Permissions (RBAC)

This page describes StackState version 4.0.

The StackState 4.0 version range is End of Life (EOL) and no longer supported. We encourage customers still running the 4.0 version range to upgrade to a more recent release.

Go to the documentation for the latest StackState release.

Permissions in StackState

Permissions in StackState are twofold: System permissions and View permissions. These two sets of permissions are prepared to allow administrators to take control over actions that users can perform inside StackState, as well as adjusting users' UI to their roles. This means that StackState can present a completely different interface and feature set according to the user's active role. UI elements that users don't have access to are simply not displayed in their UI.

Please note that permissions are stored in StackGraph, so performing an upgrade with clear all data will also remove permission setup. Because permissions exist in StackGraph, in order to completely remove the user it needs to be removed from LDAP and from StackGraph manually.

Views permissions and system permissions

Views permissions are a set of permissions that allow for CRUD operations with Views in StackState. System permissions are scoping user capabilities like access to settings, query execution or scripting.

Predefined Admin and Guest roles

StackState comes with two predefined roles - Admin and Guest. Admin is a power user that has all permissions and access to all views. On the other hand, the Guest user is fairly limited, as you can see below:

subject           permission            resource
----------------  --------------------  ----------
stackstate-guest  read-settings         system
stackstate-guest  access-explore        system
stackstate-guest  perform-custom-query  system
stackstate-guest  read-permissions      system
stackstate-guest  update-visualization  system
stackstate-guest  access-view           everything

List of all permissions in StackState

Permission	Purpose
create-views	Permission to create views
access-analytics	Permission to access the Analytics page
execute-scripts	Permission to execute a query in the Analytics page
read-settings	Permission to access the Settings page
update-settings	Permission to update settings
import-settings	Permission to import settings
export-settings	Permission to export settings
manage-topology-elements	Permission to create / update / delete topology elements
access-explore	Permission to access the Explore page
update-visualization	Permission to change visualization settings
perform-custom-query	Permission to access the topology filter
read-permissions	Permission to list all granted permissions across the entire system via the CLI
update-permissions	Permission to grant/revoke permissions or modify subjects
manage-stackpacks	Permission to install / upgrade / uninstall StackPacks
manage-annotations	Permission to persist and fetch Anomaly annotations in StackState
save-view	Permission to save views
access-view	Permission to access a specific view (when granted on a view) or all views (when granted on the everything subject)
delete-view	Permission to delete views
execute-component-actions	Permission to execute component actions
manage-telemetry-streams	Permission to edit or create new streams for components via the UI
access-log-data	Permission to access StackState logs via the CLI
access-topic-data	Permission to access StackState receiver data via the CLI
execute-component-templates	Permission to invoke a component template API extension (internal use only)
execute-node-sync	Permission to reset or delete a synchronization
access-admin-api	Permission to access the administrator API

UI elements and permissions

Pages permissions

1. Analytics page - requires access-analytics permission. Without this permission, Analytics section is hidden in the UI, and it is not accessible via URL.

2. StackPacks page - requires manage-stackpacks system permission. Without this permission, StackPacks section is hidden in the UI and it is not accessible via URL.

3. Settings page - requires read-settings system permission. Without this permission, Settings section is hidden in the UI and it is not accessible via URL.

4. Explore Mode page - requires access-explore system permission. Without this permission, Explore Mode section is hidden in the UI and it is not accessible via URL.

5. Saved views page - Requires access-view permission and a resource. It is possible to grant access for specific views by adding accesss-view permission with a specific view id or, as it is for Admin role, with Everything resource that is allowing to see all views.

6. Import Settings Page - requires import-settings system permission. Without this permission, Import Settings is removed from Settings Menu.

7. Export Settings page - requires export-settings system permission. Without this permission, Export Settings is removed from Settings Menu.

8. Admin API - requires access-admin-api system permission. Without this permission, Admin API is removed from Settings Menu.

Navigation Bar permissions

1. Create a view - requires create-views system permission. If not granted, save buttons are not present for the user.

2. Save as... - requires save-view permission. It's dependant on Everything or the specific view permissions.

3. Edit a view - requires save-view permission. It's dependant on Everything or the specific view permissions.

4. Delete a view - requires delete-view permission. It's dependant on Everything or the specific view permissions.

5. Sidebar access - requires save-view, delete-view or both of them to access these options in the sidebar.

Topology capabilities permissions

1. Basic and Advanced filtering - perform-custom-query is required to access filtering tools. Filtering options are hidden for users without this permission.

2. Component pane - requires system permissions: manage-topology-elements, perform-custom-query, and read-settings. Component pane is hidden for users without this set of permissions.

3. Visualization Settings - requires update-visualization system permission. Visualization settings are hidden for users without this permission.

Topology views permissions

1. Drag and drop components - requires manage-topology-elements system permission.

2. Access to a node actions menu - requires execute-component-actions permission.

3. Create relations between topology elements - requires system permissions: manage-topology-elements, perform-custom-query, and read-settings.

Analytics Page permissions

1. Executing scripts - requires execute scripts system permission. Execute button will not be present for users without this permission.

Element Details permissions

1. Data streams actions - requires manage-topology-elements system permission. Without this permission only "Inspect" action is available.

2. Add data streams - requires manage-topology-elements system permission. Without this permission, user cannot see the Add button.

3. Health check - requires manage-topology-elements system permission. Without this permission, user cannot see any actions.

4. Add health check - requires manage-topology-elements system permission. Without that permission, user cannot see the Add button.

5. Delete element - requires manage-topology-elements system permission. Delete button is not present if the user does not have this permission.

6. Edit element (also edit element template) - requires manage-topology-elements, perform-custom-query, and read-settings system permissions.

Settings permissions

Below capabilities are shared across all settings pages.

1. Add New capability - requires update-settings system permission. It unlocks Add... buttons on all Settings Pages.

2. Edit capability - requires update-settings system permission. Three dots menu (kebab menu) is not displayed for the users without that permission.

3. Delete capability - requires update-settings system permission. Delete option is not displayed for the users without this permission.

4. Export capability - requires export-settings system permission. Checkboxes are not available for the user without this permission.

5. Delete and Reset synchronization capabilities - requires execute-node-sync system permission.

SettingsPermissions

Examples

Important note: all permissions in StackState are case sensitive.

List all permissions:

sts permission list

Provide a subject with permission to open a view:

sts permission grant [subject-handle] access-view [view-name]

Revoke permissions for a subject to open a view:

sts permission revoke [subject-handle] access-view [view-name]

Provide a subject with system permission to check StackState settings:

sts permission grant [subject-handle] read-settings system

Provide a subject with system permission to create (save) views:

sts permission grant [subject-handle] create-views system

UI of a user without any permissions:

NoPermissions