Privileged Session Manager (PSM) is an application cluster used to access, record, and monitor privileged sessions. It can be hosted as a Docker Swarm on local or cloud service locations. It launches when users with Login Session Access to a managed computer check out the credentials for that computer. You can configure PSM to record session activity, allowing Access Managers and other administrators to view what users do on the computer during a session.

This topic walks you through the process of setting up PSM. To completely set up PSM, you need to do the following:

1. Install Docker and Docker-Compose on a Linux server. The Linux server is the PSM server.

2. Create an OAuth application for PSM in EmpowerID.

3. Configure EmpowerID System Settings for PSM.

4. Generate a X509 certificate for the PSM OAuth application and upload it to the local machine and EmpowerID certificate stores.

5. Create a service account (EmpowerID Person) for PSM and map the certificate to that service account.

6. Use OpenSSL to extract the private and public key from the certificate.

7. Create Docker secrets on the PSM server.

8. Copy the psm.yml file you receive from EmpowerID to the root directory of the Linux server.

9. Initiate Docker swarm mode on the Linux server.

10. Pull the PSM Docker images from Dockerhub.

11. Deploy the stack.

PSM Server Installation Instructions

PSM Server requires a Linux instance (Amazon AMI/Ubuntu preferred). Follow the below instructions to install Docker and Docker-Compose on the server. 

• Ubuntu — Run the following commands one after the other:
  
  

  sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc curl =fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-get add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce sudo systemctl status docker

• Amazon AMI — If you are running Linux on Amazon AMI, please follow the instructions provided by Amazon at the following link: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/docker-basics.html#install_docker

EmpowerID Server Setup Instructions

In order to implement PSM for your environment, there are a number of tasks you must complete on your EmpowerID server. These include:

• Creating an OAuth Application for PSM

• Configuring EmpowerID System Settings for PSM

• Generating a self-signed X509 certificate for PSM

• Creating a PSM service account (EmpowerID Person)

• Mapping the PSM certificate to PSM service account

Step 1 – Create an OAuth Application for PSM

1. On the navbar, expand Apps and Authentication and click Applications.

2. From the Actions pane, click Create OAuth Application.
   
   

   Open

   

   
   This opens the OAuth Provider Application Details form.
   
   

   Open

   

    

3. In the OAuth Application Details section of the form, do the following:

   1. Fill in the Name, Display Name and Description fields with values that reflect the purpose of the application.

   2. Select Web Application from the Application Type drop-down.

   3. Search for and select an owner for the application from the Application Owner drop-down. By default, the creator of the application is selected as the owner.

4. In the JWT Details section of the form, do the following:

   1. Leave the Issuer as EmpowerID

   2. Select the certificate used to sign assertions in your environment from the Signing Certificate drop-down.

5. Click Save.
   
   After EmpowerID creates the OAuth Provider application, your browser should be directed to the View One page for it.
   
   

Step 2 – Add the Callback URLs to the app

1. On the View One page for the application, expand the Callback URLs accordion and click the Add button.
   
   

    

2. Enter the FQDN of your EmpowerID server in the Callback URL field, formatted as https://yourserver/ui, and then click Save.

3. Click the Add button again and add a second callback URL, formatted as https://yourserver/WebIdPForms/OAuth/v2.
   
   

Step 3 – Add a client secret to the app

1. On the View One page for the application, expand the Client Secrets accordion and click the Add button.
   
   

    

2. In the General dialog that appears, do the following:

   • Name – Name of the secret

   • Expires – Select one of the below options:

     • I year

     • 2 years

     • Never

   • Client Secret – Copy and save this value as you will use it when creating Docker secrets later in this article.
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

3. Save the secret.

4. On the View One page for the application, copy the values for the Client ID, API Key and OAuthProviderApplicationID. You will use these when creating Docker secrets later in this topic.
   
