HP Safeguard software enhanced with “Allow patterns on diskfile ACLs” feature

February 28, 2005

"Allow patterns on diskfile Access Control Lists (ACLs)," a new feature for HP Safeguard software, is now available with the general availability of release version update (RVU) G06.25 of the HP NonStop operating system, effective February 18, 2005.

Prior to this release, ACLs could only be created for individual diskfiles. To protect all of the diskfiles on a specific volume or subvolume, separate Volume and Subvolume ACLs had to be created. With this, the fourth recent Safeguard software enhancement, a new objecttype, DISKFILE-PATTERN, is added. The DISKFILE-PATTERN feature makes it possible to use diskfile patterns containing the wildcards “?” (matches exactly one character) and “*” (matches zero or more characters) to specify groups of files to be protected with the same ACL—a more efficient method than separate volume, subvolume, and diskfile ACLs.

Instead of using a volume ACL, a pattern of the form $vol.*.* can now be used. Instead of using a subvolume ACL, a pattern of the form $vol.subvol.* can now be used.

Some examples of diskfile patterns are

• $DATA.Q*.FILE*
• $SYSTEM.SYS??.*
• $TEST.*101.?T*

For the ultimate in application security, Safeguard software should be considered an essential part of any configuration of NonStop servers, including disaster-tolerant configurations such as HP Metrocluster for NonStop servers and HP Continentalclusters for NonStop servers.

Fourth new Safeguard enhancement a result of requests by the ITUG Security SIG
The commitment made by HP to implement the “Allow patterns on diskfile ACLs” enhancement is the result of work done by the ITUG Security Special Interest Group (SIG) to develop a list of the six most desirable enhancements to Safeguard software. In response to the Security SIG’s work, HP’s NonStop Enterprise Division has added additional developers to the Safeguard team, and this release is the fourth of their efforts to implement the Security SIG’s recommendations.

Other recent Safeguard enhancements include ACL diskfile persistence, ACL Warning Mode, and Allow node names on ACLs. Information about NonStop server security products and solutions http://hp.com/go/nonstopsecurity is also available.

Ordering information
There is no change in the license fees for Safeguard software (product ID 9750). Customers currently licensed for Safeguard software will receive this new feature automatically when they order an RVU G06.25 site update tape (SUT) for the NonStop operating system.

This news is published on NonStop Computing websites. February 2005.