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Subsections


3.7 Security In Condor

This section describes various aspects of security within Condor. The section is not yet complete.


3.7.1 Running Condor as Non-Root

While we strongly recommend starting up the Condor daemons as root, we understand that it is not always possible to do so. The main problems appear if you have one Condor installation shared by many users on a single machine, or if you are setting up machines to only execute Condor jobs. If you are setting up a submit-only installation for a single user, then there is no need for (or benefit from) running as root.

What follows are the effects on the various parts of Condor of running both with and without root access.

condor_ startd
If you're setting up a machine to run Condor jobs and don't start the condor_ startd as root, you're basically relying on the goodwill of your Condor users to agree to the policy you configure the startd to enforce as far as starting, suspending, vacating and killing Condor jobs under certain conditions. If you run as root, however, you can enforce these policies regardless of malicious users. By running as root, the Condor daemons run with a different UID than the Condor job that gets started (since the user's job is started as either the UID of the user who submitted it, or as user ``nobody'', depending on the UID_DOMAIN settings). Therefore, the Condor job cannot do anything to the Condor daemons. If you don't start the daemons as root, all processes started by Condor, including the end user's job, run with the same UID (since you can't switch UIDs unless you're root). Therefore, a user's job could just kill the condor_ startd and condor_ starter as soon as it starts up and by doing so, avoid getting suspended or vacated when a user comes back to the machine. This is nice for the user, since they get unlimited access to the machine, but awful for the machine owner or administrator. If you trust the users submitting jobs to Condor, this might not be a concern. However, to ensure that the policy you choose is effectively enforced by Condor, the condor_ startd should be started as root.

In addition, some system information cannot be obtained without root access on some platforms (such as load average on IRIX). As a result, when running without root access, the condor_ startd has to call other programs (for example, ``uptime'') to get this information. This is much less efficient than getting the information directly from the kernel (which is what we do if we're running as root). On Linux and Solaris, we can get this information directly without root access, so this is not a concern on those platforms.

If you can't have all of Condor running as root, at least consider whether you can install the condor_ startd as setuid root. That would solve both of these problems. If you can't do that, you could also install it as a setgid sys or kmem program (depending on whatever group has read access to /dev/kmem on your system) and that would at least solve the system information problem.

condor_ schedd
The biggest problem running the schedd without root access is that the condor_ shadow processes which it spawns are stuck with the same UID the condor_ schedd has. This means that users submitting their jobs have to go out of their way to grant write access to user or group condor (or whoever the schedd is running as) for any files or directories their jobs write or create. Similarly, read access must be granted to their input files.

You might consider installing condor_ submit as a setgid condor program so that at least the stdout, stderr and UserLog files get created with the right permissions. If condor_ submit is a setgid program, it will automatically set it's umask to 002, so that creates group-writable files. This way, the simple case of a job that just writes to stdout and stderr will work. If users have programs that open their own files, they'll have to know to set the right permissions on the directories they submit from.

condor_ master
The condor_ master is what spawns the condor_ startd and condor_ schedd, so if want them both running as root, you should have the master run as root. This happens automatically if you start the master from your boot scripts.

condor_ negotiator
condor_ collector
There is no need to have either of these daemons running as root.

condor_ kbdd
On platforms that need the condor_ kbdd (Digital Unix and IRIX) the condor_ kbdd has to run as root. If it is started as any other user, it will not work. You might consider installing this program as a setuid root binary if you can't run the condor_ master as root. Without the condor_ kbdd, the startd has no way to monitor mouse activity at all, and the only keyboard activity it will notice is activity on ttys (such as xterms, remote logins, etc).


3.7.2 UIDs in Condor

On a Unix system, UIDs (User IDentification numbers) form part of an operating system's tools for maintaining access control. Each executing program has a UID, a unique identifier of a user executing the program. This is also called the real UID. A common situation has one user executing the program owned by another user. Many system commands work this way, with a user (corresponding to a person) executing a program belonging to (owned by) root. Since the program may require privileges that root has which the user does not have, a special bit in the program's protection specification (a setuid bit) allows the program to run with the UID of the program's owner, instead of the user that executes the program. This UID of the program's owner is called an effective UID.

