Endpoint Administration Guide for UNIX › Managing Policy Models › The Policy Model Database

The Policy Model Database

Managing tens or hundreds of databases individually is not practical. CA Access Control supplies the Policy Model service, a component that lets you manage many databases from one central database. Using the Policy Model service is optional, but it greatly simplifies administration at large sites.

The Policy Model (PMD) service uses a Policy Model database (PMDB). Like other CA Access Control databases, the PMDB contains users, groups, protected resources, and rules governing access to the resources. In addition, the PMDB contains a list of subscriber databases. Each subscriber is a CA Access Control database that resides on a separate computer, or another PMDB that resides on the same or another computer. A PMDB that updates a subscriber is the subscriber's parent.

The PMDB is a useful tool for managing many databases that have similar authority restrictions and access rules.

Note: For information about administrating a PMDB (sepmd utility), see the Reference Guide. For information about managing PMDBs remotely using selang, see the selang Reference Guide.