DACS_ADMIN(8) | DACS Web Services and CGI | DACS_ADMIN(8)

## NAME

dacs_admin — DACS administration service

## SYNOPSIS

`dacs_admin` [`dacsoptions`]

## DESCRIPTION

This program is part of the DACS suite.

The dacs_admin web service is a tool for administering various DACS resources at a jurisdiction. Providing both a browser-based interface and a simple, REST-oriented HTTP interface that can be used by middleware, scripts, and web browsers, dacs_admin allows inspection (and sometimes modification) of a jurisdiction's access control rules, configuration directives, group definitions, DACS user accounts, revocation list, version information, authorization cache, DACS log files, user tracking records, and more. An administrator can manage a different jurisdiction simply by aiming a browser or other HTTP client at that jurisdiction's dacs_admin web service.

Probably the best way to understand the tool is to simply use it interactively to browse through a jurisdiction's resources.

### Security

This web service provides a way to view and change security-related DACS configuration, DACS passwords, and so on. The default access control rule denies all access to the web service - you must add a custom rule to enable access. All functionality should be restricted to an ADMIN_IDENTITY.

### Notes

- Some features of this program may require JavaScript to be enabled in the browser.

- dacs_admin will eventually unify and replace several existing different DACS administrative web services. It may also include federation-wide functions, such as the capability of adding a new jurisdiction.

### Web Service Arguments

The following web service argument is always recognized:

`FORMAT`

  By default, output is emitted in HTML. Several varieties of XML output can be selected, however, using the `FORMAT` argument (please refer to dacs(1)).

### Resources and Methods

The interface provided by dacs_admin allows various DACS resources to be examined and modified using standard HTTP methods (see RFC 2616). Not all DACS resources may be accessible using dacs_admin and not all methods may be valid for some resources.

In keeping with the REST architectural style, every persistent resource is identified by a URI (RFC 2396 and RFC 3986). Invoking the `GET` method on `https://www.example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_admin`, for example, will (assuming appropriate configuration and permission) return a list of root-level resources managed by dacs_admin.

Invoking the `GET` method on a resource either returns a listing (by default, formatted as an HTML list or table) or an unadorned value (by default, formatted as an HTML encoded string). For instance, this URL might return a list of configuration directives and their current values:

    https://www.example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_admin/conf/current

while this URL might return the current value of a particular configuration directive:

    https://www.example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_admin/conf/current/AUTH_SUCCESS

The functionality of dacs_admin is described in terms of resources and methods supported on those resources. Depending on the particular service request, the result consists of an HTTP status code (usually "`200 OK`", "`201 Created`", "`400 Bad Request`", or "`404 Not Found`"), and possibly an HTML or XML document (selectable). The XML document is described by dacs_admin.dtd.

Arguments are passed in the `query` part of a URI. Unrecognized and context-inappropriate arguments are silently ignored.

## OPTIONS

Only the standard dacsoptions command line arguments are recognized.

## FILES

dacs_admin.css

## DIAGNOSTICS

The program exits `0` if everything was fine, `1` if an error occurred.

## SEE ALSO

dacsacl(1), dacspasswd(1), dacs.acls(5), dacs_conf(8), dacs_group(8), dacs_list_jurisdictions(8), dacs_passwd(8), dacs_version(8)

## AUTHOR

Distributed Systems Software (www.dss.ca)

## COPYING

Copyright © 2003-2012 Distributed Systems Software. See the `LICENSE` file that accompanies the distribution for licensing information.

DACS Version 1.4.28b | 1-Mar-2013 | DACS_ADMIN(8)

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$Id: dacs_admin.8.xml 2563 2012-02-07 22:40:41Z brachman $