Condor works most smoothly when its daemons run as root. The daemons then have the ability to switch their effective UIDs at will. When the daemons run as root, they normally leave their effective UID and GID (Group IDentification) to be those of user and group condor. This allows access to the log files without changing the ownership of the log files. It also allows access to these files when the user condor's home directory resides on an NFS server. root can not normally access NFS files.

On a machine where a job is submitted, the condor_ schedd daemon changes its effective UID to root such that it has the capability to start up a condor_ shadow daemon for the job. Before a condor_ shadow daemon is created, the condor_ schedd daemon switches back to root, so that it can start up the condor_ shadow daemon with the (real) UID of the user who submitted the job. Since the condor_ shadow runs as the owner of the job, all remote system calls are performed under the owner's UID and GID. This ensures that as the job executes, it can access only files that its owner could access if the job were running locally, without Condor. On the machine where the job executes, the job runs as user nobody, to help ensure that the job cannot access local resources or do harm.


3.7.2.1 What if Condor is not run as root?

Condor can also function on all platforms by starting up as user condor. Since user condor does not have the ability to switch UID or GID, all daemons run with both the UID and GID belonging to user condor. The condor_ shadow daemon and the job's executable also run as user condor. This has the effect that the job can access only the files and directories that are accessible to the user condor on the machine where the job was submitted. Owners of jobs must make their input readable to the user condor. A job's output must be placed in a directory that is writable by the user condor as well. In practice, this means creating world-writable directories for output from Condor jobs. This creates a potential security risk, in that any user on the machine where the job is submitted can alter the data, remove it, or do other undesirable things. It is acceptable in an environment where users can trust other users.

On platforms where root access is not needed, Condor can even function without a UID or GID of the user condor. A directory to act as the condor home directory is still required, containing the configuration files, spool, execute and log directories. This home directory is not technically the home directory of any user. In this case, a user condor may or may not even exist, but the directory is still referred to as the condor home directory. If the user condor does not exist, use the CONDOR_CONFIG environment variable such that all Condor daemons and tools can find their configuration file (which in turn defines the locations of other needed files and directories), or place a configuration file in /etc/condor/condor_config. The Condor daemons can then be started up by whatever UID and GID has access to the local condor directory. Normally, users without root access who wish to use Condor on their machines create a condor home directory somewhere within their own accounts and start up the daemons (to run with the UID of the user). As in the case where the daemons run as user condor, there is no ability to switch UIDs or GIDs. The daemons run as the UID and GID of the user who started them. On a machine where jobs are submitted, the condor_ shadow daemons all run as this same user. However, if other users on the machine are using Condor in this environment, the condor_ shadow daemons for these other users' jobs execute with the UID of the user who started the daemons. This is a security risk, since the Condor job of the other user has access to all the files and directories of the user who started the daemons. Some installations have this level of trust, but others do not. Where this level of trust does not exist, it is best to set up a condor account and group, or to have each user start up their own Personal Condor submit installation.

When a machine is an execution site for a Condor job, the Condor job executes with the UID of the user who started the condor_ startd daemon. This is also potentially a security risk, which is why we do not recommend starting up the execution site daemons as a regular user. Use either root or a user (such as the user condor) that exists only to run Condor jobs.


3.7.2.2 What directory does a job run in?

Any executing process has a notion of its current working directory (cwd), the directory that acts as the base for all file system access. There are two sides to any Condor job: the submit side and the execution side. This implies that there are two cwds. On the submit side, the owner's cwd sets a default cwd as a job is submitted. The cwd can be changed with a command in the submit description file. Since many jobs can be submitted at the same time, the commands are flexible in order to set the cwd individually for each job if desired. This submit side cwd remains for the entire life of a job. The submit side cwd is also used as the cwd of the condor_ shadow daemon. Since file system access for the job goes through the condor_ shadow daemon, all accesses behave as if they were executing without Condor.

There is also a cwd associated with the Condor job on the execution machine. It is set to the execute subdirectory of Condor's home directory. This directory is world-writable, since a Condor job usually runs as user nobody. Normally, the executable would never access this directory, since all I/O system calls are passed back to the condor_ shadow daemon on the submit machine. However, in the event that the job that creates a core dump, the cwd on the execute machine needs to be accessible by the job so that it can write the core file. The core file is moved back to the submit machine, and the condor_ shadow daemon is informed. The condor_ shadow daemon sends e-mail to the job owner announcing the crash and providing a pointer to the core file, then residing in the submit side cwd.


