Re: Group Profiles

[rob@xxxxxxxxx]

Group profiles and authorization lists are attempts to simplify security 
planning.  They are both built to solve some of the complexity of security 
planning but achieve this with different techniques.

A user can belong to one primary group profile and any number of secondary 
group profiles.  Using a group profile instead of individually listing 
each user who may use a particular object allows you to add new users to 
that object by simply adding them to that group.  Adding a new user 
directly to that object may require that the object not be in use.  Which 
can be hard, if not next to impossible, for some objects.  Group profiles 
may also give you access to certain "special authorities".  This is 
something to be aware of.  For example, if you buy a software package from 
XYZ and every object in there is owned by XYZUSER you may think "let's 
make that the group profile (or a supplemental group profile) for ever 
user who uses the package XYZ.  But, if you find out that XYZUSER has 
*ALLOBJ or *SECADM then you've just given that authority to all those 
users also.  This may have unintended consequences (some may call this an 
understatement).
Group profiles and supplemental group profiles can go to extremes and may 
be some load on your system.  PRTPRFINT may show the interaction consuming 
quite a bit of space.  I've seen a SAVSYS go from 4 minutes to 44 minutes 
based on this alone.

An alternative is authorization lists.  Again, you assign an authorization 
list to an object or objects.  A user can be assigned to any number of 
authorization lists.  Different users on the same authorization list may 
have different access.  For example MRSPGMR may have *ALL and JUSTAUSER 
may *USE to programs within a program only library.  You can add/change 
users on an authorization list without getting a lock on the object.  You 
may need the lock to initially assign the authorization list to that 
object.  You can run the CHGLIB command to initially assign an 
authorization list to any object created within that library.  Special 
authorities are not adopted like they are with group profiles.


Rob Berendt