Authenticate and Authorize Users

import WarningLicenseKeyContact from '/src/components/en-us/_warning-license-key-contact.mdx';

ScalarDB Cluster has a mechanism to authenticate and authorize users.

This guide describes how to use authentication and authorization in ScalarDB Cluster.

Overview

By using authentication and authorization, you can create users and grant or revoke their privileges. You can create a user by using the CREATE USER command, and you can grant or revoke one's privileges on a table or a namespace by using the GRANT or REVOKE command, respectively. For details about such data control language (DCL) commands, see DCL.

Users can log in to ScalarDB Cluster with a username and a password and execute SQL statements if they have the required privileges.

Authentication and authorization support two types of users:

Superusers: This type of user has all privileges. Only superusers can create or drop other users and namespaces.
Normal users: This type of user initially doesn't have any privileges, so they need to be granted privileges by a superuser or another user who has the GRANT privilege.

The following privileges are available when using authentication and authorization:

SELECT
INSERT
UPDATE
DELETE
CREATE
DROP
TRUNCATE
ALTER
GRANT

For details about privileges, see Which privileges are required for each type of operation.

Configurations

This section describes the available configurations for authentication and authorization.

ScalarDB Cluster node configurations

To enable authentication and authorization, you need to set scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled to true.

Name	Description	Default
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled`	Whether authentication and authorization are enabled.	`false`

You can also set the following configurations:

Name	Description	Default
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.cache_expiration_time_millis`	Cache expiration time for authentication and authorization information in milliseconds.	`60000` (1 minute)
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.auth_token_expiration_time_minutes`	Authentication and authorization token expiration time in minutes.	`1440` (1 day)
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.auth_token_gc_thread_interval_minutes`	Authentication and authorization token garbage collection (GC) thread interval in minutes.	`360` (6 hours)
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.pepper`	A secret value added to a password before hashing. If not specified, the password is hashed without pepper.

:::note

If you enable authentication and authorization, you will also need to set scalar.db.cross_partition_scan.enabled to true for the system namespace (scalardb by default) because authentication and authorization perform cross-partition scans internally.

:::

ScalarDB Cluster Java client SDK configurations

To enable authentication and authorization on the client side, you need to set scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled to true.

Name	Description	Default
`scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled`	Whether authentication and authorization are enabled.	`false`

In addition to the configuration in the ScalarDB Cluster SQL client configurations section, you also need to set scalar.db.sql.cluster_mode.username and scalar.db.sql.cluster_mode.password to specify the username and password of the client.

Name	Description	Default
`scalar.db.sql.cluster_mode.username`	The username of the client.
`scalar.db.sql.cluster_mode.password`	The password of the client.

Initial user

When you enable authentication and authorization, the initial user admin is created and the initial password of that user is admin. This user is a superuser and has all privileges. You can log in with this user and create other users if necessary.

:::warning

For security purposes, be sure to change the password of the initial user, especially before deploying to a production environment.

:::

Which privileges are required for each type of operation

The following tables show which privileges are required for each type of operation:

DDL

Command	Superuser required	Required privileges
`CREATE NAMESPACE`	`true`
`DROP NAMESPACE`	`true`
`CREATE TABLE`		`CREATE`
`DROP TABLE`		`DROP`
`CREATE INDEX`		`CREATE`
`DROP INDEX`		`DROP`
`TRUNCATE TABLE`		`TRUNCATE`
`ALTER TABLE`		`ALTER`
`CREATE COORDINATOR TABLES`	`true`
`DROP COORDINATOR TABLES`	`true`
`TRUNCATE COORDINATOR TABLES`	`true`

DML

Command	Superuser required	Required privileges
`SELECT`		`SELECT`
`INSERT`		`INSERT`
`UPSERT`		`INSERT`
`UPDATE`		`SELECT` and `UPDATE`
`DELETE`		`SELECT` and `DELETE`

DCL

Command	Superuser required	Required privileges
`CREATE USER`	`true`
`ALTER USER`	`true` (Users can change their own password.)
`DROP USER`	`true`
`GRANT`		`GRANT` (Users can grant only the privileges that they have.)
`REVOKE`		`GRANT` (Users can revoke only the privileges that they have.)

