Business Intelligence Tutorial

Lesson 4. Defining warehouse security

In this lesson, you will define security for your warehouse.

The first level of security is the logon user ID that is in use when you open the Data Warehouse Center. Although you log on to the DB2 Control Center, the Data Warehouse Center verifies that you are authorized to open the Data Warehouse Center administrative interface by comparing your user ID to entries in the warehouse control database. The warehouse control database contains the control tables that are required to store Data Warehouse Center metadata. You initialize the control tables for this database when you install the warehouse server as part of DB2 Universal Database or use the Data Warehouse Center Control Database Management window. During initialization, you specify the ODBC name of the warehouse control database, a valid DB2 user ID, and a password. The Data Warehouse Center authorizes this user ID and password to update the warehouse control database. In the Data Warehouse Center, this user ID is defined as the default warehouse user.
Tip:The default warehouse user requires a different type of database and operating system authorization for each operating system that the warehouse control database supports. For more information, see DB2 Warehouse Manager Installation Guide.

The default warehouse user is authorized to access all Data Warehouse Center objects and perform all Data Warehouse Center functions. However, you probably want to restrict access to certain objects within the Data Warehouse Center and the tasks that users can perform on the objects. For example, warehouse sources and warehouse targets contain the user IDs and passwords for their corresponding databases. You might want to restrict access to those warehouse sources and warehouse targets that contain sensitive data, such as personnel data.

To provide this level of security, the Data Warehouse Center provides a security system that is separate from the database and operating system security. To implement Data Warehouse Center security, you define warehouse users and warehouse groups. A warehouse group is a named grouping of warehouse users and their authorization to perform functions. Warehouse users and warehouse groups do not have to match the DB users and DB groups that are defined for the warehouse control database.

For example, you might define a warehouse user that corresponds to someone who uses the Data Warehouse Center. You might then define a warehouse group that is authorized to access certain warehouse sources, and add the new user to the new warehouse group. The new user is authorized to access the warehouse sources that are included in the group.

There are various types of authorization that you can give users. You can include any of the different types of authorization in a warehouse group. You can also include a warehouse user in more than one warehouse group. The combination of the groups to which a user belongs is the user's overall authorization.

In this lesson, you will log on to the Data Warehouse Center as the default warehouse user, define a new warehouse user, and define a new warehouse group.


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