Permission Set Guidelines

Overview

One outcome of a recent investigation into misleading permission set configuration ( FOLIO-2565 - Getting issue details... STATUS ) is a set of new guidelines for permission sets.  This document was reviewed and approved by the Tech Leads Group on /wiki/spaces/TLG/pages/753944/wiki/spaces/TLG/pages/753950

Naming Conventions

  1. Name the permission sets appropriately, e.g. avoid inclusion of POST/PUT/DELETE permissions in "*.view" permission sets.
    • Clear: 

      {
        "permissionName": "ui-erm-usage.view-create-edit",
        "displayName": "eUsage: Can view, create and edit usage data providers and COUNTER reports",
        "id": "ade748af-66b5-4584-a319-3cac20899241",
        "description": "Can view, create and edit usage data providers and COUNTER reports",
        "tags": [],
        "subPermissions": [
          "module.erm-usage.enabled",
          "usagedataproviders.collection.get",
          "usagedataproviders.item.get",
          "usagedataproviders.item.post",
          "usagedataproviders.item.put",
          "counterreports.collection.get",
          "counterreports.item.get",
          "counterreports.item.post",
          "counterreports.item.put",
          "aggregatorsettings.collection.get",
          "aggregatorsettings.item.get"
        ],
        "childOf": [],
        "grantedTo": [
          "fba0106d-e2ad-494e-8958-ce5b447ab2aa"
        ],
        "mutable": false,
        "visible": true,
        "dummy": false
      }
    • Misleading: 

      {
        "permissionName": "ui-receiving.basic.view",
        "displayName": "Receiving: Basic view",
        "id": "5542bb26-9eff-4699-a7c5-6e6a049979d7",
        "tags": [],
        "subPermissions": [
          "module.receiving.enabled",
          "orders.item.get",
          "orders.pieces.item.post",
          "orders.pieces.item.put",
          "orders.po-lines.collection.get",
          "orders.titles.collection.get",
          "orders.titles.item.get",
          "ui-receiving.third-party-services"
        ],
        "childOf": [
          "ui-receiving.view"
        ],
        "grantedTo": [],
        "mutable": false,
        "visible": false,
        "dummy": false
      }
  2. Permission sets for modulePermissions should use the "modperms" prefix.  These also should not be visible as they aren't intended to be assigned to users.
    • Example: 

        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.loans.anonymize",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.override-renewal-by-barcode.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.renew-by-barcode.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.requests.item.move.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.renew-by-id.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.requests.item.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.override-check-out-by-barcode.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.requests.item.put",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.requests.instances.item.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.circulation.check-out-by-barcode.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.orders.item.post",
        "permissionName": "modperms.orders.item.put",

Backend Modules

  • Avoid inclusion of other modules permissions in your permission sets.  For example, mod-foo's permission set foo.all shouldn't include mod-bar's bar.item.get permission.  Here it's the module that needs the permission, not the user.
    • Do:  include the other module's permission(s) in your modulePermissions (or non-visible modulePermission sets - see above)
    • Don't:  include other modules permissions in your visible permission sets that will be assigned to users.

Visible Permission Sets

  • Be careful about making a permission set visible.  Permissions should only have visible=true if/when they're intended to be granted to a user.  Permission sets for modulePermissions should not be visible.

UI Modules

  • Define separate permission sets for settings if other other module permissions are needed (e.g. configuration.entries.collection.get). 
    • Example: "ui-users.settings.customfields.edit" probably needs configuration.entries.collection.get, but "ui-users.view" probably doesn't.  If needed, additional permission sets should be created with appropriate names.
    • Example:  Should we really be granting users, source-storage, circulation, configuration, etc. permissions from a ui-inventory permission set?  

      {
          "permissionName" : "ui-inventory.instance.view",
          "displayName" : "Inventory: View instances, holdings, and items",
          "id" : "885b608a-2423-44bb-bcc2-68daaa7383b6",
          "tags" : [ ],
          "subPermissions" : [ "module.inventory.enabled", "users.collection.get", "source-storage.records.get", "circulation.loans.collection.get", "circulation.loans.collection.get", "circulation.requests.collection.get", "configuration.entries.collection.get", "inventory.config.instances.blocked-fields.get", "inventory.instances.collection.get", "inventory.instances.item.get", "inventory.items.collection.get", "inventory.items.item.get", "inventory-storage.items.item.get", "inventory-storage.items.collection.get", "inventory-storage.identifier-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.contributor-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.contributor-name-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.call-number-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.item-note-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.item-damaged-statuses.collection.get", "inventory-storage.nature-of-content-terms.collection.get", "inventory-storage.classification-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.alternative-title-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.locations.collection.get", "inventory-storage.locations.item.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.institutions.collection.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.institutions.item.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.campuses.collection.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.campuses.item.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.libraries.collection.get", "inventory-storage.location-units.libraries.item.get", "inventory-storage.modes-of-issuance.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instance-formats.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instance-statuses.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instance-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instance-relationship-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instance-note-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.instances.item.get", "inventory-storage.electronic-access-relationships.collection.get", "inventory-storage.statistical-code-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.statistical-codes.collection.get", "inventory-storage.ill-policies.collection.get", "inventory-storage.holdings-note-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.holdings-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.holdings.collection.get", "inventory-storage.holdings.item.get", "inventory-storage.material-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.loan-types.collection.get", "inventory-storage.service-points.get", "inventory-storage.service-points.collection.get", "inventory-storage.hrid-settings.item.get", "inventory-storage.instance-bulk.ids.get" ],
          "childOf" : [ "ui-inventory.instance.create", "ui-inventory.item.create", "ui-inventory.holdings.create", "ui-inventory.instance.view-staff-suppressed-records", "ui-inventory.all-permissions.TEMPORARY" ],
          "grantedTo" : [ ],
          "mutable" : false,
          "visible" : true,
          "dummy" : false
        }