Limitations

There are some limitations to the privileges granted or revoked in authentication and authorization:

You must grant or revoke INSERT and UPDATE privileges together.
To grant a user the UPDATE or DELETE privilege, the target user must have the SELECT privilege.
If the target user has the INSERT or UPDATE privilege, you cannot revoke the SELECT privilege from them.

Wire encryption

If you enable authentication and authorization, enabling wire encryption to protect the user credentials is strongly recommended, especially in production environments. For details about wire encryption, see Encrypt Wire Communications.

Tutorial - Authenticate and authorize users

This tutorial explains how to use authentication and authorization.

Prerequisites

OpenJDK LTS version (8, 11, 17, or 21) from Eclipse Temurin
Docker 20.10 or later with Docker Compose V2 or later

:::note

This tutorial has been tested with OpenJDK from Eclipse Temurin. ScalarDB itself, however, has been tested with JDK distributions from various vendors. For details about the requirements for ScalarDB, including compatible JDK distributions, please see Requirements.

:::

1. Create the ScalarDB Cluster configuration file

Create the following configuration file as scalardb-cluster-node.properties, replacing <YOUR_LICENSE_KEY> and <LICENSE_CHECK_CERT_PEM> with your ScalarDB license key and license check certificate values. For more information about the license key and certificate, see How to Configure a Product License Key.

scalar.db.storage=jdbc
scalar.db.contact_points=jdbc:postgresql://postgresql:5432/postgres
scalar.db.username=postgres
scalar.db.password=postgres
scalar.db.cluster.node.standalone_mode.enabled=true
scalar.db.cross_partition_scan.enabled=true
scalar.db.sql.enabled=true

# Enable authentication and authorization
scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled=true

# License key configurations
scalar.db.cluster.node.licensing.license_key=<YOUR_LICENSE_KEY>
scalar.db.cluster.node.licensing.license_check_cert_pem=<LICENSE_CHECK_CERT_PEM>

2. Create the Docker Compose file

Create the following configuration file as docker-compose.yaml.

services:
  postgresql:
    container_name: "postgresql"
    image: "postgres:15"
    ports:
      - 5432:5432
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready || exit 1"]
      interval: 1s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 60
      start_period: 30s

  scalardb-cluster-standalone:
    container_name: "scalardb-cluster-node"
    image: "ghcr.io/scalar-labs/scalardb-cluster-node-byol-premium:3.15.1"
    ports:
      - 60053:60053
      - 9080:9080
    volumes:
      - ./scalardb-cluster-node.properties:/scalardb-cluster/node/scalardb-cluster-node.properties
    depends_on:
      postgresql:
        condition: service_healthy

3. Start PostgreSQL and ScalarDB Cluster

Run the following command to start PostgreSQL and ScalarDB Cluster in standalone mode.

docker compose up -d

It may take a few minutes for ScalarDB Cluster to fully start.

4. Connect to ScalarDB Cluster

To connect to ScalarDB Cluster, this tutorial uses the SQL CLI, a tool for connecting to ScalarDB Cluster and executing SQL queries. You can download the SQL CLI from the ScalarDB releases page.

Create a configuration file named scalardb-cluster-sql-cli.properties. This file will be used to connect to ScalarDB Cluster by using the SQL CLI.

scalar.db.sql.connection_mode=cluster
scalar.db.sql.cluster_mode.contact_points=indirect:localhost

# Enable authentication and authorization
scalar.db.cluster.auth.enabled=true

Then, start the SQL CLI by running the following command.

java -jar scalardb-cluster-sql-cli-3.15.1-all.jar --config scalardb-cluster-sql-cli.properties

Enter the username and password as admin and admin, respectively.

Now you're ready to use the database with authentication and authorization enabled in ScalarDB Cluster.