3.7.3 Security Configuration

Condor adds strong authentication, encryption, and integrity assurance to its network communications. Most of these security features are not visible to the user (one who submits jobs). They are enabled by site administrators through the use of configuration macros. The macros describe the authentication, encryption, integrity assurance, as well as authorization used by Condor.

Authentication provides an assurance of the identity of one of the communicating parties. Mutual authentication provides an assurance of the identities of both of the communicating parties. Encoding information such that its contents is not easily decipherable by outsiders is called encryption. The integrity of a message is assured when any form of tampering with the message can be detected. Nothing in the message can be added, deleted, or modified.

When Condor is installed, default configuration settings use no authentication, encryption, or integrity checks. This allows newer versions of Condor with security features to work or interact with previous versions that had no security. An administrator must modify the configuration settings to enable the security features.

Inside Condor, daemons need to communicate with each other; furthermore, various tools provided by Condor may also require communication with Condor daemons. All these communications can be made more secure through the proper usage of authentication, encryption, and integrity checks.

When a daemon receives a request, it uses a combination of the client's security information (included with the request) together with its own configuration settings to decide upon the security aspects of the communication. This can be considered a negotiation between the client and the daemon. The daemon replies to the client with a confirmation of the security aspects of the communication. If this includes a required authentication, then the client must follow the chosen protocol.

After a required authentication, the client can again send its request to the daemon. The daemon identifies the access level required for the specific request, and it checks the configuration settings to determine if the client has the required access level. If the client has the required access level, permission is granted, and the request is filled.


3.7.3.1 Access Level Descriptions

Authorization is granted based on specified access levels. An access level is granted for users in configuration variables. The following describe the various access levels.

READ
READ level access can obtain or read information about Condor. Examples that require only READ access are viewing the status of the pool, seeing the job queue(s), or viewing user permissions. READ access does not allow any changes, and it does not allow job submission.

WRITE
WRITE access is required to send (write) information to Condor. Note that WRITE access does not include READ access. They are separate access levels. Job submission requires WRITE access.

ADMINISTRATOR
The ADMINISTRATOR access level has additional Condor administrator rights to the pool. This includes the ability to change user priorities (with the command condor_ userprio -set), and the ability to turn Condor on and off (as with the command condor_ off).

CONFIG
This access level is required to modify a daemon's configuration using the condor_ config_val command. By default, this level of access is allowed to change any configuration parameters, except those specified in the condor_config.root configuration file.

DAEMON
This access level is for daemon to daemon communications. An example is the message sent from the condor_ startd daemon to the condor_ schedd daemon in order to claim a resource.

OWNER
This level of access is required for commands that the owner of a machine (any local user) should be able to use, in addition to the Condor administrators. An example that requires the OWNER access level is the condor_ vacate command. The command causes the condor_ startd daemon to vacate any Condor job currently running on a machine. The owner of that machine should be able to cause the removal of a job running on the machine.

NEGOTIATOR
This access level is used specifically to verify that commands are sent by the condor_ negotiator daemon. The condor_ negotiator daemon runs on the central manager of the pool. Commands requiring this access level are the ones that tell the condor_ schedd daemon to begin negotiating, and those that tell an available condor_ startd daemon that it has been matched to a condor_ schedd with jobs to run.


3.7.3.2 Security Macro Names and Values

The configuration macro names follow a pattern. Each of the names starts with the string SEC_. This string is followed by a string that describes an authorization or access level. The authorization levels are

DEFAULT
READ
WRITE
ADMIN
DAEMON
CONFIG
OWNER
NEGOTIATOR
CLIENT
DEFAULT and CLIENT are not access levels. The DEFAULT is used to define all levels of access for a specific configuration variable when individual levels are not specified. The CLIENT is used to define the client's requirements and preferences in a secure communication.

Still within the name of a configuration macro, the authorization level is followed by another underscore character and then a string describing the communication type. The communication types are

AUTHENTICATION
ENCRYPTION
INTEGRITY
Two examples of the complete macro names are SEC_ADMIN_AUTHENTICATION and SEC_DEFAULT_INTEGRITY.