   

    

Step 4 – Configure EmpowerID System Settings for PSM

1. On the navbar, expand Infrastructure Admin > EmpowerID Servers and Settings and select EmpowerID System Settings.

2. On the EmpowerID System Settings page, search for psm.
   
   

    

3. For each setting relevant to your implementation of PSM, click the Edit  button and specify the value for your environment. 
   
   

   
   
   

   The below table shows the EmpowerID Systems Settings for PSM.
   

Step 5 – Generate a self-signed certificate for PSM

1. On the navbar, expand Apps and Autentication > SSO Connections and select SSO Components.

2. Select the Certificates tab and then click the Add button in the grid header.
   
   

    

3. Select Generate Self-Signed Certificate and enter the following information:

   • Certificate Owner – Search for and select an EmpowerID Person

   • Prefer Local Machine Store – Select this option

   • Subject Name – Enter something suitable to the purpose of the certificate, such as CN=PSM_Certificate

   • Requires Password – Select this option

   • Certificate Password – Enter a password for the certificate

4. Click Save to create the certificate.
   
   

    

Step 6 – Create the PSM Service Account

1. On the navbar, expand Identity Administration and click People.

2. Click the Create Person Simple Mode action link.
   
   

    

3. In the Create Person Request form that appears, do the following:

   1. enter a First Name and Last Name for the Person account. As a best practice, the name should reflect the purpose of the Person account.

   2. Click the Select a Role and Location link.

   3. Search for and select the desired Business Role from the Business Role tree.

   4. Click the Location - link and then search for and select the desired location from the Location tree.

   5. Click Select to select the Business Role and Location.

   6. Click Save to save the new Person account.
      
      

      
      After EmpowerID creates the Person object, your browser should be directed the View Page for the person.
      
      

      
      
      Next, map the PSM certificate to the Person as outlined below.

Step 7 – Map the PSM Certificate

1. On the View page for the Person you just created, expand the Roles, Accounts, and Login Security accordion.

2. Click the Edit  link in the Mapped Login Certificates pane.
   
   

    

3. Search for and select the PSM certificate you generated earlier and then click Save.

Step 8 – Create a computer object for the PSM Server

In order to include your PSM server as an PSM Gateway option when configuring computers for PSM, you need to create a computer object for it in EmpowerID and add it to the Computers for RDP account store. This account store is internal to EmpowerID and is used for managing non-inventoried computers. EmpowerID adds all computers located in this directory to the list of available PSM Gateways.

1. On the navbar, expand Privileged Access and select PAM Workflows.
   This directs you to the Privileged Access Self-Service page, which provides access to several PAM-related workflow buttons.
   
   

    

2. Click the Create or Register Computer button.
   
   

    

3. In the Create Computer form that appears, enter the following information:

   • Name – Name of the computer

   • Display Name – Display name of the computer

   • Description – Description of the computer

   • Operating System – OS of the computer

   • DNS Host Name – DNS of the computer

4. Click Submit.

5. In the Creation Location Selection lookup that appears, search for and select Computers for RDP and then click Submit.
   
   

    

Extract the Key from the PFX File

1. To extract the private key, run the below OpenSSL command:

   openssl pkcs12 -in <filename>.pfx -nocerts -nodes -out key.pem

2. To extract the certificate (public key), run the OpenSSL command:

   openssl pkcs12 -in <filename>.pfx -nokeys -out cert.pem

Create Docker Secrets and Keys on the PSM Server

You will need to create the following secrets and keys:

Edit the Docker Stack YAML File

1. Copy the psm.yml file you received from EmpowerID to the root directory of the Linux server.

2. Edit the values as needed for your implementation.

3. Save the psm.yml file.

Deploy the Docker Stack

1. Initiate swarm mode by running docker swarm init.

2. Pull the PSM Docker images from Docker Hub using the account EmpowerID support provisioned for you.

3. Run the following command to deploy the stack:

4. Verify the Docker containers are running by using the command docker ps.

Related

Password Vaulting

Computer and Service Management

Checking Out Credentials and Initiating an RDP Session

Viewing Privileged Session Details

PAM Management Roles