Controlling access

ACLs

There are various ways to control access to the appliance by creating sets of rules, or ACLs. You can create ACL rules that control SSL inbound and outbound contexts, as well as rules that control HTTPS requests. To create ACL rules to control HTTPS access, use options on the HTTPS - General page.

Using ACLs to regulate access

Authentication is used to protect access to sensitive data, but implementing ACLs can further restrict access. ACLs are evaluated as part of a connection request, and they instruct the appliance to allow or deny access to requested content.

ACLs are associated with groups of users and types of requests, such as HTTPS. For example, the following rule denies client requests for access to the Web site specified.

deny url "https://www.usbank.com"

Controlling HTTPS inbound and outbound requests

The appliance functions as an SSL server for inbound connections, and as an SSL client for outbound connections. HTTPS inbound and outbound context ACLs are required for the appliance to determine which connections use SSL, and which contexts are used for those SSL connections.

Inbound

An inbound context specifies that settings are applied to HTTPS connections that the appliance receives.

You can specify ACL rules to control inbound HTTPS requests. Inbound configuration options are evaluated when a connection is accepted on an HTTPS port. No decryption has occurred by this time, so only variables that are unrelated to HTTP traffic are supported for this context, for example, client-ip, server-ip, and time.

Outbound

An outbound context specifies that settings are applied to HTTPS connections that the appliance sends to a secure server.

You can specify ACL rules that apply to outbound HTTPS requests. Outbound configuration options are evaluated before the appliance makes a connection to an origin server. Outbound context supports all ACL variables that are supported for HTTP.

For a feature description and information specific to writing ACL rules, see Chapter 2, Access Control, and the Appliance Manager online Help.