A partition is a named container for assets that can be used to segregate assets for delegated management. It is the responsibility of the Asset Administrator to add partitions to Safeguard for Privileged Passwords. Partitions allow you to set up multiple asset managers, each with the ability to define password guidelines for the managed systems in their own workspace. Typically, you partition assets by geographical location, owner, function, or by operating system. For example, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords can enable you to group Unix assets in a partition and delegate the Unix administrator to manage it. Every partition should have a partition owner. For more information, see Adding a partition..
You must assign all assets, and the accounts associated with them, to a partition. By default, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords assigns all assets and their associated accounts to the default partition, but you can set a different partition as the default.
To access Partitions:
- web client: Navigate to Asset Management > Partitions. Select a partition, then click to display additional information and options.
Selecting one of the accounts displays the following information:
Use these toolbar buttons to manage partitions.
- New Partition: Add a partition to Safeguard for Privileged Passwords. For more information, see Adding a partition..
- Delete: Remove the selected partition. For more information, see Deleting a partition..
- View Details: Select a partition then click this button to open additional information and options for the partition.
- Set as Default: Set a partition as the default. All new assets you add are automatically assigned to the default partition. For more information, see Setting a default partition..
- Export: Use this button to export the listed data as either a JSON or CSV file. For more information, see Exporting data.
- Refresh: Update the list of partitions.
- Search: You can search by a character string or by a selected attribute with conditions you enter. To search by a selected attribute click Search and select an attribute to search. For more information, see Search box.
The profile includes the schedules and rules governing the partition’s assigned assets and the assets' accounts. For example, the profile defines how often a password check is required on an asset or account.
A partition can have multiple profiles, each assigned to different assets, if desired. An account is governed by only one profile. If an account is not explicitly assigned to a profile, the account is governed by the one assigned to the parent asset. If that asset does not have an assigned profile, the partition's default profile is assigned. When updating or restarting a service on a password change, the profile assigned to the asset is used for dependent account service modifications.
When you create a new partition, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords creates a corresponding default profile with default schedules and rules. You can create multiple profiles to govern the accounts assigned to a partition. Both assets and accounts are assigned to the scope of a profile.
For example, suppose you have an asset with 12 accounts and you configure the profile to check and change passwords every 60 days. If you want the password managed for one of those accounts every seven days, you can create another profile and add the individual account to the new profile. Now, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords will check and change all the passwords on this asset every 60 days except for this account, which will change every seven days.
Implicit and explicit association
It is important to understand the difference between implicit and explicit assignments to a profile.
Implicit associations
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords makes implicit assignments. For example, when you add an asset to Safeguard for Privileged Passwords, it automatically adds the asset to the default partition and assigns it to the scope of the default profile. This is called implicit association. Assets implicitly inherit the partition's default profile. Similarly, accounts inherit their parent asset’s profile. That means when you add an account to an asset, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords implicitly adds that account to its asset’s profile.
Later, if you reassign the asset to another profile, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords automatically reassigns all of the asset’s associated accounts to the new profile.
Explicit associations
Safeguard for Privileged Passwords allows you to explicitly add an asset or an account to a specific profile. When you explicitly assign an asset to a profile, it overrides the implicit inheritance from the partition so the asset's profile is no longer determined by its partition. Similarly, when you explicitly assign an account to a profile, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords overrides the implicit inheritance from the asset and the account’s profile is no longer determined by its asset.
Now, if you reassign the asset to another profile, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords will not reassign the asset’s associated accounts that were explicitly assigned to the old profile.
Resetting the default profile
If you set another profile as the default, Safeguard for Privileged Passwords implicitly reassigns all assets and their associated accounts to that new default, but it will not reassign any assets or accounts that you have explicitly assigned to a profile. Once the implicit inheritance is broken, changing a partition's default profile has no effect on the scope of a profile. For more information, see Setting a default profile.
The Properties tab lists information about the selected partition.
