Technical Guide

Understanding Authentication, Users, and Roles in Metal Server

Overview of Authentication in Metal Server

Metal Server uses a robust authentication system to verify the identity of users and systems. The authentication process is handled through the server.authentication section of the config.yml file.

Configuring Authentication

To configure authentication in Metal Server, you need to add the following code to the server.authentication section of the config.yml file:

server:
  authentication:
    type: local

This code enables local authentication for the Metal Server.

It is possible to assign a default role to the authenticated user by adding the following code to the server.authentication section of the config.yml file:

server:
  authentication:
    type: local
    default-role: guest     # the role is already created in roles section

User Management

Users are the entities that interact with the Metal Server. Each user has a unique username and password, and can be assigned to one or more roles.

Creating Users

To create new users, you need to add the following code to the users section of the config.yml file:

Example

users:
  myapiuser:
    password: myStr@ngpa$$w0rd
  guest:
    password: guestpassword

This code creates two new users, mypaiuser and guest, with the specified passwords.

Role-Based Access Control

Roles are used to determine what actions a user can perform and what data they can access. Each role has a unique name and a set of permissions that define what actions can be performed.

Creating Roles

To create a new role, you need to add the following code to the roles section of the config.yml file:

roles:
  admin: ar            # ar = admin, read
  all-rights: crudla   # crudla = create, read, update, delete, list, admin
  guest: r             # r = read

This code creates three new roles, admin, all-rights, and guest, with the specified permissions.

Permissions

Permission	Description
c	Create data
r	Read data
u	Update data
d	Delete data
a	Administrate server
l	List schema entities

Assigning Roles to Users

To assign a role to a user, you need to add the following code to the users section of the config.yml file:

users:
  myapiuser:
    password: myStr@ngpa$$w0rd
    roles: [admin, all-rights]     # Assign the 'admin' and 'all-rights' roles to myapiuser
  guest:
    password: guestpassword
    roles: [guest]                 # Assign the 'guest' role to guest

This code assigns the admin role to the myapiuser user and the guest role to the guest user.

Final configuration

The final configuration will be:

server:
  authentication:
    type: local
    default-role: guest

roles:
  admin: ar    
  all-rights: crudla
  guest: r          

users:
  myapiuser:
    password: myStr@ngpa$$w0rd
    roles: [admin, all-rights] 
  guest:
    password: guestpassword
    roles: [guest]

Troubleshooting

• Authentication Errors: Check the server.authentication section of the config.yml file for any errors or misconfigurations.
• User Management Issues: Check the users section of the config.yml file for any errors or misconfigurations.
• Role-Based Access Control Issues: Check the roles section of the config.yml file for any errors or misconfigurations.

Conclusion

In this technical guide, we have explored the concept of authentication, users, and roles in Metal Server. We have seen how to configure authentication, create new users and roles, and assign roles to users. By understanding these features, you can create a secure and controlled environment for your users to interact with your data.