Configuring security
Configuring security
During the initial installation of Zowe server-side components, it is necessary for your organization's security administrator to perform a range of tasks that require elevated security permissions. As a security administrator, follow the procedures outlined in this article to configure Zowe and your z/OS system to run Zowe with z/OS.
For initial tasks to be performed by the security administrator before Zowe server-side installation, see Addressing security requirements.
Validate and re-run zwe init
commands
During installation, the system programmer customizes values in the zowe.yaml file. However, due to insufficient permissions of the system programmer, the zwe init security
command may fail. Consult with your security administrator to review your ZWESECUR
job content so that your security adminstrator can re-submit this JCL.
Initialize Zowe security configurations
This security configuration step is required for first time setup of Zowe and may require security authorization. If Zowe has already been launched on a z/OS system from a previous release of Zowe v2, and the zwe init security
subcommand successfully ran when initializing the z/OS subsystem, you can skip this step unless told otherwise in the release documentation.
Choose from the following methods to initialize Zowe security configurations:
Click here to configure with the zwe init security
command.
Configure with zwe init security
command
The zwe init security
command reads data from zowe.yaml
and constructs a JCL member using ZWESECUR
as a template which is then submitted. This is a convenience step to assist with driving Zowe configuration through a pipeline or when you prefer to use USS commands rather than directly edit and customize JCL members.
If you do not have permissions to update your security configurations, use the security-dry-run
described in the following tip. We recommend you inform your security administrator to review the ZWESECUR
job content.
To avoid having to run the init security
command, you can specify the parameter --security-dry-run
. This parameter enables you to construct a JCL member containing the security commmands without running the member. This is useful for previewing commands and can also be used to copy and paste commands into a TSO command prompt for step by step manual execution.
Example:
#>zwe init security -c ./zowe.yaml --security-dry-run
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Run Zowe security configurations
Modify ZWESECUR
- IBMUSER.ZWEV2.CUST.JCLLIB(ZW134428) is prepared
Dry-run mode, security setup is NOT performed on the system.
Please submit IBMUSER.ZWEV2.CUST.JCLLIB(ZW134428) manually.
>> Zowe security configurations are applied successfully.
#>
Click here to configure with ZWESECUR
JCL.
Configure with ZWESECUR
JCL
An alternative to using zwe init security
is to prepare a JCL member to configure the z/OS system, and edit ZWESECUR
to make changes.
The JCL allows you to vary which security manager you use by setting the PRODUCT variable to be one of the following ESMs:
RACF
ACF2
TSS
.
Example:
// SET PRODUCT=RACF * RACF, ACF2, or TSS
If ZWESECUR
encounters an error or a step that has already been performed, it continues to the end, so it can be run repeatedly in a scenario such as a pipeline automating the configuration of a z/OS environment for Zowe installation.
It is expected that your security administrator will be required to review, edit where necessary, and either execute ZWESECUR
as a single job, or execute individual TSO commands to complete the security configuration of a z/OS system in preparation for installing and running Zowe.
The following video shows how to locate the ZWESECUR
JCL member and execute it.
If an error occured in performing security configuration, these configurations can be undone. To undo all of the z/OS security configuration steps performed by the JCL member If you run Click here for details about undoing security configurations.
ZWESECUR
, use the reverse member ZWENOSEC
. This member contains steps that reverse steps performed by ZWESECUR
. This is useful in the following situations:
ZWENOSEC
on a z/OS system, it is necessary to rerun ZWESECUR
to reinitialize the z/OS security configuration. Zowe cannot be run until ZWESECUR
is rerun.
Perform APF authorization of load libraries
Zowe contains load modules that require access to make privileged z/OS security manager calls. These load modules are held in two load libraries which must be APF authorized. For more information about how to issue the zwe init apfauth
command to perform APF authority commands, see Performing APF authorization of load libraries.
Customize security of your z/OS system
Review and perform z/OS configuration steps based on your settings. For a detailed table of configuration procedures and associated purposes for performing these procedures, see Customizing z/OS system security.
Assign security permissions to users
Assign users (ZWESVUSR and ZWESIUSR) and the ZWEADMIN security group permissions required to perform specific tasks. For more information see, Assigning security permissions to users.
Zowe Feature specific configuration tasks
Depending on the specific Zowe server-side components that your organization is wishing to utilize, specific security configuration settings may apply. Review the following table of Zowe server-side component features and their associated configuration tasks, and perform the tasks that apply to your use case.
Next step
After Zowe z/OS runtime is initialized, and you complete other procedures in the Configuring security section, the next step is Configuring certificates.