Managed Object - AuthorizationManager(vim.AuthorizationManager)

Property of: ServiceContent
See also: AuthorizationDescription, AuthorizationPrivilege, AuthorizationRole, EntityPrivilege, ManagedEntity, Permission, UserPrivilegeResult
Since: 2.0

Managed Object Description

This managed object provides operations to query and update roles and permissions.

Privileges are the basic individual rights required to perform operations. They are statically defined and never change for a single version of a product. Examples of privileges are "Power on a virtual machine" or "Configure a host."

Roles are aggregations of privileges, used for convenience. For user-defined roles, the system-defined privileges, "System.Anonymous", "System.View", and "System.Read" are always present.

Permissions are the actual access-control rules. A permission is defined on a ManagedEntity and specifies the user or group ("principal") to which the rule applies. The role specifies the privileges to apply, and the propagate flag specifies whether or not the rule applies to sub-objects of the managed entity.

A ManagedEntity may have multiple permissions, but may have only one permission per user or group. If, when logging in, a user has both a user permission and a group permission (as a group member) for the same entity, then the user-specific permission takes precedent. If there is no user-specific permission, but two or more group permissions are present, and the user is a member of the groups, then the privileges are the union of the specified roles.

Managed entities may be collected together into a "complex entity" for the purpose of applying permissions consistently. Complex entities may have a Datacenter, ComputeResource, or ClusterComputeResource as a parent, with other child managed objects as additional parts of the complex entity:

A Datacenter's child objects are the root virtual machine and host Folders.
A ComputeResource's child objects are the root ResourcePool and HostSystem.
A ClusterComputeResource has only the root ResourcePool as a child object.

Child objects in a complex entity are forced to inherit permissions from the parent object. When query operations are used to discover permissions on child objects of complex entities, different results may be returned for the owner of the permission. In some cases, the child object of the complex entity is returned as the object that defines the permission, and in other cases, the parent from which the permission is propagated is returned as the object that defines the permission. In both cases, the information about the owner of the permission is correct, since the entities within a complex entity are considered equivalent. Permissions defined on complex entities are always applicable on the child entities, regardless of the propagation flag, but may only be defined or modified on the parent object.

In a group of fault-tolerance (FT) protected VirtualMachines, the secondary VirtualMachines are forced to inherit permissions from the primary VirtualMachine. Queries to discover permissions on FT secondary VMs always return the primary VM as the object that defines the permissions. Permissions defined on an FT primary VM are always applicable on its secondary VMs, but can only be defined or modified on the primary VM.

Properties

Name	Type	Description
description P	AuthorizationDescription	Static, descriptive strings for system roles and privileges.
privilegeList* P	AuthorizationPrivilege[]	The list of system-defined privileges.
roleList* P	AuthorizationRole[]	The currently defined roles in the system, including static system-defined roles.

Name

Type

Description

description P

AuthorizationDescription

Static, descriptive strings for system roles and privileges.

privilegeList* P

AuthorizationPrivilege[]

The list of system-defined privileges.

roleList* P

AuthorizationRole[]

The currently defined roles in the system, including static system-defined roles.

*May not be presentP Required privilege: System.View

Methods

Methods defined in this Managed Object
AddAuthorizationRole, FetchUserPrivilegeOnEntities, HasPrivilegeOnEntities, HasPrivilegeOnEntity, HasUserPrivilegeOnEntities, MergePermissions, RemoveAuthorizationRole, RemoveEntityPermission, ResetEntityPermissions, RetrieveAllPermissions, RetrieveEntityPermissions, RetrieveRolePermissions, SetEntityPermissions, UpdateAuthorizationRole

AddAuthorizationRole(addRole)

Adds a new role. This method will add a user-defined role with given list of privileges and three system-defined privileges, "System.Anonymous", "System.View", and "System.Read".

Required Privileges: Authorization.ModifyRoles

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

name

xsd:string

Name of the new role.

Since 2.0

privIds*

xsd:string[]

List of privileges to assign to the role.

