Security geodatabase?

Question

How to protect against unwanted geodatabase editing. Is it possible to create a read-only geodatabase??

CurtisRuck · Answer

All ArcSDE servers support a full SQL security model (thanks to the databases, which provide
this functionality).  Keep in mind that versioned geodatabase tables are limited to {no access,
SELECT, SELECT/UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE}, since versioned updates and deletes are really
inserts.

- V

Umm, yes ArcSDE on a full database uses the SQL Security model for the data.... but it has no security controls on the SDE schema.  In Oracle ArcSDE grants full select/insert/update/delete on all of the SDE schema tables.  So, full SQL security model is only on the data in the layers, which means i could login to the database as a malicious user and update some coordinate system tables and shift all of the data in the database.

Derek Law · Answer

Hi Bartek,

Just to add onto what Vince posted:

For MS Access personal geodatabases and File geodatabases:
You can make them read-only within Windows Explorer. Simply right-click the file (.mdb and .gdb, respectively) in Windows Explorer and set its properties to be 'read-only'.

For ArcSDE geodatabases:
As Vince mentioned, they have a security model based on the DBMS platform they're implemented on. Please review the help documentation:

A quick tour of permissions for database servers

User groups or roles (for enterprise ArcSDE geodatabases)

Hope this helps,

VinceAngelo · Answer

All ArcSDE servers support a full SQL security model (thanks to the databases, which provide
this functionality).  Keep in mind that versioned geodatabase tables are limited to {no access,
SELECT, SELECT/UPDATE/INSERT/DELETE}, since versioned updates and deletes are really
inserts.
 
- V