Sometimes when trying to fix a problem or writing some piece of code I realise I only have a very vague idea how to go about attacking it. Usually there's a fair bit of documentation, but lacking a clear idea of what exactly I need I have no idea where to start reading...

And that's why it's nice to have water coolers (be it the real ones in the break room or the virtual ones on IM or IRC): you can usually find someone who knows more about the stuff that puzzles you, who will happily explain how things fit together, providing the big picture so that now you know where to start.

Having for a while now dabbled in things Trusted Solaris and Trusted Extensions I've also become more familiar with Solaris Role-Based Access Control, so I've been the one to provide the 5 minute "big picture" about those topics to a couple colleagues... so I thought it might be useful to do something similar for people that I tend to not run into at the water cooler...

This 5 cent tour of Solaris Role-Based Access Control is a five minute overview of the main bits and pieces of RBAC. It's not meant to replace the documentation: it's a rough guide, providing enough background to maybe have a go at making root a role on your system, or to help find your way in the man pages and maybe set up your system for dual-role administration...

Click To Play

The video is also available in QuickTime (30MB) or Shockwave Flash (3MB).

I'm considering doing one of these around Trusted Extensions; if you'd find that interesting please do leave a comment (comments about this video are welcome too, obviously).

-Bart

tags: introduction rbac solaris video