Since 2.0

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:int	The roleId assigned to the new role.

Faults

Type	Description
AlreadyExists	Thrown if a role with the given name already exists.
InvalidName	Thrown if the role name is empty.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AddAuthorizationRole" type="vim25:AddAuthorizationRoleRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AddAuthorizationRoleResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="xsd:int"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

FetchUserPrivilegeOnEntities(fetchUserPrivilegeOnEntities)

Get the list of effective privileges for a user, either granted explicitly, or through group membership.

This API is implemented only by vCenter Server.

Required Privileges: None
Since: vSphere API Release 6.5

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

entities P

ManagedObjectReference[]
to a ManagedEntity[]

are the entities to retrieve privileges on

Since vSphere API Release 6.5

userName

xsd:string

is the user to retrieve privileges for

Since vSphere API Release 6.5

P Required privilege: System.View

Return Value

Type	Description
UserPrivilegeResult[]	The privilege check result for each entity

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchUserPrivilegeOnEntities" type="vim25:FetchUserPrivilegeOnEntitiesRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchUserPrivilegeOnEntitiesResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:UserPrivilegeResult" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

HasPrivilegeOnEntities(hasPrivilegeOnEntities)

Check whether a session holds a set of privileges on a set of managed entities.

If the session does not exist, false is returned for all privileges of all the entities.

This API is implemented only by vCenter Server.

Required Privileges: System.View
Since: vSphere API Release 5.5

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.
entity P	ManagedObjectReference[] to a ManagedEntity[]	The set of entities on which the privileges are checked. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.5
sessionId	xsd:string	The session ID to check privileges for. A sesssion ID can be obtained from key. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.5
privId*	xsd:string[]	The array of privilege IDs to check. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.5

*Need not be set P Required privilege: System.Read

Return Value

Type	Description
EntityPrivilege[]	The privilege check result.

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasPrivilegeOnEntities" type="vim25:HasPrivilegeOnEntitiesRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasPrivilegeOnEntitiesResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:EntityPrivilege" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

HasPrivilegeOnEntity(hasPrivilegeOnEntity)

Check whether a session holds a set of privileges on a managed entity.

If the session does not exist, false is returned for all privileges.

This API is implemented only by vCenter Server.

Required Privileges: System.View
Since: vSphere API Release 5.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.
entity P	ManagedObjectReference to a ManagedEntity	The entity on which the privileges are checked. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.0
sessionId	xsd:string	The session ID to check privileges for. A sesssion ID can be obtained from key. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.0
privId*	xsd:string[]	The array of privilege IDs to check. *Since* vSphere API Release 5.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: System.Read

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:boolean[]	A boolean value for each privilege indicating whether the session holds the privilege.

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasPrivilegeOnEntity" type="vim25:HasPrivilegeOnEntityRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasPrivilegeOnEntityResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="xsd:boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

HasUserPrivilegeOnEntities(hasUserPrivilegeOnEntities)

Checks if a user holds a certain set of privileges on a number of managed entities. Privileges may be granted to users through their respective group membership. If a privilege is granted to a group it is implicitly granted to its members.

This API is implemented only by vCenter Server.

Required Privileges: None
Since: vSphere API Release 6.5

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.
entities P	ManagedObjectReference[]	are the managed objects to check privileges on. If they refer to managed objects that are not managed entities the privilege check will be done on the root folder. *Since* vSphere API Release 6.5
userName	xsd:string	is the name of the user to check privileges for. Both UPN and PreWindows2000LogonName user name formats are supported. *Since* vSphere API Release 6.5
privId*	xsd:string[]	is the set of privileges to check for *Since* vSphere API Release 6.5

*Need not be set P Required privilege: System.View

Return Value

Type	Description
EntityPrivilege[]	The privilege check result

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasUserPrivilegeOnEntities" type="vim25:HasUserPrivilegeOnEntitiesRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="HasUserPrivilegeOnEntitiesResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:EntityPrivilege" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

MergePermissions(mergePermissions)

Reassigns all permissions of a role to another role.

