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:
- A personal resource, such as the user’s mailbox, home folder, account enabled for Office Communications Server, or Unix-enabled account.
- A shared, network-based resource, such as a Web application or network file share, that the user has permission to access.
- 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:
- For a personal resource, entitlement takes the form of certain attributes of the user’s account in the directory.
- For a shared resource, entitlement is granted by adding the user to a certain security group in Active Directory.
- 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:
- The user’s account in Active Directory; this object is used to discover the personal resources to which the user is entitled.
- 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.
- 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.