Safeguard for Privileged Passwords (SPP) supports session access requests with mainframes using software terminal emulation including telnet and TN3270/TN5250 over telnet. Safeguard for Privileged Sessions (SPS) version 6.1 or higher is used for session recording.
Actions
- Security officers can record activities of administrators who maintain critical systems running on IBM iSeries and mainframe computers.
- Asset Administrators can:
- Customize the TN3270/TN5250 login screen field detection to work for the Safeguard custom login setup.
- Mark an asset as supporting telnet sessions and specify if the asset is available.
- Security Policy Administrators can create an entitlement with an access policy that includes session access using telnet and TN3270/TN5250 sessions over telnet.
- Requesters' log in experience follows the regular client telnet or TN3270/TN5250 interface even when the session is being recorded. Sessions are not launched from Safeguard for Privileged Passwords and all required log in information is available through Safeguard for Privileged Passwords.
Steps for sessions access requests using telnet and TN3270/TN5250 over telnet
IMPORTANT: Assistance with One Identity Professional Services is required for help with configurations and installation including available plug-ins, policy creation, pattern files, shortcuts, and best practices.
SPS set up steps
Complete the following set up steps in Safeguard for Privileged Sessions (SPS). For operation details, see the One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Sessions Administration Guide: One Identity Safeguard for Privileged Sessions Administration Guide.
- Import the necessary plug-in to supply authentication and authorization (AA) and credential store (credstore) information to authenticate with and pull the credentials from SPP. The plug-in file and instructions are available at the Safeguard Custom Platform Home wiki on GitHub.
- Create and assign Pattern Sets that use pattern files specific to the log in experience for each connection. A pattern file describes the log in experience for a specific system. The pattern file may include the on-screen location of the user name, password or SSH key field location, login result, descriptions, states, and other required detail. Because log in experiences vary from mainframe to mainframe, custom pattern files must be created, uploaded, and referenced by the system-related connection policy. Template pattern files and instructions are available at the Safeguard Custom Platform Home wiki on GitHub.
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CAUTION: Template pattern files are provided for information only. Customized telnet and TN3270/TN5250 pattern files need to be created. Updates, error checking, and testing are required before using them in production. |
- Specify each Authentication Policy and list the authentication methods that can be used in a connection.
- Create and configure each Connection Policy. Multiple connection policies are typically required because of the uniqueness of each system log on experience and related pattern file as well as the fact that inband destinations are not used for TN3270/TN5250 over telnet.
For example, telnet can be used for inband destinations. However, inband destinations are not used for TN3270/TN5250 over telnet. Instead, a fixed address including the port and server can be identified which results in the need for a different connection policy for each mainframe. A fixed address in SPS includes the port used; the SPP asset port is not used in the connection but is usually the same.
- Export a configuration file, if desired.
- Configure basic settings for the SSH server, cluster interface, and cluster management.
SPP set up steps
Complete the following set up steps in Safeguard for Privileged Passwords (SPP).
- The Asset Administrator adds the mainframe asset including the Telnet Session Port that is identified on the Asset Management | Asset | Management tab. For more information, see Adding an asset.
- The Security Policy Administrator sets the Access Type (Telnet) on the Security Policy Management | Entitlements | Access Request Policies tab.
SPP requester steps
In SPP after all configuration is complete, the requester proceeds based on the terminal service application in use.
- For a terminal service application that uses an inband connection string (like telnet), click
Copy to copy the Hostname Connection String and check out the password or SSH key. Then, paste the information in the log in screen.
- If the terminal service application requires more information for log in (for example, TN3270/TN5250 over telnet):
- Click
Show to display values that may include Vault Address (the SPP address), a one-time Token, Username, Asset, and Sessions Module (the SPS address).
- Click Copy by any of the values to copy a single value. Or, you can click Copy at the right of all values to copy the entire the connection string, if that is required by your terminal service application.
- Paste the necessary information into your terminal service application.
- Click
Check-In Request to complete the password or SSH key check out process. This makes the session request available to reviewers.
- Click
Hide to conceal the information from view.
NOTE: The user would copy an entire connection string if, for example, you have a launcher to take the connection string and launch the profile of the terminal service application.
Some database servers use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) when communicating with Safeguard for Privileged Passwords. Depending on the platform type, version, and configuration, the database server can either use SSL for only encrypting the session or it can use SSL for encrypting and verifying the authenticity of the database server.
