+++
title = "Provisioning roles and assignments"
description = "Understand how to provision roles and assignments in fine-grained access control"
keywords = ["grafana", "fine-grained-access-control", "roles", "provisioning", "assignments", "permissions", "enterprise"]
weight = 120
+++

# Provisioning
 
You can create, change or remove [Custom roles]({{< relref "./roles.md#custom-roles" >}}) and create or remove [built-in role assignments]({{< relref "./roles.md#built-in-role-assignments" >}}), by adding one or more YAML configuration files in the [`provisioning/access-control/`]({{< relref "../../administration/configuration/#provisioning" >}}) directory.
Refer to [Grafana provisioning]({{< relref "../../administration/configuration/#provisioning" >}}) to learn more about provisioning.

If you want to manage roles and built-in role assignments by API, refer to the [Fine-grained access control HTTP API]({{< relref "../../http_api/access_control/" >}}).

## Configuration

The configuration files must be placed in [`provisioning/access-control/`]({{< relref "../../administration/configuration/#provisioning" >}}).
Grafana performs provisioning during the startup. Refer to the [Reload provisioning configurations]({{< relref "../../http_api/admin/#reload-provisioning-configurations" >}}) to understand how you can reload configuration at runtime.

## Manage custom roles

You can create, update, and delete custom roles, as well as create and remove built-in role assignments.

### Create or update roles

To create or update custom roles, you can add a list of `roles` in the configuration.

Every role has a [version]({{< relref "./roles.md#custom-roles" >}}) number. For each role you update, you must remember to increment it, otherwise changes won't be accounted for.

When you update a role, the existing role inside grafana is altered to be exactly what is specified in the YAML file, including permissions.

Here is an example YAML file to create a local role with a set of permissions:

```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# Roles to insert into the database, or roles to update in the database
roles:
  - name: custom:users:editor
    description: "This role allows users to list, create, or update other users within the organization."
    version: 1
    orgId: 1
    permissions:
      - action: "users:read"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:write"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:create"
        scope: "users:*"
```

Here is an example YAML file to create a global role with a set of permissions, where the `global:true` option makes a role global:

```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# Roles to insert into the database, or roles to update in the database
roles:
  - name: custom:users:editor
    description: "This role allows users to list, create, or update other users within the organization."
    version: 1
    global: true
    permissions:
      - action: "users:read"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:write"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:create"
        scope: "users:*"
```
The `orgId` is lost when the role is set to global.

### Delete roles 

To delete a role, you can add a list of roles under the `deleteRoles` section in the configuration file. Such a deletion is performed after a role is inserted or updated.

Here is an example YAML file to delete a role:
```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# list of roles that should be deleted
deleteRoles:
  - name: custom:reports:editor
    orgId: 1
    force: true
```

### Assign your custom role to specific built-in roles

To assign roles to built-in roles, add said built-in roles to the `builtInRoles` section of your roles. To remove a specific assignment, remove it from the list.

For example, the following role is assigned to an organization editor or an organization administrator:

```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# Roles to insert/update in the database
roles:
  - name: custom:users:editor
    description: "This role allows users to list/create/update other users in the organization"
    version: 1
    orgId: 1
    permissions:
      - action: "users:read"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:write"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:create"
        scope: "users:*"
    builtInRoles:
      - name: "Editor"
      - name: "Admin"
```

## Manage default built-in role assignments

During startup, Grafana creates [default built-in role assignments]({{< relref "./roles#default-built-in-role-assignments" >}}) with [fixed roles]({{< relref "./roles#fixed-roles" >}}). You can remove and later restore those assignments with provisioning.

### Remove default assignment

To remove default built-in role assignments, use the `removeDefaultAssignments` element in the configuration file. You need to provide the built-in role name and fixed role name.

Here is an example:
```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# list of default built-in role assignments that should be removed
removeDefaultAssignments:
  - builtInRole: "Grafana server administrator"
    fixedRole: "fixed:permissions:admin"

```

### Restore default assignment

To restore the default built-in role assignment, use the `addDefaultAssignments` element in the configuration file. You need to provide the built-in role name and the fixed-role name.