Each configuration variable would be defined with one of four predefined values. The values are

REQUIRED
PREFERRED
OPTIONAL
NEVER

A daemon uses both the client's configuration for security and its own configuration to choose the communication type (for authentication, encryption, or integrity check). The following table defines whether or not (Yes or No) the communication type will be used, or if the interaction cannot continue (Fail) due to a mismatch in the configuration settings.

client     daemon       Yes/No/Fail

REQUIRED   REQUIRED       Yes
REQUIRED   PREFERRED      Yes
REQUIRED   OPTIONAL       Yes
REQUIRED   NEVER          Fail

PREFERRED  REQUIRED       Yes
PREFERRED  PREFERRED      Yes
PREFERRED  OPTIONAL       Yes
PREFERRED  NEVER          No

OPTIONAL   REQUIRED       Yes
OPTIONAL   PREFERRED      Yes
OPTIONAL   OPTIONAL       No
OPTIONAL   NEVER          No

NEVER      REQUIRED       Fail
NEVER      PREFERRED      No
NEVER      OPTIONAL       No
NEVER      NEVER          No


3.7.3.3 Authentication

Authentication provides an assurance of an identity. Through configuration macros, both the client and the daemon can specify whether authentication is required before communication is continued.

The client uses one of two macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_CLIENT_AUTHENTICATION

For the daemon, there are eight macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_READ_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_WRITE_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_ADMIN_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_DAEMON_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_CONFIG_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_OWNER_AUTHENTICATION
SEC_NEGOTIATOR_AUTHENTICATION

As an example, the macro defined in the configuration file for a daemon as

SEC_WRITE_AUTHENTICATION = REQUIRED
signifies that the daemon must authenticate the client for any communication that requires the WRITE access level. If the daemon's configuration contains
SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION = REQUIRED
and does not contain any other security configuration for AUTHENTICATION, then this default defines the daemon's needs for authentication over all access levels. Where a specific macro is present, its value takes precedence over any default given.

If authentication is to be done, then the communicating parties must find (negotiate) a mutually acceptable method of authentication to be used. A list of acceptable methods may be provided by the client, using the macros

SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_CLIENT_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
A list of acceptable methods may be provided by the daemon, using the macros
SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_READ_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_WRITE_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_ADMIN_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_DAEMON_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_CONFIG_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_OWNER_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
SEC_NEGOTIATOR_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS
The methods are given as a comma-separated list of acceptable values. These variables list the authentication methods that are available to be used. The values will be
KERBEROS
FS
GSS_AUTHENTICATION
CLAIMTOBE
ANONYMOUS
NTSSPI


3.7.3.4 Encryption

Encryption makes the messages between communicating parties difficult to decipher. Through configuration macros, both the client and the daemon can specify whether encryption is required for further communication.

The client uses one of two macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION
SEC_CLIENT_ENCRYPTION

For the daemon, there are eight macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION
SEC_READ_ENCRYPTION
SEC_WRITE_ENCRYPTION
SEC_ADMIN_ENCRYPTION
SEC_DAEMON_ENCRYPTION
SEC_CONFIG_ENCRYPTION
SEC_OWNER_ENCRYPTION
SEC_NEGOTIATOR_ENCRYPTION

As an example, the macro defined in the configuration file for a daemon as

SEC_DAEMON_ENCRYPTION = REQUIRED
signifies that any daemon to daemon communication must be encrypted. If a daemon's configuration contains
SEC_DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION = REQUIRED
and does not contain any other security configuration for ENCRYPTION, then this default defines the daemon's needs for encryption over all access levels. Where a specific macro is present, its value takes precedence over any default given.