Required Privileges: Authorization.ReassignRolePermissions

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

srcRoleId

xsd:int

The ID of the source role providing the permissions which are changing.

Since 2.0

dstRoleId

xsd:int

The ID of the destination role to which the permissions are reassigned.

Since 2.0

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
AuthMinimumAdminPermission	Thrown if srcRoleId is the Administrator role, meaning that applying the change would leave the system with no Administrator permission on the root node.
NotFound	Thrown if either the source or destination role does not exist.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="MergePermissions" type="vim25:MergePermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="MergePermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>

RemoveAuthorizationRole(removeRole)

Removes a role.

Required Privileges: Authorization.ModifyRoles

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

roleId

xsd:int

Since 2.0

failIfUsed

xsd:boolean

If true, prevents the role from being removed if any permissions are using it.

Since 2.0

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
NotFound	Thrown if the role does not exist.
RemoveFailed	Thrown if failIfUsed is true and the role has permissions.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveAuthorizationRole" type="vim25:RemoveAuthorizationRoleRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveAuthorizationRoleResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>

RemoveEntityPermission(removeEntityPermission)

Removes a permission rule from an entity.

This will fail with an InvalidArgument fault if called on: the direct child folders of a datacenter managed object, the root resource pool of a ComputeResource or ClusterComputeResource, or a HostSystem that is part of a ComputeResource (Stand-alone Host). These objects always have the same permissions as their parent.

This will fail with an InvalidArgument fault if called on a fault-tolerance (FT) secondary VirtualMachine. Such a VirtualMachine always has the same permissions as its FT primary VirtualMachine.

Required Privileges: None

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.
entity P	ManagedObjectReference to a ManagedEntity	Entity on which a permission is removed. *Since* 2.0
user	xsd:string	User or group for which the permission is defined. *Since* 2.0
isGroup	xsd:boolean	True, if user refers to a group name; false, for a user name. *Since* 2.0

P Required privilege: Authorization.ModifyPermissions

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
AuthMinimumAdminPermission	Thrown if this change would leave the system with no Administrator permission on the root node.
NotFound	Thrown if a permission for this entity and user or group does not exist.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveEntityPermission" type="vim25:RemoveEntityPermissionRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveEntityPermissionResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>

ResetEntityPermissions(resetEntityPermissions)

Update the entire set of permissions defined on an entity. Any existing permissions on the entity are removed and replaced with the provided set.

If a permission is specified multiple times for the same user or group, the last permission specified takes effect.

The operation is transactional per permission and could partially fail. The updates are performed in the order of the permission array argument. The first failed update will abort the operation and throw the appropriate exception. When the operation aborts, any permissions that have not yet been removed are left in their original state.

After updates are applied, original permissions that are not in the new set are removed. A failure to remove a permission, such as a violation of the minimum administrator permission rule, will abort the operation and could leave remaining original permissions still effective on the entity.

This will fail with an InvalidArgument fault if called on a fault-tolerance (FT) secondary VirtualMachine. Such a VirtualMachine always has the same permissions as its FT primary VirtualMachine.

Required Privileges: None

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

entity P

ManagedObjectReference
to a ManagedEntity

The entity on which permissions are updated.

Since 2.0

permission*

Permission[]

The list of Permission objects that define the new rules for access to the entity and potentially entities below it. If the list is empty, all permissions on the entity are removed.

Since 2.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: Authorization.ModifyPermissions

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
AuthMinimumAdminPermission	Thrown if this change would leave the system with no Administrator permission on the root node, or it would grant further permission to a user or group who already has Administrator permission on the root node.
NotFound	Thrown if a permission for this entity and user or group does not exist.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
UserNotFound	Thrown if one of the given users or groups does not exist.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ResetEntityPermissions" type="vim25:ResetEntityPermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="ResetEntityPermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>

RetrieveAllPermissions(retrieveAllPermissions)

Finds all permissions defined in the system. The result is restricted to the managed entities visible to the user making the call.