Using *.all Permissions

  • Only include *.all permissions when absolutely sure it's necessary/appropriate.  Instead use just the permissions actually needed.
    • Example of a permission set that probably abuses *.all permissions 

      {
        "permissionName": "ui-checkin.all",
        "displayName": "Check in: All permissions",
        "id": "094310c8-cd71-4b76-a10d-2921ccd10654",
        "description": "Entire set of permissions needed to use Checkin",
        "tags": [],
        "subPermissions": [
          "circulation.all",
          "circulation-storage.all",
          "configuration.all",
          "users.collection.get",
          "usergroups.collection.get",
          "module.checkin.enabled",
          "inventory.items.collection.get",
          "inventory-storage.service-points.collection.get"
        ],
        "childOf": [],
        "grantedTo": [
          "fba0106d-e2ad-494e-8958-ce5b447ab2aa"
        ],
        "mutable": false,
        "visible": true,
        "dummy": false
      }

Other Considerations

  • Sensitive information should NEVER be stored in mod-configuration. SMTP credentials, RMAPI credentials, etc. should be stored behind their own endpoints which are protected with distinct permissions.
  • We might want to take a look at ways to make the permissions of this module more granular, perhaps something could be done using desiredPermissions / X-Okapi-Permissions? Though I'm not sure this is really doable or even worth it. I think I'm in favor of just moving away from mod-configuration altogether (see below)
  • We should consider moving away from using mod-configuration in general. The cross-app nature of this module makes it difficult to deal with other things like sample/reference data... what if you want some reference data loaded into mod-configuration, but not all of it?
    • See  FOLIO-2583 - Getting issue details... STATUS
    • One use case where it probably makes sense to continue to have centralized configuration is for things that are truly shared across multiple apps, e.g. the tenant settings
  • How do we handle "migration" of permission sets as teams clean things up?
    • One idea is to do something like add a field to the module descriptor that allows you to specify that this permission set "replaces" one named XYZ.  This would result the swapping and cleanup of permissions.
    • See  FOLIO-2607 - Getting issue details... STATUS

Appendix

Examples of Permission Sets with Misleading Names

[{
  "permissionName": "ui-receiving.basic.view",
  "displayName": "Receiving: Basic view",
  "id": "5542bb26-9eff-4699-a7c5-6e6a049979d7",
  "tags": [],
  "subPermissions": [
    "module.receiving.enabled",
    "orders.item.get",
    "orders.pieces.item.post",
    "orders.pieces.item.put",
    "orders.po-lines.collection.get",
    "orders.titles.collection.get",
    "orders.titles.item.get",
    "ui-receiving.third-party-services"
  ],
  "childOf": [
    "ui-receiving.view"
  ],
  "grantedTo": [],
  "mutable": false,
  "visible": false,
  "dummy": false
},{
  "permissionName": "ui-organizations.basic.view",
  "displayName": "Organizations: Basic view",
  "id": "c0f97cdc-7fb5-46b1-814c-d78b58d62da0",
  "tags": [],
  "subPermissions": [
    "module.organizations.enabled",
    "organizations-storage.accounts.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.accounts.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.addresses.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.addresses.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.agreements.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.agreements.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.aliases.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.aliases.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.categories.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.categories.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.contacts.all",
    "organizations-storage.emails.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.emails.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.interfaces.all",
    "organizations-storage.organizations.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.organizations.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.phone-numbers.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.phone-numbers.item.get",
    "organizations-storage.urls.collection.get",
    "organizations-storage.urls.item.get",
    "ui-organizations.third-party-services"
  ],
  "childOf": [
    "ui-organizations.view",
    "ui-organizations.creds.view"
  ],
  "grantedTo": [],
  "mutable": false,
  "visible": false,
  "dummy": false
},{
  "permissionName": "ui-licenses.licenses.view",
  "displayName": "Licenses: Search & view licenses",
  "id": "9f9bad1c-dfbd-4c36-98f6-7ef9c8c722d6",
  "tags": [],
  "subPermissions": [
    "module.licenses.enabled",
    "tags.item.post",
    "licenses.licenses.view",
    "licenses.files.view",
    "licenses.contacts.view",
    "licenses.custprops.view",
    "licenses.orgs.view"
  ],
  "childOf": [
    "ui-licenses.licenses.edit",
    "ui-licenses.licenses.delete"
  ],
  "grantedTo": [],
  "mutable": false,
  "visible": true,
  "dummy": false
},{
  "permissionName": "ui-notes.item.view",
  "displayName": "Notes: Can view a note",
  "id": "ccb872ae-eb1b-421d-9b36-4f818e96bde7",
  "tags": [],
  "subPermissions": [
    "note.types.collection.get",
    "notes.item.get",
    "notes.collection.get",
    "notes.collection.get.by.status",
    "notes.domain.all",
    "module.notes.enabled"
  ],
  "childOf": [
    "ui-notes.item.create",
    "ui-notes.item.edit",
    "ui-notes.item.delete",
    "ui-notes.item.assign-unassign"
  ],
  "grantedTo": [],
  "mutable": false,
  "visible": true,
  "dummy": false
},{
  "permissionName": "ui-receiving.view",
  "displayName": "Receiving: View",
  "id": "33096278-520c-4268-8f2f-a5075e8e7171",
  "tags": [],
  "subPermissions": [
    "orders.check-in.collection.post",
    "orders.receiving.collection.post",
    "settings.receiving.enabled",
    "ui-receiving.basic.view"
  ],
  "childOf": [
    "ui-receiving.edit"
  ],
  "grantedTo": [],
  "mutable": false,
  "visible": true,
  "dummy": false
}]