How to ban users with quattor

Unfortunately, there is no universal method to ban grid users from using gLite services. Enter Quattor, and via a single list of banned users we can manage the ban lists on the various node types.

How to add a user to the ban list?

The template $L/cfg/sites/ndpf/site/banlist.tpl define a Pan variable GLOBAL_BANNED_USER_LIST, which is a list() containing the certificate DNs that should be banned. Adding a user to this list is simply a matter of adding one line with the DN (enclosed in double quotes and a comma after the second quote):

variable GLOBAL_BANNED_USER_LIST ?= list(
 "/O=banned users/O=grid/CN=Evil User",
 # this is a comment line
 # use comments to relate the banned user DN to a date and reason
 "/O=some other org/O=whatever/CN=Compromised Account",
);

Don't forget to give the date and reason for banning the user!

Implementation

Services that support user banning can define a variable BANNED_USER_CONFIG which points to a template that implements the formatting of the appropriate files (see "Background Information" below). These files process the data from GLOBAL_BANNED_USER_LIST and put it in the expected format.

Currently implemented methods:

• lcas, used by the lcg-CE. Implementation in template

$L/cfg/grid/common/security/user-banning/lcas.tpl

• gridmap, used by the DPM server and disk. Implementation in template

$L/cfg/grid/common/security/user-banning/gridmap.tpl

• gacl, used by the WMS. Implementation in template

$L/cfg/grid/common/security/user-banning/gacl.tpl

Background Information

Below is the summary of services and the method of banning:

• lcg-CE, classic-SE: the banned user DNs need to be stored in /opt/edg/etc/lcas/ban_users.db and /opt/glite/etc/lcas/ban_users.db.

• WMS: the banned used DNs have to be present in the files:
  • /opt/glite/etc/glite_wms_wmproxy.gacl.
  • /etc/lcas/ban_users.db

• DPM: the banned user DNs need to be mapped to a non-existing Unix account in /opt/lcg/etc/lcgdm-mapfile-local and /opt/edg/etc/grid-mapfile-local. In addition, there is a script /usr/local/bin/dpns-update-banned-users which bans the users that are present in the local map file via dpns-modifyusrmap (and unbans the users that are no longer in this file but who are currently banned in DPNS).

• CreamCE: to be investigated

• MyProxy (PX): To be completed