If encryption is to be done, then the communicating parties must find (negotiate) a mutually acceptable method of encryption to be used. A list of acceptable methods may be provided by the client, using the macros

SEC_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_CLIENT_CRYPTO_METHODS
A list of acceptable methods may be provided by the daemon, using the macros
SEC_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_READ_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_WRITE_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_ADMIN_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_DAEMON_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_CONFIG_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_OWNER_CRYPTO_METHODS
SEC_NEGOTIATOR_CRYPTO_METHODS

The methods are given as a comma-separated list of acceptable values. These variables list the encryption methods that are available to be used. The values will be

3DES
BLOWFISH


3.7.3.5 Integrity Checks

An integrity check assures that the messages between communicating parties have not been tampered with. Messages changed (such as reordering, bits removed, or bits added) can be detected. Through configuration macros, both the client and the daemon can specify whether an integrity check is required of further communication.

The client uses one of two macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_INTEGRITY
SEC_CLIENT_INTEGRITY

For the daemon, there are eight macros:

SEC_DEFAULT_INTEGRITY
SEC_READ_INTEGRITY
SEC_WRITE_INTEGRITY
SEC_ADMIN_INTEGRITY
SEC_DAEMON_INTEGRITY
SEC_CONFIG_INTEGRITY
SEC_OWNER_INTEGRITY
SEC_NEGOTIATOR_INTEGRITY

As an example, the macro defined in the configuration file for a daemon as

SEC_DAEMON_INTEGRITY = REQUIRED
signifies that any daemon to daemon communication must have its integrity assured. If a daemon's configuration contains
SEC_DEFAULT_INTEGRITY = REQUIRED
and does not contain any other security configuration for INTEGRITY, then this default defines the daemon's needs for integrity checks over all access levels. Where a specific macro is present, its value takes precedence over any default given.

There is currently only one method used for integrity checking: a signed MD5 checksum. Its use is implied whenever integrity checks occur. If more methods are implemented, then there will be further macros to allow both the client and the daemon to specify which methods are acceptable.


3.7.3.6 Example Daemon-Side Security Configuration

A configuration file is provided when Condor is installed. No security features are enabled within the configuration as distributed. Included in the configuration file is an example setting that enables security. Here is the daemon-side portion of the configuration file.

SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION=REQUIRED
SEC_DEFAULT_ENCRYPTION=REQUIRED
SEC_DEFAULT_INTEGRITY=REQUIRED

SEC_DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_METHODS = KERBEROS
SEC_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_METHODS = 3DES

KERBEROS_MAP_FILE = /path/to/etc/condor.kmap

This set of configuration macros forces all security features to be used at all times. All communication is authenticated (using Kerberos), and all communication is both encrypted and has its integrity checked to make sure that messages are not modified or corrupted (using triple DES).

This configuration requires that all Condor daemons be version 6.3.3 or later, since previous versions will not have the ability to do secure communication.

The configuration variable KERBEROS_MAP_FILE defines a path to an administrator-maintained file that contains Kerberos domain (called a realm) to Condor UID domain mapping. Lines within this map file have the syntax

   FromDomain = ToDomain
If no map file is specified, then Condor assumes that the Kerberos realm is the same as the Condor UID domain.


3.7.4 Authorization

Independent of other security checks, authorization defines who is allowed to do what.

Authorization is defined in terms of users (the effective UID of an executing program). A previous, first-pass implementation did authorization based on hosts (machines). Section 3.7.4 on Setting Up IP/Host-Based Security in Condor describes the implementation. The IP/Host-Based security still exists, and it can be used, but significantly stronger security is achieved with the newer authorization based on fully qualified user names.


3.7.4.1 User-based Authorization

The authorization portion of the security of a Condor pool is based on a set of configuration macros that list which user/daemon may be allowed to issue what request.

These configuration variables define a set of users that will be allowed to (or denied from) carrying out various Condor commands. Each access level may have its own list of authorized users. A complete list of the authorization macros:

ALLOW_READ
ALLOW_WRITE
ALLOW_ADMINISTRATOR
ALLOW_CONFIG
ALLOW_DAEMON
ALLOW_OWNER
ALLOW_NEGOTIATOR
DENY_READ
DENY_WRITE
DENY_ADMINISTRATOR
DENY_CONFIG
DENY_DAEMON
DENY_OWNER
DENY_NEGOTIATOR

Each macro is defined by a comma-separated list of fully qualified users. Each fully qualified user is described using the following format:

username@domain/hostname
The information to the left of the slash character describes a user within a domain. The information to the right of the slash character describes a machine from which the user would be issuing a command. An example is
zmiller@cs.wisc.edu/bird.cs.wisc.edu

Within the format, wildcard characters (the asterisk, *) are allowed. The use of wildcards is limited to one wildcard on either side of the slash character. For example,

*@cs.wisc.edu/bird.cs.wisc.edu
refers to any user that comes from cs.wisc.edu, where the command is originating from the machine bird.cs.wisc.edu. Another example,
zmiller@cs.wisc.edu/*.cs.wisc.edu
refers to commands coming from any machine within the cs.wisc.edu domain, and issued by zmiller.


