Joomla Access Control List (ACL) at JoomlaDay London, UK #jduk11

User Access Levelsfor Joomla! 1.5 – 1.7 Sander Potjer @sanderpotjer www.sanderpotjer.nl

Who is Sander Potjer?• Co-founder of JoomlaCommunity.eu• Organizer Joomla!Days Netherlands• Organizer Joomla! User Groups in The Netherlands• Joomla Community Leadership Team (CLT) member• Company: Sander Potjer Webdevelopment• E-mail: sander.potjer@community.joomla.org

Joomla! ACL

It took a while... DrupalCon, October 2005 Johan Janssens• http://www.slideshare.net/JohanJanssens/drupalcon-2005-joomla-drupal-and-you-presentation

ACL?!?!• ACL = Access Control List

ACL?!?!• ACL = Access Control List• Access to parts of the website – e.g. menu / module visibility – “view” action

ACL?!?!• ACL = Access Control List• Access to parts of the website – e.g. menu / module visibility – “view” action• User actions on objects – example: create / edit / edit state / delete article

ACL - Groups• 7 fixed Groups – Public, Registered, Author, Editor, Publisher, Manager, Administrator and Super- Administrator• Hierarchical structure

ACL - Groups• 7 fixed Groups • Unlimited Groups – Public, Registered, Author, – user defined Editor, Publisher, Manager, Administrator and Super- • No Hierarchical Structure Administrator required• Hierarchical structure

ACL - User in Group• User can be assigned to one group

ACL - User in Group• User can be assigned to • User can be assigned to one group multiple groups

ACL - Access Levels• 3 fixed Access Levels – Public – Registered – Special

ACL - Access Levels• 3 fixed Access Levels • Unlimited Access Levels – Public – user defined – Registered – Special

ACL - Access Levels & Groups relation• Fixed relation between Groups and Access Levels

ACL - Access Levels & Groups relation• Fixed relation between • Any combination of User Groups and Access Groups can be assigned Levels to any Access Level

ACL - Actions• Fixed Actions per group – Create / edit / delete / admin access / etc.• Permission scope for entire site – Same permission for all objects• Permission inheritance not applicable

ACL in Joomla! 1.5 & 1.6 (Actions)• http://brian.teeman.net/joomla-gps/joomla-15-acl-explained.html

ACL - Actions• Fixed Actions per group • Defined Actions per group – Create / edit / delete / – Create / edit / delete / admin access / etc. admin access / etc.• Permission scope for • Permission scope at entire site multiple levels – Same permission for all objects – Site/Component/Category/Item• Permission inheritance • Permission can be not applicable inherited – Parent Groups / Categories

Joomla! 1.6/1.7/2.5 ACL Overview

• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html

User • Guest is also a user • Users can be assigned to one or multiple groups

Permissions• Assigned to group (not to a user!) • 10 Actions – Site Login – Admin Login – Offline Access (since 1.7) – Super Admin / Configure – Access Component – Create – Delete – Edit – Edit State – Edit Own

Group • Users with same permissions • Inherited permissions from parent groups • Unlimited nested groups • Keep it simple! Only use nested groups if needed

Access Level • What is visible for the group (article, menu, module, etc.) • Permissions are not inherited between Access Levels • Even Super Users can not view content on frontend if not assigned

Permissions

Permissions• 4 possible permission settings – Not Set – Inherited – Allowed – Denied

Permissions - Not Set• ‘soft’ deny• can be overridden by ‘Allowed’ or ‘Denied’

Permissions - Inherited• Value from a parent Permission level• Value from a parent User Group• Can be overridden by ‘Allowed’ or ‘Denied’

Permissions - Allowed• Action for current permission level and lower levels• Action for current user group and child groups• Can be overridden by ‘Denied’

Permissions - Denied• Action for current Permission level and lower levels• Action for current User Group and child Groups• Can not be overridden at all• Always win!

