Role-Based Access Control Upgrade via Role Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing complex enterprise messaging services with role-based access control (RBAC) is challenging due to the need for granular permission assignments across heterogeneous resources, which can change with upgrades, leading to misconfigurations and compatibility issues between versions.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves upgrading and deprecating management roles in a role-based framework by updating existing roles, creating new derived roles, and maintaining compatibility through the use of role entries, scripts, API calls, and special permissions, ensuring that permissions are preserved and reused across different versions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If RBAC roles are upgraded to new versions with modified permissions, then the system can adapt to new business requirements and fix role definition problems, but existing role assignments become incompatible and users are affected by the changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by creating a mapping between old and new role entries before the upgrade takes effect. This mapping is established in advance to preserve existing role assignments during the transition, allowing the system to adapt to new role definitions while maintaining compatibility with existing assignments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the role entry mapping relationship that links old role entries to new role entries. This copy allows the upgraded system to use new role definitions while existing role assignments continue to function by referencing the mapped relationships, thus preserving compatibility during the upgrade.
2Ease of operation
If granular permissions are assigned across heterogeneous resources, then users can perform specific business functions with appropriate access control, but the complexity of permission management increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The RBAC system provides a universal framework that handles permission management across multiple heterogeneous resources (mailboxes, calendars, contacts, etc.) through a common role entry structure. This allows the same mechanism to manage permissions for different resource types, reducing the complexity that would otherwise arise from managing each resource type separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments permission management into discrete role entries, each representing a specific business function with defined permissions. This segmentation allows administrators to manage permissions at a granular level by configuring individual role entries independently, making complex permission assignments more manageable through modular organization.
3Reliability
If role permissions are updated to reflect changed business requirements, then the RBAC system remains relevant and accurate, but existing role assignments may become misconfigured
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary mapping layer between old and new role entries. This mapping acts as a mediator that translates existing role assignments into the updated role structure, ensuring that role definitions remain accurate and current while existing assignments continue to function correctly without misconfiguration.
Data Source
AI summary
Management roles in a role-based framework may be upgraded by updating existing management roles, updating derived roles, and deprecating or reducing existing and derived roles in the role-based framework. The existing management roles may include a set of existing role entries for defining an action using parameters, scripts, application program interface calls, and a special permission for enabling performance of tasks defined by the management roles. The derived roles may include custom management roles derived from the existing management roles in the role-based framework.