ODBC Transport
The following platforms use the ODBC transport. Safeguard for Privileged Passwords installs the appropriate software driver on the appliance to communicate with the platform. The configuration data that Safeguard for Privileged Passwords uses to initialize a connection with the server is in the form of a connection string consisting of a colon-separated list of driver-specific options.
By default, the database servers encrypt the login data, but not the subsequent data passed on the connection. You must configure SSL and enable it on the database server to enable encryption for the session data.
Microsoft SQL Server
MicrosoftSQL Serveris always capable of encrypting the connection with SSL. It listens on a single port for both SSL and non-SSL connections.
If you have set the Force Encryption option to yes on the SQL server, then it uses SSL to encrypt the data, regardless of whether the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client requests it or not.
You can set the Force Encryption option to yes on the SQL server without configuring a server certificate. In this case, the SQL server transparently generates a self-signed certificate to use when a Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client requests encryption. This makes it possible for the SQL server to use SSL only to provide encryption for the session without verifying the server certificate.
NOTE: It is not possible from within a running session to detect whether the SQL server is using SSL for encryption.
Table 213: Microsoft SQL Server SSL support
| Safeguard for Privileged Passwords Client Options |
Microsoft SQL Server Configuration |
Result |
| Use SSL Encryption |
Verify SSL Cert |
Force Encryption |
Server Cert Configured |
| No |
n/a |
No |
n/a |
The SQL Server does not encrypt the session. |
| Yes |
No |
n/a |
No |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords requests that the SQL server encrypt the session using a generated self-signed certificate. |
| Yes |
No |
n/a |
Yes |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords requests that the SQL server encrypt the session using the server certificate. |
| Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
No |
The SQL server rejects the connection as there is no certificate to verify against. |
| Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
Yes |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords requests that the SQL server encrypt the session and verify the server certificate against the trusted CA certificates in Safeguard for Privileged Passwords. |
MySQL Server
To support SSL you must compile the MySQL server software with SSL support and correctly configure it with a CA certificate and server certificate. If there is any problem with the certificate, the MySQL server may log an error and start up without SSL support. In this case the MySQL server rejects the request to enable SSL for a session as there is no certificate to verify against and does not encrypt the session. The MySQL server listens on a single port for both types of connections.
The behavior of the MySQL server depends on the server version and configuration. In some versions of MySQL, the server enables SSL by default on all Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client sessions once it is configured.
If the MySQL server defaults to using SSL, or requires SSL for a user, the MySQL server encrypts the session even if the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client does not request it. However, the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client cannot request to use SSL just for encryption; it can only request SSL if you have imported the correct CA certificate to Safeguard for Privileged Passwords.
NOTE: It is possible to detect that SSL is in use from within a session by examining the session variables. That is, the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client can detect if a request to use SSL has not been honored and displays an error.
Table 214: MySQL Server SSL support
| No |
No |
Unencrypted session. |
| No |
Yes |
Determined by the MySQL server. The server encrypts the session if it defaults to using SSL or requires it for this user. |
| Yes |
No |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client detects this and reports a failure. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords requests that the MySQL server encrypt the session and verity the server certificate against the trusted CA certificate in Safeguard for Privileged Passwords |
For more information, see Preparing MySQL servers.
Sybase ASE Server
To support SSL you must correctly configure the Sybase server with a CA certificate and server certificate. The Sybase server listens on different ports for SSL and non-SSL connections, and rejects a mismatched request from a Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client to a particular port.
The Safeguard for Privileged Passwords client cannot request to use SSL just for encryption; it can only request SSL if you have imported the correct CA certificate to Safeguard for Privileged Passwords.
Table 215: Sybase ASE Server SSL support
| No |
No |
Unencrypted session. |
| No |
Yes |
The Sybase server rejects the connection attempt.
NOTE: The ODBC driver cannot detect that this is an SSL error and displays a client cannot connect error. |
| Yes |
No |
The Sybase server rejects the session with an SSL error. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords requests that the Sybase server encrypt the session and verify the server certificate against the trusted CA certificates in Safeguard for Privileged Passwords. |
For more information, see Preparing Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise) servers.
Safeguard for Privileged Passwordsuses the following access request states, which change as a request steps through the workflow process.