Permission Hierarchy (levels)• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group

Permission Hierarchy (levels)• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1

Permission Hierarchy (levels)• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 – available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)

Permission Hierarchy (levels)• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 – available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)• Level 4: Item – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 & Level 3 – only available for articles in Joomla 1.6 core

Permission Hierarchy (levels)• Level 1: Global configuration – default permissions settings for actions for a group• Level 2: Component Options – can override the permissions of Level 1• Level 3: Category – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 – available for components with categories (Articles, Banners, etc...)• Level 4: Item – can override the permissions of Level 1 & Level 2 & Level 3 – only available for articles in Joomla 1.6 core• Override permissions of higher levels only works if permission setting is not ‘Denied’!

Inheriting example for ‘Create’ Action Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new-permissions-in-joomla-16.html

Available Permissions and Levels for a Group of Users

Action: Edit State

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6

ACL Manager for Joomla!

ACL Manager for Joomla! 1.6 www.aclmanager.net

Debug Permissions

Debug Permissions• Turn on the ‘Debug System’ in the Global Configuration• Go to ‘User Manager’ or ‘Groups’• Click on ‘Debug Permission Report’ next to the User or User Group

Debug Permissions• Need to turn ‘Debug System’ on...

So, what about the database?

Database: #__assets

Plan your ACL implementation

Describe the problem• Most of the website is public available, specific content only for a group of users (e.g. teachers & students)• A teacher can see content specifically for teachers, all student content and all public content• Students can see content specifically for students and all public content

Viewing or Action problem• Define the problem, is it a viewing problem or action problem (create/delete/edit/etc..)? Or both?• Viewing: define the Viewing Access Levels• Action: define the permissions for all actions

Think ahead! Maintenance?• Structure your content properly to handle the permissions• Make usage of parent categories with nested categories with same permissions• No need to set permissions per article

Some Notes

User in multiple User Groups• The Netherlands – Allowed on edit ‘The Netherlands’ category – Denied on edit ‘Belgium’ category• Belgium – Allowed on edit ‘Belgium’ category – Denied on edit ‘The Netherlands’ category• User in The Netherlands & Belgium group – Denied on edit ‘The Netherlands’ category – Denied on edit ‘Belgium’ category – Denied always win (again) – Solution: don’t use denied but not set/inherited (=soft deny)

What if I locked myself out?

What if I locked myself out?• No need to access your database• Open your configuration.php and add: – public $root_user = username;• You can login again and perform all actions• Great for playing around with the new ACL• Don’t forget to remove the $root_user line!

Practical ACL Tips

ACL Tips• Write down your ACL requirements for a website before implementing• Joomla 1.5 User Groups are for backward compatibility in Joomla 1.6, you may remove them!• Use multi-nested Groups only if needed / know what you are doing (so inheriting value only between levels, not groups as well)

ACL Tips• Assign User Group with backend access to a Viewing Access Level• Keep flexible for lower permission levels/groups: Avoid the ‘Denied’ permission setting as long as possible• Idea: Make a Group for each Action so you can assign actions directly to a user

Joomla! ACL, what’s next?

Suggestions• View as action• END user friendly interface• Easy overview of your entire website• Changes directly visible (no page reload)• ...

Resources• http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1252-16-acl.html• http://docs.joomla.org/ACL_Tutorial_for_Joomla_1.6• http://docs.joomla.org/Access_Control_System_In_Joomla_1.6• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/5-commentary/84-introducing-the-new- permissions-in-joomla-16.html• http://www.theartofjoomla.com/home/38-talks/101-the-joomla-16-video- access-controls.html• http://www.aclmanager.net• http://www.aclmanager.net/news/general/28-is-your-extension-really- joomla-17-ready• http://www.aclmanager.net/news/general/31-how-to-add-basic-acl-support-to- your-extension

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Joomla Access Control List (ACL) at JoomlaDay London, UK #jduk11

by Sander Potjer on Sep 24, 2011

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Joomla Access Control List (ACL) at JoomlaDay London, UK #jduk11 Presentation Transcript