The entitlement profile is a list of entitlements, each of which represents authorization to access, use or manage a particular information resource. A resource could be a single object in the directory, such as a user, group, contact or computer object, or it could be a server-based resource, such as an Exchange mailbox, user home folder, web application or network file share. In case of a server-based resource, entitlement normally takes the form of user attributes or stems from membership in a certain group. In case of a directory object, entitlement refers to the manager or owner rights on that object.
Active Roles provides the ability to view the entitlement profile of any given user, both in the Active Roles Console and Web Interface. The entitlement profile is implemented as a configurable report that displays information about resources to which a given user is entitled. Configuration of the entitlement profile specifies what resources are to be listed and what information about each resource is to be displayed in the report. Active Roles provides effective controls to manage configuration of the entitlement profile.
A user’s entitlement profile is essentially a list of information resources to which the user is entitled. The resource can be one of the following:
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A personal resource, such as the user’s mailbox, home folder, account enabled for Office Communications Server, or Unix-enabled account.
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A shared, network-based resource, such as a web application or network file share, that the user has permission to access.
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A managed resource, such as a group or distribution list, for which the user is responsible as the manager or owner.
The way in which a user gets entitled to a given resource depends upon the type of the resource:
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For a personal resource, entitlement takes the form of certain attributes of the user’s account in the directory.
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For a shared resource, entitlement is granted by adding the user to a certain security group in Active Directory.
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For a managed resource, entitlement is granted by assigning the manager or owner role for a certain object in Active Directory.
The building of a user’s entitlement profile is done by applying entitlement rules to the entitlement target objects specific to that user. If a given entitlement target object matches the entitlement rules for a particular resource, then the user is regarded as entitled to the resource and information about that resource appears in the entitlement profile. The entitlement target object can be one of the following:
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The user’s account in Active Directory. This object is used to discover the personal resources to which the user is entitled.
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An Active Directory group of which the user is a member. This object is used to discover the shared resources to which the user is entitled.
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An Active Directory object for which the user is assigned as the manager or owner. This object is used to discover the managed resources to which the user is entitled.
Active Roles stores the entitlement rules in configuration objects called entitlement profile specifiers. These objects are essential to the process of building and presenting the entitlement profile.
In Active Roles, entitlement profile specifiers are configuration objects that govern the process of building and presenting the entitlement profile. Each specifier holds information about a single resource that allows Active Roles to determine whether a given user is entitled to the resource and, if the user appears to be entitled, what information about that resource to include in the user’s entitlement profile.
An entitlement profile specifier holds the following information:
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Entitlement Type: Specifies a way in which a user gets entitled to the resource.
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Entitlement Rules: Provide a way to determine whether a given user is entitled to the resource.
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Resource Display: Specifies how to represent the resource in the entitlement profile.
The following topics elaborate on each of these information blocks.
The entitlement type setting is basically intended to determine the entitlement target object—the object to which Active Roles applies the entitlement rules when building the entitlement profile. Entitlement types can be classified by how a user’s entitlement to a resource is configured:
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Personal resource entitlement: Configured by setting certain attribute of the user’s account itself. In this case, the user’s account plays the role of the entitlement target object.
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Shared resource entitlement: Configured by adding the user to a certain security group. In this case, the group plays the role of the entitlement target object.
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Managed resource entitlement: Configured by assigning the user to the manager or owner role for a certain object. In this case, the object managed or owned by the user plays the role of the entitlement target object.
The following table summarizes the types of entitlement.
Table 80: Types of entitlement
Personal resource entitlement |
The user’s account has certain resource-specific attributes set in the directory. |
The user’s account |
Shared resource entitlement |
The user’s account belongs to a certain security group in Active Directory. |
The user’s group |
Managed resource entitlement |
The user’s account is specified as the primary owner (manager) or a secondary owner of a certain object in the directory. |
The object managed or owned by the user |
When building a user’s entitlement profile, Active Roles uses a specifier’s entitlement rules to tell whether the user is entitled to the resource represented by that specifier. The rules are evaluated against the entitlement target object. If the object matches the rules, then Active Roles regards the user as entitled to the resource, and adds information about the resource to the user’s entitlement profile.
Entitlement rules can be classified by rule condition as follows:
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Explicit exclusion: The rule condition is a list of directory objects. If the entitlement target object occurs in that list, it is regarded as not matching the rules.
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Explicit inclusion: The rule condition is a list of directory objects. If the entitlement target object occurs in that list, it is regarded as matching the rules.
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Filter-based exclusion: The rule condition is one or more filters each of which represents certain requirements on an object’s location and properties. If the entitlement target object satisfies the requirements of at least one filter, then it is regarded as not matching the rules.
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Filter-based inclusion: The rule condition is one or more filters each of which represents certain requirements on an object’s location and properties. If the entitlement target object satisfies the requirements of at least one filter, then it is regarded as matching the rules.
For more information on how Active Roles applies entitlement rules, see About entitlement profile build process.