3.7.4.2 Example User-Side Security Configuration


3.7.4.3 Setting Up IP/Host-Based Security in Condor

This section describes the mechanisms for setting up Condor's host-based security. This is now an outdated form of implementing security at the level of machine access. It remains available and documented for purposes of backward compatibility.

The host-based security allows control over what machines can join a Condor pool, what machines can find out information about your pool, and what machines within your pool can perform administrative commands. By default, Condor is configured to allow anyone to view or join your pool. You probably want to change that.

This section discusses how the host-based security works inside Condor. It lists the different levels of access and what parts of Condor use which levels. There is a description of how to configure your pool to grant (or deny) certain levels of access to various machines. Configuration examples and the settings of configuration variables using the condor_ config_val command complete this section.

Inside the Condor daemons or tools that use DaemonCore (see section 3.9 for details), most things are accomplished by sending commands to another Condor daemon. These commands are formed from an integer to specify which command, followed by any optional information that the protocol requires at that point (such as a ClassAd, capability string, etc). When the daemons start up, they register which commands they are willing to accept, what to do with arriving commands, and the access level required for that command. When a command arrives, Condor identifies the access level required, and checks the IP address of the sender to be sure it passes the various allow/deny settings in the configuration file for the given access level. If permission is granted, the command continues. If not, the command is aborted.

As expected, settings for the access levels in the global configuration file affect all the machines in the pool. Settings in a local configuration file only affect the specific machine. The settings for a given machine determine what other hosts can send commands to that machine. So, if machine foo is to be given administrator access on machine bar, place foo in bar's configuration file access list (not the other way around).

The following are the various access levels that commands within Condor can be registered with:

READ
Machines with READ access can read information from Condor. For example, they can view the status of the pool, see the job queue(s) or view user permissions. READ access does not allow a machine to change anything, and it does not allow job submission. A machine listed with READ permission cannot join a Condor pool; the machine can only view information about the pool.

WRITE
Machines with WRITE access can write information to Condor. Most notably, a machine can join a pool by sending ClassAd updates to the central manager. The machine can talk to the other machines in a pool in order to submit or run jobs. In addition, any machine with WRITE access can request the condor_ startd daemon to perform a periodic checkpoint on a currently executing job. After a periodic checkpoint, the job will continue to execute, and the machine will still be claimed by whatever condor_ schedd daemon had claimed it. This allows users on the machines where they submitted their jobs to use the condor_ checkpoint command to get their jobs to periodically checkpoint, even if the users do not have an account on the machine where the jobs execute.

IMPORTANT: For a machine to join a Condor pool, the machine must have both WRITE permission AND READ permission. WRITE permission is not enough.

ADMINISTRATOR
Machines with ADMINISTRATOR access have additional Condor administrator rights to the pool. This includes the ability to change user priorities (with the command userprio -set), and the ability to turn Condor on and off (with the command off <machine>). Typically, very few machines are in this list, perhaps only the workstations where the Condor administrators or system administrators work, or perhaps only the pool's central manager.

IMPORTANT: This access is given to a machine, and it applies to an entire pool. So, ADMINISTRATOR access for a given machine provides ANY USER on that machine ADMINISTRATOR rights (including users who can run Condor jobs on that machine). Therefore, grant ADMINISTRATOR access carefully.

OWNER
This level of access is required for commands that the owner of a machine (any local user) should be able to use, in addition to the Condor administrators. For example, the condor_ vacate command causes the condor_ startd daemon to vacate any running Condor job. It requires OWNER permission, so that any user logged into a local machine can issue a condor_ vacate command.