Required Privileges: System.View

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type	Description
Permission[]

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveAllPermissions" type="vim25:RetrieveAllPermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveAllPermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:Permission" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

RetrieveEntityPermissions(retrieveEntityPermissions)

Gets permissions defined on or effective on a managed entity. This returns the actual permission objects defined in the system for all users and groups relative to the managed entity. The inherited flag specifies whether or not to include permissions defined by the parents of this entity that propagate to this entity.

For complex entities, the entity reported as defining the permission may be either the parent or a child entity belonging to the complex entity.

The purpose of this method is to discover permissions for administration purposes, not to determine the current permissions. The current user's permissions are found on the EffectiveRole property of the user's ManagedEntity.

Required Privileges: None

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

entity P

ManagedObjectReference
to a ManagedEntity

Since 2.0

inherited

xsd:boolean

Whether or not to include propagating permissions defined by parent entities.

Since 2.0

P Required privilege: System.Read

Return Value

Type	Description
Permission[]

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveEntityPermissions" type="vim25:RetrieveEntityPermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveEntityPermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:Permission" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

RetrieveRolePermissions(retrieveRolePermissions)

Finds all the permissions that use a particular role. The result is restricted to managed entities that are visible to the user making the call.

Required Privileges: System.View

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

roleId

xsd:int

Since 2.0

Return Value

Type	Description
Permission[]

Faults

Type	Description
NotFound	Thrown if the role does not exist.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveRolePermissions" type="vim25:RetrieveRolePermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RetrieveRolePermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType>
                     <sequence>
                        <element name="returnval" type="vim25:Permission" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     </sequence>
                  </complexType>
               </element>

SetEntityPermissions(setEntityPermissions)

Defines one or more permission rules on an entity or updates rules if already present for the given user or group on the entity.

If a permission is specified multiple times for the same user or group, then the last permission specified takes effect.

The operation is applied transactionally per permission and is applied to the entity following the order of the elements in the permission array argument. This means that if a failure occurs, the method terminates at that point in the permission array with an exception, leaving at least one and as many as all permissions unapplied.

This will fail with an InvalidArgument fault if called on a fault-tolerance (FT) secondary VirtualMachine. Such a VirtualMachine always has the same permissions as its FT primary VirtualMachine.

Required Privileges: None

Parameters

Name

Type

Description

_this

ManagedObjectReference

A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.

entity P

ManagedObjectReference
to a ManagedEntity

The entity on which to set permissions.

Since 2.0

permission*

Permission[]

An array of specifications for permissions on the entity.

Since 2.0

*Need not be set P Required privilege: Authorization.ModifyPermissions

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
AuthMinimumAdminPermission	Thrown if this change would leave the system with no Administrator permission on the root node, or it would grant further permission to a user or group who already has Administrator permission on the root node.
NotFound	Thrown if a permission's roleId is not valid.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
UserNotFound	Thrown if a given user or group does not exist.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SetEntityPermissions" type="vim25:SetEntityPermissionsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="SetEntityPermissionsResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>

UpdateAuthorizationRole(updateRole)

Updates a role's name or privileges. If the new set of privileges are assigned to the role, the system-defined privileges, "System.Anonymous", "System.View", and "System.Read" will be assigned to the role too. This operation might return before the new privileges are effective. A timeout of 100 ms is possible, but it might vary depending on the configuration and the load of the system.

Required Privileges: Authorization.ModifyRoles

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the AuthorizationManager used to make the method call.
roleId	xsd:int	The ID of the role that is updated. *Since* 2.0
newName	xsd:string	The new name for the role. *Since* 2.0
privIds*	xsd:string[]	The new set of privileges to assign to the role. *Since* 2.0

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
AlreadyExists	Thrown if another role with the given name already exists.
InvalidName	Thrown if the new role name is empty.
NotFound	Thrown if the role does not exist, or if a privilege in the list cannot be found.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateAuthorizationRole" type="vim25:UpdateAuthorizationRoleRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateAuthorizationRoleResponse">
                  <complexType/>
               </element>