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Safeguard for Privileged Passwords On Demand Hosted - User Guide

Introduction System requirements and versions Using the web client Getting started with the desktop client Using the desktop client Search box Privileged access requests About us

Taking action on an SSH key release request

The actions that can be taken on an SSH key release request depends on the state of the request and the client interface you are using.

To take action on an SSH key release request ( web client)

  1. From the web client, click My Requests. Use any of the following methods to control the request displayed:

    • Click then select Check-In All Available to check-in all the available requests, Clear All to remove all requests, or Cancel All Pending Time Requested to cancel and remove all pending requests.

    • Click Sort By then select to sort by Account Name, Asset Name, Due Next, Expiring Next, Most Recent, or Status.
    • Click sort up or sort down to sort in ascending or descending order.
    • Click Filters to filter by the status.
      • Available: Approved requests that are ready to view or copy.
      • Pending Approval: Requests that are waiting for approval.
      • Approved: Requests that have been approved, but the check out time has not arrived. Or, for pending accounts restored when using the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords suspend feature.
      • Revoked: Approved requests retracted by the approver. The approver can revoke a request after the request has become available.
      • Expired: Requests for which the Checkout Duration has elapsed.
      • Denied: Requests denied by the approver.
    • Click Search to see a list of searchable elements. Or enter search characters. For more information, see Search box.
    • If a denied or revoked request has been commented on by an approver, you can click the button associated with the request to view the comment.

  2. You can take any of the following actions on the SSH key release request:

    • Available request: Make selections on the request based on your user interface.
      1. The name, account, and remaining time is displayed. Click on the tile to see additional information or use the Fetch SSH Details button.
      2. The Format displays and can be selected, if necessary. Formats include OpenSSH, SSH2, and PuTTY. The Format chosen is preselected as the default for the next access request.
      3. Click Checkout SSH Key to check out the SSH key. This puts the SSH key onto your clipboard, ready for you to use.
      4. Click Start SSH Session to launch the session.
      5. Private Key: You can click Save or Copy.
      6. Passphrase: You can click Show or Copy if Passphrase Protect SSH Key was selected on when creating an access request policy. For more information, see Access Config tab in the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords Administration Guide.
      7. The following types of information may display based on the format you select.
        • SHA-1 Fingerprint
        • MD5 Fingerprint
        • Public Key: You can click Save or Copy.

        If the SSH key changes while you have it checked out, and your current request is still valid, you can select the following to obtain an new SSH key, as available: Save, Copy, or Show.

      8. Once you are done working, click  Check-In Request to complete the SSH key check out process.

    • Approved request: Select  Cancel Request to remove the request.

      An SSH key release request changes from Approved to Available when the requested time is reached. It stays available until you either cancel the request or it reaches the end of the duration period.

    • Pending request: Select  Cancel Request to remove the request.

    • Revoked request: Select Resubmit to request the SSH key again.

      Select  Remove to delete the request from the list.

    • Expired request: Select  Remove Request to delete the request from the list.

    • Denied request: Select Resubmit to request the SSH key again.

      Select  Remove Request to delete the request from the list.

To take action on an SSH key release request ( desktop client)

  1. From your  Home page, the Requests widget has these controls:
    • Select  (expand down) to open the list of active requests.

    • Select  Popout to float the Requests pane. You can then select and drag the pane to any location on the console and resize the window.Open the list of requests.

      NOTE: You enable or disable the Home page widgets in the  Settings (desktop client) menu.

  2. Open the list of requests and select one of the following view filters. The number indicates how many requests are in that state.

    • All: Requests in all states.

    • Available: Approved requests that are ready to view or copy.

    • Approved: Requests that have been approved, but the check out time has not arrived.

    • Pending: Requests that are waiting for approval or for pending accounts restored when using the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords suspend feature.

    • Revoked: Approved requests retracted by the approver. The approver can revoke a request between the time the requester views the SSH key and checks it in.

    • Expired: Requests for which the Checkout Duration has elapsed.

    • Denied: Requests denied by the approver.

  3. Select an account to see the details of the SSH key release request. Take the following actions on SSH key release requests:

    • Available request: Make selections on the request based on your user interface.

      1. The name, Account and Remaining time displays.

      2. The Format displays and can be selected, if necessary. Formats include OpenSSH,SSH2, and PuTTY. The Format chosen is preselected as the default for the next access request.
      3. Click Checkout SSH Key to check out the SSH key. This puts the SSH key into your copy buffer, ready for you to use.
      4. Private Key: You can click Save or Copy.
      5. Passphrase: You can click Show or Copy if Passphrase Protect SSH Key was selected on when creating an access request policy. For more information, see Access Config tab in the Safeguard for Privileged Passwords Administration Guide.
      6. To view more detail, select More Info . The following types of information may display based on the format you select.
        • SHA-1 Fingerprint
        • MD5 Fingerprint
        • Public Key: You can click Save or Copy.

        If the SSH key changes while you have it checked out, and your current request is still valid, you can select the following to obtain an new SSH key, as available: Save, Copy, or Show.

      7. Once you are done working, click  Check-In to complete the SSH key check out process. (You may need to close More Info .)

    • Approved request: Select  Cancel to remove the request.

      An SSH key release request changes from Approved to Available when the requested time is reached. It stays available until you either cancel the request or it reaches the end of the duration period.

    • Pending request: Select  Cancel to remove the request.

    • Revoked request: Select  Resubmit Request to request the SSH key again.

      Select  Remove to delete the request from the list.

    • Expired request: Select  Remove to delete the request from the list.

    • Denied request: Select  Resubmit Request to request the SSH key again.

      Select  Remove to delete the request from the list.