NEGOTIATOR
This access level is used specifically to verify that commands are sent by the condor_ negotiator daemon. The condor_ negotiator daemon runs on the central manager of the pool. Commands requiring this access level are the ones that tell the condor_ schedd daemon to begin negotiating, and those that tell an available condor_ startd daemon that it has been matched to a condor_ schedd with jobs to run.

CONFIG
This access level is required to modify a daemon's configuration using the condor_ config_val command. By default, machines with this level of access are able to change any configuration parameters, except those specified in the condor_config.root configuration file. Therefore, granting this level of host-wide access requires extreme caution. By default, CONFIG access is denied for all hosts.

Starting with version 6.3.2, Condor provides a mechanism for more fine-grained control over the configuration settings that can be modified remotely with condor_ config_val. Please see section [*] below on Host Security for condor_ config_val.

Host-based security access permissions are specified in configuration files.

ADMINISTRATOR and NEGOTIATOR access default to the central manager machine. OWNER access defaults to the local machine, as well as any machines given with ADMINISTRATOR access. CONFIG access is not granted to any machine as its default. These defaults work well, and should not be changed without a compelling reason. If machines other than the default are to have to have OWNER access, they probably should also have ADMINISTRATOR access. By granting machines ADMINISTRATOR access, they will automatically have OWNER access, given how OWNER access is set within the configuration.

The default access configuration is

HOSTALLOW_ADMINISTRATOR = $(CONDOR_HOST)
HOSTALLOW_OWNER = $(FULL_HOSTNAME), $(HOSTALLOW_ADMINISTRATOR)
HOSTALLOW_READ = *
HOSTALLOW_WRITE = *
HOSTALLOW_NEGOTIATOR = $(NEGOTIATOR_HOST)
HOSTALLOW_NEGOTIATOR_SCHEDD = $(NEGOTIATOR_HOST), $(FLOCK_NEGOTIATOR_HOSTS)
HOSTALLOW_WRITE_COLLECTOR = $(HOSTALLOW_WRITE), $(FLOCK_FROM)
HOSTALLOW_WRITE_STARTD    = $(HOSTALLOW_WRITE), $(FLOCK_FROM)
HOSTALLOW_READ_COLLECTOR  = $(HOSTALLOW_READ), $(FLOCK_FROM)
HOSTALLOW_READ_STARTD     = $(HOSTALLOW_READ), $(FLOCK_FROM)

For each access level, an ALLOW or a DENY may be added.

Multiple machine entries in the configuration files may be separated by either a space or a comma. The machines may be listed by

To resolve an entry that falls into both allow and deny: individual machines have a higher order of precedence than wildcard entries, and host names with a wildcard have a higher order of precedence than IP subnets. Otherwise, DENY has a higher order of precedence than ALLOW. (this is how most people would intuitively expect it to work).

In addition, the above access levels may be specified on a per-daemon basis, instead of machine-wide for all daemons. Do this with the subsystem string (described in section 3.3.1 on Subsystem Names), which is one of: STARTD, SCHEDD, MASTER, NEGOTIATOR, or COLLECTOR. For example, to grant different read access for the condor_ schedd:

        HOSTALLOW_READ_SCHEDD = <list of machines>

The following is a list of registered commands that daemons will accept. The list is ordered by daemon. For each daemon, the commands are grouped by the access level required for a daemon to accept the command from a given machine.

ALL DAEMONS:

WRITE

The command sent as a result of condor_ reconfig to reconfigure a daemon.

ADMINISTRATOR

The command sent as a result of reconfig -full to perform a full reconfiguration on a daemon.

STARTD:

WRITE

All commands that relate to a condor_ schedd daemon claiming a machine, starting jobs there, or stopping those jobs.

The command that condor_ checkpoint sends to periodically checkpoint all running jobs.

READ

The command that condor_ preen sends to request the current state of the condor_ startd daemon.

OWNER
The command that condor_ vacate sends to cause any running jobs to stop running.

NEGOTIATOR
The command that the condor_ negotiator daemon sends to match a machine's condor_ startd daemon with a given condor_ schedd daemon.

NEGOTIATOR:

WRITE
The command that initiates a new negotiation cycle. It is sent by the condor_ schedd when new jobs are submitted or a condor_ reschedule command is issued.

