Lesson 2 Security and the Account Structure

• command security and capabilities

• logon security

• file security

• group security

MPE/iX command security and capabilities

There are more than 200 MPE/iX commands. You can use most of them, but not all of them. Some commands are restricted to certain users.

The capabilities assigned to you as a user determine which commands you are able to execute. These capabilities are assigned by your system operations personnel when they create your user, group, and account.

The capabilities assigned to you are usually determined by the type of work that you will do on the computer.

At the system prompt, type the LISTUSER command. Your screen will look like this:

   :LISTUSER ************************ USER: ETHEL.MERTZ



   HOME GROUP: MYGROUP PASSWORD: ** MAX PRI : 150 LOC ATTR:

   $00000000 LOGON CNT : 1 CAP: ND,SF,BA,IA

The display for LISTUSER shows the capabilities that you have been assigned. Find the heading CAP. What doh you see?

The capabilities listed in table 4-1 are the ones assigned to most new users.

If you try to use an MPE/iX command, but do not have the right capability to access it, you get a system error message.

Try the NEWACCT command, which creates new accounts on the system. For this example, try to create an account called LEARNING and assign a manager name (MANAGER) to the new account.

Enter:

   NEWACCT LEARNING,MANAGERReturn

Unless you have SM capability, your screen should look like this:

   :NEWACCT LEARNING,MANAGER 

   THIS COMMAND REQUIRES SYSTEM MANAGER (SM) CAPABILITY.  (CIERR 956)

Some commands affect fundamental or important operations of the computer. Misuse of those commands could harm the work of other users or interrupt the system.

The help facility states whether the command is available to everyone on the system or only to users who have special, advanced capabilities.

Logon security

When you log on, the computer might prompt you to enter passwords:

You might be prompted to provide only one of these, or two of them, or all three of them.

MPE/iX systems give you three chances to enter the right password. After a third failure, you see an error message. When that happens, you must start the logon procedure all over again. An incorrect entry of a password would look like this on the screen:

   MPE XL:HELLO JOHN.SMITHERS 



   ENTER ACCOUNT PASSWORD:



   ENTER ACCOUNT PASSWORD:



   ENTER ACCOUNT PASSWORD:



   INCORRECT PASSWORD.  (CIERR 1441)



   MPE XL: 

Passwords do not appear on the screen when you enter them in response to a password prompt.

You get an error message if you attempt to log on to an account or group that does not exist:

   MPE XL:HELLO JOHN.SMITHERS,TRAINING 

   ACCT/USER EXIST, GROUP NAME DOESN'T.  (CIERR 1436)

You also get an error message if you attempt to log on as a user who doesn't exist:

   MPE XL:HELLO BETSY.SMITHERS 

   ACCT EXISTS, USER NAME DOESN'T.  (CIERR 1438)