Here is an example:
```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# list of default built-in role assignments that should be added back
addDefaultAssignments:
  - builtInRole: "Admin"
    fixedRole: "fixed:reporting:admin:read"
```

## Full example of a role configuration file

```yaml
# config file version
apiVersion: 1

# list of default built-in role assignments that should be removed
removeDefaultAssignments:
  # <string>, must be one of the Organization roles (`Viewer`, `Editor`, `Admin`) or `Grafana Admin`
  - builtInRole: "Grafana Admin"
    # <string>, must be one of the existing fixed roles
    fixedRole: "fixed:permissions:admin"

# list of default built-in role assignments that should be added back
addDefaultAssignments:
  # <string>, must be one of the Organization roles (`Viewer`, `Editor`, `Admin`) or `Grafana Admin`
  - builtInRole: "Admin"
    # <string>, must be one of the existing fixed roles
    fixedRole: "fixed:reporting:admin:read"
    
# list of roles that should be deleted
deleteRoles:
  # <string> name of the role you want to create. Required if no uid is set
  - name: "custom:reports:editor"
    # <string> uid of the role. Required if no name
    uid: "customreportseditor1"
    # <int> org id. will default to Grafana's default if not specified
    orgId: 1
    # <bool> force deletion revoking all grants of the role
    force: true
  - name: "custom:global:reports:reader"
    uid: "customglobalreportsreader1"
    # <bool> overwrite org id and removes a global role
    global: true
    force: true

# list of roles to insert/update depending on what is available in the database
roles:
  # <string, required> name of the role you want to create. Required
  - name: "custom:users:editor"
    # <string> uid of the role. Has to be unique for all orgs.
    uid: customuserseditor1
    # <string> description of the role, informative purpose only.
    description: "Role for our custom user editors"
    # <int> version of the role, Grafana will update the role when increased
    version: 2
    # <int> org id. will default to Grafana's default if not specified
    orgId: 1    
    # <list> list of the permissions granted by this role
    permissions:
      # <string, required> action allowed
      - action: "users:read"
        #<string> scope it applies to
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:write"
        scope: "users:*"
      - action: "users:create"
        scope: "users:*"
    # <list> list of builtIn roles the role should be assigned to
    builtInRoles:
      # <string, required> name of the builtin role you want to assign the role to
      - name: "Editor"
        # <int> org id. will default to the role org id
        orgId: 1        
  - name: "custom:global:users:reader"
    uid: "customglobalusersreader1"
    description: "Global Role for custom user readers"
    version: 1
    # <bool> overwrite org id and creates a global role
    global: true
    permissions:
      - action: "users:read"
        scope: "users:*"
    builtInRoles:
      - name: "Viewer"
        orgId: 1        
      - name: "Editor"
        # <bool> overwrite org id and assign role globally
        global: true
```

## Supported settings

The following sections detail the supported settings for roles and built-in role assignments.

- Refer to [Permissions]({{< relref "./permissions.md#action-definitions" >}}) for full list of valid permissions.
- Check [Custom roles]({{< relref "./roles.md#custom-roles" >}}) to understand attributes for roles.
- The [default org ID]({{< relref "../../administration/configuration#auto_assign_org_id" >}}) is used if `orgId` is not specified in any of the configuration blocks.

## Validation rules

A basic set of validation rules are applied to the input `yaml` files.

### Roles

- `name` must not be empty
- `name` must not have `fixed:` prefix. 

### Permissions

- `name` must not be empty

### Built-in role assignments

- `name` must be one of the Organization roles (`Viewer`, `Editor`, `Admin`) or `Grafana Admin`. 
- When `orgId` is not specified, it inherits the `orgId` from `role`. For global roles the default `orgId` is used.
- `orgId` in the `role` and in the assignment must be the same for none global roles. 

### Role deletion

- Either the role `name` or `uid` must be provided