security Considerations
  2. Administration portlets
  3. XML configuration interface
  4. Scripting Interface

Security considerations

WebSphere Portal provides a flexible delegation model for administering portal resources. This means that master administrator can delegate administration and configuration work to subadministrators or other users as required in a highly detailed manner. For example, the master administrator can delegate the responsibility and rights for different administrative tasks to different departments in the same business. These can be departments for developing, deploying, and operating software solutions that are based on WebSphere Portal.

The delegation model is implemented by Portal Access Control (PAC). PAC works by access control decisions which guard the execution of administrative tasks that manipulate portal resources. Users can only perform a task if they have the access permissions required for that task. Access permissions are implemented as user rights on actions related to portal resources, not on the resources themselves.

 

Portal administration portlets

Portal administrative users can use the administration portlets for the following tasks:

  • Performing administrative asks and actions on portal resources, depending on the access rights that the administrative user has on those resources. This includes:

    • Configure individual portal resources.

    • Configure individual portal resources, together with their dependent resources. For example, this can be pages and the pages derived from them.

  • Giving other users, for example subadministrators, limited access rights on selected portal resources. These subadministrators can then perform administrative tasks to the extent that their access rights allow. As the master administrator, you can widen or limit that extent by modifying the access rights for these users on the portal resources. This way, you can delegate administrative tasks as required.

  • Deploying your own custom developed artefacts, such as portlets, themes, or skins.

 

The XML configuration interface

The XML configuration interface provides a batch processing interface for portal configuration updates. It allows you to export an entire portal configuration or parts of a configuration, for example specific pages, to an XML file. You can then re-create the exported configuration from such a file on another portal.

You access the XML configuration interface using a command line tool. This command line client is a small separate program that connects to the server using a HTTP connection. You can therefore use it remotely.

Use the XML configuration interface to process portal resources, but not portal actions or tasks.

Use the XML configuration interface to process the configuration of portal resources that already exist, for example pages. In this context the XML configuration interface processes derived resources, but it does not automatically create them.

The XML configuration interface does not reflect the PAC authorization model with delegated administration. You only need the access permission to use the XML configuration interface. An administrator who works with the XML configuration interface does not need access permission for the portal resources processed by the XML request. (The reason for this is that Portal Access Control gives users access permissions on actions and not on resources.)

Use the XML configuration interface for the following tasks:

  • Export, import, and update complete or partial portal installations. This can be for the following purposes:

  • Copying parts of a configuration, such as specific pages, from one portal to another.

  • Transferring portal configurations from one installation to another. You do this by exporting and importing the portal configuration. This usage scenario includes the case where you try out a new portal configuration on a test portal for evaluation, and then transfer it to a production portal in a separate step using the portal configuration interface.

  • Create a portal configuration file by XML export. You do this by an XML export.

  • Install additional resources on a portal.

  • Performing recurring administration tasks in an automated and reproducible manner.

  • Performing these administrative tasks remotely, that is from another server via an HTTP connection.

A user who uses the XML configuration interface to perform administrative tasks only needs the access right on the virtual resource XML_ACCESS. The user does not need access rights on the portal resources that are updated by the XML configuration interface.

Use of the XML configuration interface for the following tasks is limited:

  • Delegating administrative tasks, that is having other administrative users with specific access permissions perform these tasks.

  • Limiting administrative tasks to a particular user or to particular portal resources.

The XML configuration interface is also used for release staging, that is for staging a portal from development through test to production.

 

The Portal Scripting Interface

The Portal Scripting Interface is a command line tool that behaves just like the portal administration portlets, providing the same delegated administration and Portal Access Control abilities.

The Portal Scripting Interface is run by invoking the wpsscript.sh.

Use the Portal Scripting Interface to...

  1. Make fine tuned changes to a portal configuration.

  2. Transfer configuration updates without disturbing the production portal. For example...

    1. A development team develops scripts for performing configuration updates.

    2. A QA team runs the scripts and tests the new configuration.

    3. After approval by QA, operations runs the scripts against the production portal.

    4. An operator team processes the scripts that update the production portal.

  3. Run unattended batch jobs overnight.

 

See also

 

WebSphere is a trademark of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

 

IBM is a trademark of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.