Remote Access: When Using Policy Server
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As of 7.1.0, Axeda Policy Server has been rebranded as ThingWorx Policy Server. The information here applies to Axeda Policy Server 7.0.0 and to ThingWorx Policy Server 7.1.0.. For simplicity, just "Policy Server" is used to refer to these two PTC products.
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Policy Server enables your customers to control access to their assets by setting up policies for remote sessions that may be requested. Every policy has three possible settings, each represented by an icon in the Policy Server user interface. The following table describes these settings and shows the related icon:
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Icon
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Policy Description
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Always Allow — The Agent does not need to ask for permission, so on request, the Agent performs the requested action.
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Ask for Approval — Upon receiving a request for an action from a platform, the Agent sends an ASKING message to Policy Server to request permission for the action and also a message to the platform that it is waiting for permission.
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Deny — The Agent is never allowed to perform the requested action and sends a message to the platform that the action is not permitted by Policy Server.
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When it receives an ASKING message from the Agent, Policy Server sends an e-mail to the address specified for the policy and then stores the action request in the Pending Requests queue. The action request remains in the Pending Request page until it is approved or denied, or it times out. If timed out, the action is denied and needs to be requested again. A message is logged in the audit log for Policy Server.
If approved or denied, the action request is removed from the Pending Requests page. A message regarding the approval or denial is written to the audit log. Policy Server sends its response (accept or deny) to the asset. The asset sends another status message (ASK_ACCEPTED or ASK_DENIED) to the eMessage Connector to tell it whether the action request was approved or denied. If the action request was approved, the asset then processes the action.