To access the Properties tab, in the web client, navigate to Asset Management > Partitions > View Details > Properties.
Table 116: Partitions Properties tab: General properties
Name |
The partition name. |
Description |
Information about the selected partition. |
Delete: Click this button to delete the selected partition.
The Assets tab displays the assets assigned to the selected partition.
Click Add Asset from the details toolbar to add one or more assets to the selected partition.
To access Assets:
- web client: Navigate to Asset Management > Partitions > (View Details) > Assets.
Table 117: Partitions: Assets tab properties
Name |
The asset name. |
Password Profile |
The name of the profile that manages the asset. |
SSH Key Profile |
The name of the SSH key profile. |
Account Discovery Job |
The Account Discovery job assigned to discover accounts on this asset that meet the rules criteria. Each asset in a partition can have a separate and unique Account Discovery job. |
Asset Discovery Job |
The Asset Discovery job assigned to discover assets by searching directory assets, such as Active Directory, or by scanning network IP ranges in the partition that meet the rules criteria. An asset can be read-access available for Asset Discovery jobs beyond partition boundaries. For more information, see Management tab (add asset). |
Platform |
The platform of the selected asset. |
Session Request |
A check in this column indicates that session access requests are enabled for the asset. |
Disabled |
A check in this column indicates the asset is disabled. |
Product License |
If applicable (for example, for a Windows asset), indicates your license model, such as System or Desktop. |
Connection Type |
The connection authentication type for the asset, such as Password, SSH Key, Directory Account, Local System Account, and so on. For more information, see Connection tab (add asset). |
Description |
Descriptive information entered when the asset was added. |
Use these buttons on the details toolbar to manage the assets assigned to the selected partition.
Table 118: Partitions: Assets tab toolbar
Add Asset |
Add one or more assets to the selected partition. |
Delete |
Remove the selected asset from the partition. |
View Details |
Edit the selected asset. Assets that are part of a Directory have the following properties automatically synchronized from the Directory: Name, Description, NetworkAddress. |
Access Request |
Select Enable Session Request to allow session requests for the selected asset. Select Disable Session Request to disallow session requests for the selected asset. |
SSH Host Key |
This option allows you to manually add the host key to an asset in cases where Safeguard for Privileged Passwords cannot discover the asset automatically (such as for an Other Directory asset). |
Test Connection |
Select to verify that Safeguard for Privileged Passwords can log in to the asset using the current service account credentials. For more information, see Checking an asset's connectivity.. |
Synchronize Now |
Run the directory addition (incremental) synchronization process by asset and account. The sync is queued by asset by provider and runs one directory sync on that asset at a time. You can run multiple syncs in parallel on different assets. This is the faster type of directory sync because deletions are not synced. A Tasks window displays the progress and outcome of the task. You can click Details to see more information or click Stop to cancel the task. In addition, this process runs through the discovery, if there are discovery rules and configurations set up.The API (Assets/Synchronize) can be used to run the deletion (full) sync which includes all deletions, additions, and changes. This sync takes longer (perhaps hours), especially the first time it is run based on your directory setup. |
Discover Accounts |
Run the Account Discovery job. |
Enable-Disable |
Select one of the following:
Select Enable to have Safeguard for Privileged Passwords manage a disabled partition.
Select Disable to prevent Safeguard for Privileged Passwords from managing the selected partition. |
Show Disabled |
Display the assets that are not managed and are disabled and have no associated accounts. Asset management can be controlled by selecting an asset and clicking Enable-Disable. |
Hide Disabled |
Hide the assets that are not managed and are disabled and have no associated accounts. Asset management can be controlled by selecting an asset and clicking Enable-Disable. |
Export |
Use this button to export the listed data as either a JSON or CSV file. For more information, see Exporting data. |
Refresh |
Retrieve and display an updated list of assets associated with the selected partition. |
Search |
To locate a specific asset in this list, enter the character string to be used to search for a match. For more information, see Search box.. |
Adding assets to a partition
Removing assets from a partition