Examining Permissions Artifacts in Azure DevOps

Examining Permissions Artifacts in Azure DevOps

In Azure DevOps, Azure Artifacts provides robust access control mechanisms to manage permissions for interacting with package feeds. Each permission allows users or service accounts to perform specific tasks related to consuming, managing, or publishing packages and feeds. Understanding and managing these permissions is essential for securing access to your packages and feeds in Azure Artifacts.

Here’s an examination of the key permissions available in Azure Artifacts.

1. List and Restore/Install Packages

Description:

This permission allows users to view and consume packages from a feed. It is essential for developers and CI/CD pipelines to be able to install or restore packages during builds or deployments.

Permissions:

1. List: Allows users to see the contents of the feed (e.g., the list of available packages).

2. Restore/Install: Enables users to install or restore packages for use in their applications. For example, pulling NuGet, npm, Maven, or Python packages into a project or CI/CD pipeline.

Associated Roles:

1. Reader: Can list and restore/install packages from the feed.

2. Collaborator/Contributor: In addition to listing and restoring, these roles may also push packages to the feed.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Developers using packages in their applications.

2. Automated build systems (CI/CD pipelines) pulling dependencies during builds.

2. Save Packages from Upstream Sources

Description:

This permission allows users to save packages from upstream sources (external package repositories like npmjs.org, Maven Central, etc.) into an internal feed. Azure Artifacts supports the concept of upstream sources to allow internal feeds to act as proxies for external package sources.

Permissions:

Save: This permission enables users to cache external packages into the feed for future use, thereby improving build performance and providing a reliable fallback when external sources are unavailable.

Associated Roles:

Owner/Administrator: Typically requires Owner or Contributor permissions to configure and save packages from upstream sources, as these are often used to set up proxying or external feed caching.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Teams want to proxy external package repositories to avoid relying on external sources directly during builds.

2. Ensuring access to commonly used packages without external network calls.

3. Push Packages

Description:

This permission allows users to publish or push packages to a feed. Users with this permission can upload their own packages to the feed, such as new versions of an internal library or a dependency.

Permissions:

Push: This permission enables users to publish new versions of packages or new packages entirely to the feed. It also includes overwriting existing versions of a package if allowed by feed settings.

Associated Roles:

1. Collaborator: Has the permission to push packages to the feed.

2. Contributor: Also has permission to push and manage packages.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Developers pushing new versions of internal libraries to share with others in the organization.

2. Automated CI/CD processes pushing build artifacts to internal feeds.

4. Unlist/Deprecate Packages

Description:

This permission allows users to unlist or deprecate a package version in a feed. When a package is deprecated, it becomes unavailable for future consumption, though it remains in the feed for historical purposes. Unlisting packages hides them from the feed view, making it harder to find and use.

Permissions:

1. Unlist: Hides a version of the package from the feed, so it can no longer be used or discovered easily by developers or CI/CD pipelines.

2. Deprecate: Marks a package or version as deprecated, signaling to users that it should no longer be used (without deleting it).

Associated Roles:

1. Owner: Has permission to unlist or deprecate packages.

2. Contributor: May also have this permission, depending on feed settings and organizational policies.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Deprecating old, vulnerable, or outdated package versions to ensure that only supported versions are used.

2. Hiding experimental or incomplete packages from public or general consumption.

5. Delete/Unpublish Package

Description:

This permission allows users to delete or unpublish packages from a feed, removing them entirely or revoking their availability. This action is typically irreversible and should be used cautiously to avoid breaking dependencies for other projects.

Permissions:

1. Delete: Permanently removes a package from the feed. This action is usually discouraged, as it can break dependencies in other projects or downstream consumers.

2. Unpublish: Removes a version of a package from the feed, making it unavailable for future consumption, but not necessarily deleting it from the feed entirely.

Associated Roles:

1. Owner: Typically the only role that has the ability to permanently delete packages.

2. Contributor: May have the ability to delete or unpublish packages, depending on feed settings.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Removing unwanted or unused package versions from the feed.

2. Preventing consumers from downloading deprecated or unsafe versions of a package.

6. Edit Feed Permissions

Description:

This permission allows users to manage the permissions of other users or groups for a specific feed. Users with this permission can modify who has access to the feed and assign different roles (Reader, Contributor, etc.) to other users.

Permissions:

1. Edit Permissions: The ability to modify the access levels of other users or groups for a given feed.

2. Assign Roles: Can assign users to specific roles like Reader, Collaborator, Contributor, or Owner.

Associated Roles:

1. Owner: Typically the only role that has full access to edit feed permissions and manage user roles.

2. Contributor (depending on feed settings): In some cases, contributors may also be able to adjust permissions, though this is not typical.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Administrators or DevOps engineers managing access control and ensuring that only appropriate users have access to the feed.

2. Creating roles and permissions for different teams working on different types of packages or projects.

7. Rename and Delete Feed

Description:

This permission allows users to rename or delete a feed. Deleting a feed is a permanent action that removes the feed and all of its contents. Renaming a feed changes its identifier, which could impact downstream systems and consumers.

Permissions:

1. Rename: Changes the name of the feed. This is useful when you need to reorganize or restructure the feed naming conventions but can potentially disrupt references to the feed in other services.

2. Delete: Deletes the entire feed, including all packages and versions associated with it. This is a significant action and should be performed with caution.

Associated Roles:

1. Owner: The only role that can rename or delete a feed.

2. Administrator: May also have this ability, depending on feed settings.

Typical Use Cases:

1. Cleaning up or restructuring artifact feeds when projects are complete or archived.

2. Permanently removing feeds that are no longer needed.

Summary of Permissions in Azure Artifacts

Azure Artifacts provides granular permissions to manage access to feeds and packages. By assigning appropriate roles, organizations can secure their artifacts, ensuring that only authorized users can push, consume, or manage packages.

The key permissions—such as list, restore, push, delete, unlist, and manage feed permissions—allow teams to work efficiently while maintaining control over package management and security. Always adhere to the principle of least privilege to ensure that users only have the permissions they need.