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Advanced Guide for Roles and Policies

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Users and Teams

OpenMetadata introduces a versatile hierarchical team structure that aligns with your organization’s setup. Administrators can mirror their organizational hierarchy by creating various team types. Organization serves as the foundation of the team hierarchy representing the entire company. Under Organization, you can add Business Units, Divisions, Departments, Groups, and Users. For instance, if your company is Facebook, then the Organization represents entire Facebook itself, which further houses diverse teams like Engineering, Sales, Finance, and Marketing. BusinessUnit is positioned one level below the Organization and can contain other Business Units, Divisions, Departments, and Groups. To illustrate, the Engineering Business Unit could be one of the top-tier Business Units in the Organization. It contains other teams like Groups and additional Business Units. Division is positioned below Business Unit and can include Divisions, Departments, and Groups. For example, a Division named ‘Product Development’ under the Engineering Business Unit. It can have teams like ‘Software Division,’ ‘Hardware Division,’ and ‘QA Division.’ Department is positioned below Division and can include other Departments and Groups. For example, a ‘Data Engineering Department’ could include specialized teams like ‘Infrastructure,’ ‘Data Science,’ and ‘Platform.’ Group represents the final tier in this hierarchy. It contains a group of users that reflect finite teams within your organization. This structured hierarchy enhances your control over team management and resource ownership. By creating a dynamic model mirroring your organization’s functions, OpenMetadata empowers you to effortlessly manage permissions, access controls, and data ownership at different levels of granularity.

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Access Control Design: Roles and Policies

OpenMetadata incorporates a robust Access Control framework that merges Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) with Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) in a powerful hybrid model. This security design is reinforced by: Authentication with SSO Integration: OpenMetadata seamlessly integrates with various Single Sign-On (SSO) providers, including Azure AD, Google, Okta, Auth0, OneLogin, and more. This ensures a unified and secure authentication experience for users. Team Hierarchy: OpenMetadata offers a structured team hierarchy that mirrors your organization’s structure, enhancing manageability and granularity in access control. Roles and Policies: Policies and Roles are pivotal in determining who can access what resources and perform what actions. These policies are based on a combination of user attributes, roles, and resource attributes. User and Bots Authentication: OpenMetadata accommodates human users and automated applications (bots). For human users, logging into the OpenMetadata UI mandates SSO authentication. Upon successful authentication, a JSON Web Token (JWT) is issued. Bots, on the other hand, are equipped with a JWT token generated based on SSL certificates. This token serves as their identity and authorization mechanism when interacting with the OpenMetadata server APIs.

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Authentication Flow

User Authentication: When users access the OpenMetadata UI, they authenticate with their SSO provider. Upon successful authentication, a JWT token is generated. This token validates the user’s session and permits them to authenticate requests to the OpenMetadata server. Bot Authentication: Automated applications like the ingestion connector are equipped with a pre-generated JWT Token. OpenMetadata, with its configured SSL Certificates, authenticates the JWT token, establishing the bot’s identity. This token authorizes the bot to interact with OpenMetadata server APIs.

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Authorization Framework

OpenMetadata’s authorization is a result of evaluating three crucial factors: Who is the User (Authentication): The authentication process determines this – whether it is a user or a bot – ensuring that only authorized entities access the system. What Resource (Resource Attributes): Based on the API calls being made, OpenMetadata identifies the target resource and its associated attributes. The following resources correspond to entities such as Table, Topic, and Pipeline: What Operation (API Call): Each API call maps to a specific operation, such as editing descriptions, deleting tags, and changing ownership. Common operations – Create, Delete, and ViewAll – apply to all resources. Each resource can also have its own specific operations, such as ViewTests and ViewQueries for Table.

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Resource Scope Reference

The table below maps every resource category to the real-world access it controls. Use this when designing policies – start by identifying which categories are relevant to the role, then add only the operations needed. Every object in OpenMetadata belongs to a resource category — from core data assets like Tables and Databases, to governance resources like Glossary Terms and Tags, to admin resources like Users, Roles, and Policies. For a reference overview of resource categories, the resources each includes, and risk levels, see Resource scope and operations reference.

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Key Scope Principles

• Service resources (Database Service, Pipeline Service, and so on) control the connection itself – granting Edit on a service gives access to all assets in that service.
• User & Access Control resources are the most sensitive category. EditPolicy and EditRole changes affect the entire permission model.
• AI/Agent resources govern automated execution paths. Restrict Agent Execution and Dynamic Agent to roles that actively need to run workflows.
• Data Governance resources (Tags, Glossary Terms, Domain) may seem low-risk but misuse can cause incorrect PII labelling with compliance consequences.

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Difference Between ViewBasic and ViewAll in OpenMetadata

The operations ViewBasic and ViewAll in OpenMetadata differ in the level of detail they provide access to. The following explains each in detail:

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ViewBasic

• Provides access to the basic details of an asset.
• Includes information such as:
  • Description
  • Tags
  • Owner
  • Fundamental metadata
• Excludes more detailed information, including:
  • Profile data
  • Sample data
  • Data profile
  • Tests
  • Queries

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ViewBasic: Key Points

• Suitable for viewing foundational asset metadata.
• Limited access for users who do not require in-depth technical details.

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ViewAll

• Provides access to all details of an asset.
• Includes everything available in ViewBasic, along with:
  • Profile data
  • Sample data
  • Data profile
  • Tests
  • Queries

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ViewAll: Key Points

• Designed for users who need a complete view of the asset.
• Offers comprehensive insights and detailed metadata.

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Summary Table

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Overview

• ViewBasic: Focused on essential metadata.
• ViewAll: Provides a complete view, including advanced details.

Choose the appropriate operation based on the level of access required. For a curated reference of common operations and resource types, see Resource scope and operations reference. By synthesizing these components, OpenMetadata dynamically determines whether a user or bot can perform a particular action on a specific resource. This fusion of RBAC and ABAC in the hybrid model contributes to a robust and flexible access control mechanism, bolstering the security and control of your OpenMetadata environment.

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Quick Guide: Which Role Should I Start With?

Use this table when onboarding a new user to determine which base role to assign first.