Table 216: Access request states
| Available |
Approved requests that are ready for the requester. That is, for password or SSH key release requests, the requester can view or copy the password or SSH key. For session access requests, the requester can launch the session. |
| Approved |
Requests that have been approved, but the check out time has not arrived. |
| Denied |
Requests denied by the approver. |
| Expired |
Requests for which the Checkout Duration has elapsed. |
| Pending |
Requests that are waiting for approval. |
| Revoked |
Approved requests retracted by the approver.
NOTE: The approver can revoke a request between the time the requester views it and checks it back in. |
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords appliances can end up in a quarantine state if something goes wrong while doing certain activities. The best defense against losing data or compounding problems associated with quarantined appliances is a good and recent backup. At least one appliance in the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords cluster should be scheduled to periodically generate a backup and send it to an archive server. For more information, see Backup and Retention.
Recovering from a quarantine state
- Follow these steps to create a quarantine bundle from the Recovery Kiosk. For more information, see Recovery Kiosk (Serial Kiosk).
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Prior to using the Quarantine Bundle function, set up a Windows share where the quarantine bundle is to be sent.
- From the Recovery Kiosk, select the Support Bundle option, click the right arrow, and select Quarantine Bundle.
- Enter the following information:
- Address: Enter the address of the Windows share (<IP Address>\<ShareName>) where the support bundle is to be saved.
- If the Windows share is not anonymous, enter the User name and Password or SSH Key.
- Click Copy to Share.
- You can now restart the appliance. Often, a quarantine happens because the system was waiting for a response that did not return in time. Restarting the appliance allows it to retry and frequently fixes itself.
- To restart a quarantined appliance, connect to the Recovery Kiosk for that appliance and restart it from there. Once the appliance has restarted, it will take several minutes for Safeguard for Privileged Passwords to start.
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If you attempt to connect to the appliance using the web client while Safeguard for Privileged Passwords is starting, you will get notified of HTTP Error 503. Once the log in service is running you will be presented with a log in screen, but will not be able to proceed until the appliance has proceeded further. Once the appliance has booted out of the quarantine state, you will be able to log in and proceed as normal. At this time you should generate a support bundle. If the appliance remains in a quarantine state, the web client will continue to get HTTP Error 503.
If the web client cannot display the login screen, contact One Identity Technical Support and report the result.
To remove a quarantined appliance from a cluster
You may want to remove a quarantined appliance from a cluster.
- First try to unjoin the replica appliance from the cluster. For more information, see Unjoining replicas from a cluster.
- If unjoining the appliance fails, reset the cluster to remove the appliance from the cluster. For more information, see Resetting a cluster that has lost consensus.
Considerations for a factory reset of a hardware appliance
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Caution: Care should be taken when performing a factory reset against a physical appliance, because this operation removes all data and audit history, returning it to its original state when it first came from the factory. Performing a factory reset will NOT reset the BMC/IPMI interface or the IP address. However, the BMC/IPMI interface will need to be reenabled after the reset has completed (for more information, see Lights Out Management (BMC)). The appliance must go through configuration again as if it had just come from the factory. For more information, see Setting up Safeguard for Privileged Passwords for the first time.
In addition, performing a factory reset may change the default SSL certificate and default SSH host key.
The appliance resets to the current Long Term Support (LTS) version. For example, if the appliance is running version 6.6 (feature release) or 6.0.6 LTS (maintenance Long Term Support release) and then factory reset, the appliance will reset down to 6.0 LTS and you will have to patch up to your desired version. For more information, see Long Term Support (LTS) and Feature Releases. |
One Identity Technical Support can determine if a factory reset is necessary. If a factory reset is the last option, you will need to contact Support to complete the operation.
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To perform a factory reset, connect to the Recovery Kiosk and select the Factory Reset option. For more information, see Factory reset from the Recovery Kiosk.
Once the factory reset is started, you must wait until it finishes (it could take up to 30 minutes to complete). When the factory reset is complete, the kiosk will return an Online indicator.
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Once the factory reset is complete:
- Re-configure the network interface settings.
- Patch to your desired Safeguard for Privileged Passwords version using the required patching path.
- If this appliance will be the primary for the cluster, upload and restore the most recent backup. For more information, see Restore a backup.
- If this appliance will be a replica in a cluster, there is no need to restore a backup. Join the appliance to your cluster. For more information, see Enrolling replicas into a cluster.Safeguard for Privileged Passwords will take care of replicating all the data back to the appliance.
