IBM Cloud Docs
Managing IAM access for VMware Solutions

Managing IAM access for VMware Solutions

Access to IBM Cloud® for VMware Solutions service instances for the users in your account is controlled by IBM Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM). Every user that accesses the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions services in your account must be assigned an access policy with an IAM user role defined.

The access policy determines the actions that the user can take within the context of the service or the instance that you select. The allowable actions are customized and defined by the IBM Cloud service as operations that can be applied to the service. The actions are then mapped to IAM user roles.

Policies enable access to be granted at different levels. Some of the options include the following accesses:

  • Access across all service instances in your account
  • Access to an individual service instance in your account
  • Access to a specific resource within an instance
  • Access to all IAM-enabled services in your account

After you define the scope of the access policy, you assign a role.

Review the following information, which outlines the actions that each role allows within the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions service.

Platform management roles and permissions for VMware Solutions

Platform management roles enable users to complete tasks on service resources at the platform level. For example, assign user access to the service, create or delete service IDs, create instances, and bind instances to applications.

To use a smaller set of permissions, use the following roles:

  • Reader in place of Viewer or Operator
  • Writer in place of Editor
  • Manager in place of Administrator

Platform management roles for VMware Solutions

The following table provides information about the actions that are mapped to platform management roles for VMware Solutions.

Platform management roles and allowed actions for VMware Solutions
Platform management role Actions
Reader Read-only actions to view service-specific resources.
Writer Create and edit service-specific resources.
Manager Privileged actions as defined by the service in addition to create and edit service-specific resources.
Viewer Read-only actions to view the summary and details of instances.
Operator Read-only actions. For example, list instances and view instance details.
Editor Update a specific instance. For example, add or remove VMware ESXi™ servers, clusters, and services; upgrade an instance to a higher version.
Administrator Full management access. For example, create new instances, delete instances, and grant platform access to other users.

For VMware Solutions, the following actions exist:

Action descriptions and required roles
Action Operation on service Role
vmware-solutions.instances.create Create new instances Administrator
vmware-solutions.instances.delete Delete instances Administrator
vmware-solutions.instances.view List instances
View the detail of an instance		 Viewer, Operator, Editor, and Administrator
vmware-solutions.instances.update Add or remove ESXi servers
Add or remove clusters
Add or remove services
Upgrade an instance to a higher version		 Editor and Administrator
vmware-solutions.account.update Update account settings Administrator

Assigning resource access

You can choose from the following options when you assign resource access.

  • Assign all resources access to grant users access to all service resource created in all resource groups within the account.
  • Specific resources access to grant users access to a specific resource group or VMware® instance.

Procedure to grant user access

  1. In the console, go to Manage > Access (IAM).
  2. Click Users from the left navigation pane.
  3. From the row for the user that you want to assign access, select the Actions menu, and click Assign access.
  4. Click Access policies and select VMware Solutions from the Service table. Then, click Next.
  5. Select the resource to receive access and click Next.
    • Click All resources to grant access to all service resources.
    • Click Specific resources and select the attribute type, operator, and value.
  6. Select any combination of roles and click Review to review all of your selections.
  7. Optionally, click the Edit icon Edit icon to update any of your selections.
  8. Click Add and click Assign.

To grant user permission to create new instances for VMware Shared, you must also assign Resource Group access policies. For more information, see Giving access to resources in resource groups and Ordering virtual data centers.

Managing access for users

You can add new users to the IBM Cloud account so that these users can share the services and resources that are provisioned for the account. For more information, see Inviting users to access services and resources.

You can also manage the access for existing users, including modifying existing access, assigning new access, and reviewing assigned access. To manage access for users, you must be the account owner or you must have the Administrator platform management role. For more information, see Managing access to resources.

Assigning access to VMware Solutions in the console

You can assign access in the console in one of the following ways:

  • Access policies per user. You can manage access policies per user from the Manage > Access (IAM) > Users page in the console. For more information about the steps to assign IAM access, see Assigning access to resources in the console.
  • Access groups. Access groups are used to streamline access management by assigning access to a group once. After that, you can add or remove users as needed from the group to control their access. You manage access groups and their access from the Manage > Access (IAM) > Access groups page in the console. For more information, see Assigning access to a group in the console.

Assigning access to VMware Solutions by using the API

For step-by-step instructions for assigning, removing, and reviewing access, see Assigning access to resources by using the API or the Create a policy API docs. Role cloud resource names (CRN) in the following table are used to assign access with the API.

Role ID values and description for API use
Role name Role description Role CRN
Viewer As a viewer, you can view service instances, but you can't modify them. crn:v1:bluemix:public:iam::::role:Viewer
Administrator As an administrator, you can perform all platform actions based on the resource this role is being assigned, including assigning access policies to other users. crn:v1:bluemix:public:iam::::role:Administrator
Operator As an operator, you can perform platform actions that are required to configure and operate service instances, such as viewing a service's dashboard. crn:v1:bluemix:public:iam::::role:Operator
Editor As an editor, you can perform all platform actions except for managing the account and assigning access policies. crn:v1:bluemix:public:iam::::role:Editor

The following example is for assigning the <Viewer> role for <vmware-solutions>:

Use programmatic_service_name for the service name, and refer to the Role ID values table to ensure that you're using the correct value for the CRN.

curl -X POST 'https://iam.cloud.ibm.com/v1/policies' -H 'Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN' -H 'Content-Type: application/json'
-d '{
  "type": "access",
  "description": "Viewer role for vmware solutions service instance",
  "subjects": [
    {
      "attributes": [
        {
          "name": "iam_id",
          "value": "IBMid-123453user"
        }
      ]
    }'
  ],
  "roles":[
    {
      "role_id": "crn:v1:bluemix:public:iam::::role:Viewer"
    }
  ],
  "resources":[
    {
      "attributes": [
        {
          "name": "accountId",
          "value": "$ACCOUNT_ID"
        },
        {
          "name": "serviceName",
          "value": "vmware-solutions"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}