5. Create namespaces and a table

Create namespaces.

CREATE NAMESPACE ns1;

CREATE NAMESPACE ns2;

Next, create a table in the ns1 namespaces.

CREATE TABLE ns1.tbl (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  col1 TEXT,
  col2 INT);

6. Create a user

Create a user named user1.

CREATE USER user1 WITH PASSWORD 'user1';

To check the user, run the following command.

SHOW USERS;

+----------+-------------+
| username | isSuperuser |
+----------+-------------+
| user1    | false       |
| admin    | true        |
+----------+-------------+

You can see that the user1 user has been created.

7. Grant privileges

Grant the SELECT, INSERT, and UPDATE privileges to user1 on the ns1.tbl table.

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE ON ns1.tbl TO user1;

Then, grant the SELECT privilege to user1 on the ns2 namespace.

GRANT SELECT ON NAMESPACE ns2 TO user1;

To check the privileges, run the following command.

SHOW GRANTS FOR user1;

+---------+-----------+-----------+
|  name   |   type    | privilege |
+---------+-----------+-----------+
| ns2     | NAMESPACE | SELECT    |
| ns1.tbl | TABLE     | SELECT    |
| ns1.tbl | TABLE     | INSERT    |
| ns1.tbl | TABLE     | UPDATE    |
+---------+-----------+-----------+

You can see that user1 has been granted the SELECT, INSERT, and UPDATE privileges on the ns.tbl table, and the SELECT privilege on the ns2 namespace.

8. Log in as `user1`

Log in as user1 and execute SQL statements.

java -jar scalardb-cluster-sql-cli-3.15.1-all.jar --config scalardb-cluster-sql-cli.properties

Enter the username and password as user1 and user1, respectively.

Now you can execute SQL statements as user1.

9. Execute DML statements

Execute the following INSERT statement as user1.

INSERT INTO ns1.tbl VALUES (1, 'a', 1);

Then, execute the following SELECT statement as user1.

SELECT * FROM ns1.tbl;

+----+------+------+
| id | col1 | col2 |
+----+------+------+
| 1  | a    | 1    |
+----+------+------+

You can see that user1 can execute INSERT and SELECT statements.

Next, try executing the following DELETE statement as user1.

DELETE FROM ns1.tbl WHERE id = 1;

Error: Authorization error (PERMISSION_DENIED: SQL-10021: Access denied: You need the DELETE privilege on the table ns1.tbl to execute this operation) (state=SDB11,code=9911)

You will see the above error message because user1 doesn't have the DELETE privilege on the ns1.tbl table.

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scalardb-auth-with-sql.mdx

scalardb-auth-with-sql.mdx

Authenticate and Authorize Users

Overview

Configurations

ScalarDB Cluster node configurations

ScalarDB Cluster Java client SDK configurations

Initial user

Which privileges are required for each type of operation

DDL

DML

DCL

Limitations

Wire encryption

Tutorial - Authenticate and authorize users

Prerequisites

1. Create the ScalarDB Cluster configuration file

2. Create the Docker Compose file

3. Start PostgreSQL and ScalarDB Cluster

4. Connect to ScalarDB Cluster

5. Create namespaces and a table

6. Create a user

7. Grant privileges

8. Log in as `user1`

9. Execute DML statements

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scalardb-auth-with-sql.mdx

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Authenticate and Authorize Users

Overview

Configurations

ScalarDB Cluster node configurations

ScalarDB Cluster Java client SDK configurations

Initial user

Which privileges are required for each type of operation

DDL

DML

DCL

Limitations

Wire encryption

Tutorial - Authenticate and authorize users

Prerequisites

1. Create the ScalarDB Cluster configuration file

2. Create the Docker Compose file

3. Start PostgreSQL and ScalarDB Cluster

4. Connect to ScalarDB Cluster

5. Create namespaces and a table

6. Create a user

7. Grant privileges

8. Log in as user1

9. Execute DML statements

8. Log in as `user1`