Approving an SSH key release request

Depending on how the Security Policy Administrator configured the policy, an SSH key release request will either require approval by one or more Safeguard for Privileged Passwords users, or be auto-approved. Depending on policy configuration, approval can be automatic or require the consent of one or more users which provides closer control over system accounts.

You can revoke a request between the time the requester views it and checks it in.

Any eligible approver can deny an SSH key release request after it has already been approved or auto-approved. Once disallowed, the requester will no longer have access to the SSH key, but they are given another opportunity to request that SSH key again. The requester receives an email notifying them that the request was denied.

Safeguard for Privileged Passwords can be configured to notify you of an SSH key release request that requires your approval. For more information, see Configuring alerts.

(web client) To approve or deny an SSH key release request

Click Approvals on the left of the page to manage approvals. On the Approvals page, you can:

  • View details by selecting a request then looking at the details display on the right of the page.
  • Approve one or more request: Select the requests. Then, click Approve all selected requests to approve all the requests you selected. Optionally, enter a comment.
  • Deny one or more request: Select the requests. Then, click Deny all selected requests to deny all the requests you selected. Optionally, enter a comment.
  • Change the columns that display: Click and select the columns you want to see. You can select columns including:
    • Action: Displays Approve only this request and Deny only this request.
    • Requester / Status: Displays the user name and the status of the approval (for example, Pending 1 approval).
    • Asset / Access Type: Displays the name of the asset and the type of access (for example, Password, SSH Key, RDP, SSH, or Telnet).
    • Account: Displays the managed account name.
    • Ticket Number: Displays the ticket number, if required.
    • Requested For: Displays the date and time as well as the window of availability (for example, March 20, 2021 9:56 AM 2 hours).
  • Search: For more information, see Search box.

(desktop client) To approve or deny an SSH key release request

  1. From your  Home page, the Approvals widget has these controls:
    1. Select  (expand down) to open the list of approvals.
    2. Select  Popout to float the Approvals pane.

      You can then select and drag the pane to any location on the console and resize the window.

    NOTE: You enable or disable the Home page widgets in the  Settings (desktop client) menu.

  2. Open the list of approvals and select one of the following view filters. The number indicates how many requests are in that state.
    • All: SSH key release requests in all states.
    • Pending: Requests that are waiting for approval.
    • Approved: Requests that have been approved, but not yet available to the requester.
  3. Once you open the list, select the requester's name to see the details of the SSH key release request.

  4. Take the following actions on SSH key release requests:

    • Pending: Select to Approve or Deny an SSH key release request. Optionally, enter a comment of up to 255 characters.
    • Pending Additional Approvers: Select to Deny an SSH key release request. Optionally, enter a comment of up to 255 characters.
    • Approved: Select to Deny or Revoke an approved request.

Reviewing a completed SSH key release request

The Security Policy Administrator can configure an access request policy to require a review of completed SSH key release requests for accounts in the scope of the policy.

You can configure Safeguard for Privileged Passwords to notify you of an SSH key release request that requires your review. For more information, see Configuring alerts.

(web client) To review a completed SSH key release request

Select Reviews on the left of the page to manage reviews. On the Reviews page, you can:

  • View details by selecting a request then looking at the details display on the right of the page, including the workflow.
  • Mark one or more request as reviewed: Select the requests. Do the following:
    • If no comment is needed, click Mark all the selected requests as reviewed.
    • If a comment is needed, this icon will display as One or more of the selected requests requires review comments. Add the comment. Then, click Mark as Reviewed.
  • Change the columns that display: Click Select columns to display then select the columns you want to see.
    • Action: Displays This request requires review comments or Mark only this request as reviewed.
    • Requester: Displays the user name of the requester.
    • Access Type: Displays the type of access (for example, Password, SSH Key, RDP, SSH, or Telnet).
    • Account: Displays the managed account name.
    • Ticket Number: Displays the ticket number, if required.
    • Request For/Duration: Displays the date and time as well as the window of availability (for example, March 20, 2021 9:56 AM 2 hours).
  • Search: For more information, see Search box.

(desktop client) To review a completed SSH key release request

  1. From your  Home page, the Reviews widget has these controls:
    1. Click  (expand down) to open the list of pending reviews.
    2. Click  Popout to float the Reviews pane.

      You can then select and drag the pane to any location on the console and resize the window.

    NOTE: You enable or disable the Home page widgets in the  Settings (desktop client) menu.

  2. Open the list of pending reviews and select an account name to see the details of the SSH key release request.

  3. Take the following action on SSH key release requests:

    • Select Workflow to review the transactions that took place in the selected request.
    • Select  Review to complete the review process.

      Optionally, enter a comment of up to 255 characters.

    Once the review is complete, it no longer appears on the Reviews pane.

TIP: If one requester checks in the request and another requester wants to use it, the second requester is unable to check out the SSH key until the original request has been reviewed. However, the Security Policy Administrator can Close a request that has not yet been reviewed. This will bypass the reviewer in the workflow and allow the account to be accessed by another requester.

Session request workflow

Authorized users can authorize connections, view active connections, limit access to specific resources, be alerted if connections exceed pre-set time limits, and even close connections.

Typically a session request follows the workflow below:

  1. Request: Users that are designated as an authorized user of an entitlement can request a session for any asset in the scope of that entitlement's policies.
  2. Approve: Depending on how the Security Policy Administrator configured the policy, a session request will either require approval by one or more Safeguard for Privileged Passwords users, or be auto-approved.
  3. Review: The Security Policy Administrator can optionally configure an access request policy to require a review of completed requests for assets in the scope of the policy. In addition, if session recording is enabled in the policy, reviewers can audit the workflow transactions and launch the Desktop Player to replay the session as part of the review process.
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