Security Management Guide (G06.24+, H06.03+)

Glossary
Security Management Guide—522283-008
Glossary-6
password expiration
password expiration. A procedural technique whereby passwords become invalid after a
certain time period or certain number of uses.
Pathway. A collection of NonStop system tools that aid in designing and operating a
terminal-based database application.
peripheral. A device suitable for input or output, such as a terminal, printer, disk drive, or
magnetic tape unit.
physical security. The use of locks, badges, guards and other means to restrict access to
computer systems and information resources.
#PMSEARCHLIST. The TACL variable designating the list of subvolumes in which TACL
searches for an executable file.
privileged user ID. A user ID that is explicitly or implicitly authorized to access information
in nontypical ways. For example, the super ID is a privileged user ID because the
super ID can bypass standard Guardian authorizations and gain access to any file or
device on the system.
process. A particular program running within a defined environment that includes an
independent set of registers, code-addressing space, and data-addressing space.
Processes are managed by the Guardian environment and are created through
Guardian procedure calls.
process ID (PID). The unique identifier of a process.
process pair. A special pair of processes that share the same name and are set up to
provide fault-tolerant operation. One process serves as the primary process, while the
other serves as a backup process. The two processes are kept in sync through
messages transmitted from the primary to the backup process. If the primary process
fails for any reason, the backup process takes over and resumes processing at the
point at which the primary process last sent a message. Process pairs reside on
different CPUs so that a CPU failure does not interfere with the operations.
PROGID programs. A file option that changes the PAID and effective user ID for an
executing process. Normally, a process inherits its PAID from its creator’s PAID.
However, when a PROGID file is executed, the PAID is set to the owner of the file, thus
acquiring that user’s authorizations.
prompt. A character string displayed on the terminal indicating that user input is required.
protection. Actions or procedures that promote data security and integrity.
real group ID. An attribute of a process. When a process is created, the real group ID
identifies the primary group of the user or parent process that created the new process.
The real group ID cannot be changed after process creation.