READ
The command that can retrieve the current state of user priorities in the pool (sent by the condor_ userprio command).

ADMINISTRATOR
The command that can set the current values of user priorities (sent as a result of the userprio -set command).

COLLECTOR:

WRITE
All commands that update the condor_ collector daemon with new ClassAds.

READ
All commands that query the condor_ collector daemon for ClassAds.

SCHEDD:

NEGOTIATOR
The command that the condor_ negotiator sends to begin negotiating with this condor_ schedd to match its jobs with available condor_ startds.

WRITE
The command which condor_ reschedule sends to the condor_ schedd to get it to update the condor_ collector with a current ClassAd and begin a negotiation cycle.

The commands that a condor_ startd sends to the condor_ schedd when it must vacate its jobs and release the condor_ schedd's claim.

The commands which write information into the job queue (such as condor_ submit and condor_ hold). Note that for most commands which attempt to write to the job queue, Condor will perform an additional user-level authentication step. This additional user-level authentication prevents, for example, an ordinary user from removing a different user's jobs.

READ
The command from any tool to view the status of the job queue.

MASTER: All commands are registered with ADMINISTRATOR access:

restart
: Master restarts itself (and all its children)
off
: Master shuts down all its children
off -master
: Master shuts down all its children and exits
on
: Master spawns all the daemons it is configured to spawn

This section provides examples of configuration settings. Notice that ADMINISTRATOR access is only granted through a HOSTALLOW setting to explicitly grant access to a small number of machines. We recommend this.

A new security feature introduced in Condor version 6.3.2 enables more fine-grained control over the configuration settings that can be modified remotely with the condor_ config_val command. The manual page for condor_ config_val on page [*] details how to use condor_ config_val to modify configuration settings remotely. Since certain configuration attributes can have a large impact on the functioning of the Condor system and the security of the machines in a Condor pool, it is important to restrict the ability to change attributes remotely.

For each security access level described, the Condor administrator can define which configuration settings a host at that access level is allowed to change. Optionally, the administrator can define separate lists of settable attributes for each Condor daemon, or the administrator can define one list that is used by all daemons.

For each command that requests a change in configuration setting, Condor searches all the different possible security access levels to see which, if any, the request satisfies. (Some hosts can qualify for multiple access levels. For example, any host with ADMINISTRATOR permission probably has WRITE permission also). Within the qualified access level, Condor searches for the list of attributes that may be modified. If the request is covered by the list, the request will be granted. If not covered, the request will be refused.

The default configuration shipped with Condor is exceedingly restrictive. Condor users or administrators cannot set configuration values from remote hosts with condor_ config_val. Enabling this feature requires a change to the settings in the configuration file. Use this security feature carefully. Grant access only for attributes which you need to be able to modify in this manner, and grant access only at the most restrictive security level possible.

The most secure use of this feature allows Condor users to set attributes in the configuration file which are not used by Condor directly. These are custom attributes published by various Condor daemons with the SUBSYS_EXPRS setting described in section 3.3.4 on page [*]. It is secure to grant access only to modify attributes that are used by Condor to publish information. Granting access to modify settings used to control the behavior of Condor is not secure. The goal is to ensure no one can use the power to change configuration attributes to compromise the security of your Condor pool.

The control lists are defined by configuration settings that contain SETTABLE_ATTRS in their name. The name of the control lists have the following form:

SUBSYS_SETTABLE_ATTRS_PERMISSION-LEVEL

The two parts of this name that can vary are PERMISSION-LEVEL and the SUBSYS. The PERMISSON-LEVEL can be any of the security access levels described earlier in this section. Examples include WRITE, OWNER, and CONFIG.

The SUBSYS is an optional portion of the name. It can be used to define separate rules for which configuration attributes can be set for each kind of Condor daemon (for example, STARTD, SCHEDD, MASTER). There are many configuration settings that can be defined differently for each daemon that use this SUBSYS naming convention. See section 3.3.1 on page [*] for a list. If there is no daemon-specific value for a given daemon, Condor will look for SETTABLE_ATTRS_PERMISSION-LEVEL .

Each control list is defined by a comma-separated list of attribute names which should be allowed to be modified. The lists can contain wildcards characters (`*').

Some examples of valid definitions of control lists with explanations:


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