Record Type Details for PAM User Record Type
A PAM User is a type of KeeperPAM resource that represents an account credential. The PAM User is linked from other resources.
PAM User
KeeperPAM User records define a specific account inside another PAM resource. PAM Machines, PAM Databases, PAM Directories and PAM Remote Browser records link to a PAM User.
The PAM User resource supports the following features:
On-demand and scheduled password rotation
PAM Scripts for privilege automation
Persistent sharing to users and teams
Sharing with time-limited access
Prior to creating a PAM User, make sure you have already created a PAM Configuration and a PAM Resource such as a Machine, Database, Directory or Browser.
To create a PAM User:
Click on Create New
Depending on your use case, click on "Rotation", "Tunnel", or "Connection"
On the prompted window:
Select "
The following table lists all the configurable fields on the PAM Remote Browser Record Type:
When connecting to Windows machines that are domain-joined:
For domain-joined systems, always use the UPN format ([email protected]) as it is more modern, DNS-reliant, and avoids NetBIOS issues.
Reserve DOMAIN\user for older systems or mixed environments where UPN isn't supported.
Note that Keeper will attempt to login to the remote system using the username exactly as supplied. If authentication fails, Keeper will then attempt to use the below variations:
User Principal Name (UPN) format: [email protected]
Domain NetBIOS format: COMPANY\admin
Shortened UPN format (no TLD): admin@company
Domain FQDN with backslash format: company.com\admin
When the PAM User record is storing an SSH key, the PEM-encoded private key is added to the "Private Key" field. If the SSH key file is encrypted, you can create a custom field with the title of "Passphrase" which stores the SSH key passphrase.
The Keeper Commander CLI provides specialized automation tools to create PAM User records, perform rotations, share credentials to team members, and deliver credentials through one-time share links for new employee onboarding.
References:
Select the Shared Folder you want the record to be created in
Specify the Title
Select "User" for the Target
Click "Next" and complete all of the required information.
Required only when the User is managed by a directory Example: CN=Jeff Smith,OU=Sales,DC=demo,DC=COM
If left blank, defaults are attempted depending on the provider type
Managed User
Flag for accounts that are managed by the AWS or Azure IAM systems
Set by Keeper Discovery to indicate that the password cannot be rotated. For example, AWS token-based auth.
Connect Database
Used in certain scenarios if a database name is needed
Edge cases, e.g. using LDAP to connect to a MySQL database
Local Windows accounts, Domain accounts, Active Directory users, IAM users, database accounts, SaaS accounts, Linux accounts, SSH Private Keys
Login
Username; exact context and format depends on the associated resource. See Note (1) below.
Required
Examples:
username
username@domain
DOMAIN\username
Password
Password of the user
Can be rotated
Private Key
PEM-encoded SSH Private Key associated with user.
Can be rotated
Distinguished Name
Passphrase
Used to decrypt the SSH Private Key for use in connections.
Required if the SSH key is encrypted
Distinguished name; used if associated with a PAM Directory
On the "Rotation Settings" section of the PAM User vault record, you can configure how credential rotation is managed.
Rotation Type
Specifies which type of rotation is being performed (and which protocol is utilized).
Keeper supports 3 different types of rotation:
General: Uses native protocols for performing the rotation, such as LDAP, Databases, SSH keys, etc.
IAM User: Uses the cloud-specific APIs for performing rotation, such as AWS IAM users, Azure managed resources, and Google Workspace principals. In this case, only the PAM Configuration is required since it contains the necessary credentials.
Run PAM scripts only: Skips the standard rotation and only executes the attached PAM Scripts.
The rotation schedule can be set on a specific interval, or using a .
To complete the Rotation setup, you need to select a resource, which depends on the rotation type.
For a "General" rotation, the Keeper Gateway uses a native protocol for performing the necessary rotation, and the rotation will be executed on the associated PAM Resource supplied. If necessary, the rotation will use the associated administrative credential on the PAM Resource.
In the example below, a Windows service account password is going to be rotated on the associated Windows Server.
For an "IAM User" rotation type, the Keeper Gateway will use the referenced PAM Configuration to determine which APIs and methods are used to perform the rotation. In the example below, an IAM user in AWS will use the "AWS (US-WEST-1)" configuration.
When using the IAM User rotation method, it is assumed that the Keeper Gateway either inherits its privilege from the instance role policy, or through explicit access keys that are provided on the PAM Configuration record.
The PAM User record holds the credential that is being rotated.
The Rotation Settings of the PAM User record references a specific PAM Machine, PAM Database or PAM Directory resource. This is the target resource where the rotation is performed.
The Keeper Gateway uses the Admin Credential associated to the PAM Machine, PAM Database or PAM Directory resource to perform the rotation with native protocols.
For AWS, Azure and GCP managed resources, Keeper uses Instance Role permission of the Gateway, or specific PAM Configuration secrets to perform the rotation with APIs.
Below are some examples of PAM User records.
Windows Domain Admin
Windows Domain User with post-rotation scripts
AWS IAM User
Database user
Azure AD User
For Google Cloud managed resources, Keeper uses the Service Account permissions of the Gateway.
Required "General", "IAM User" or "Run PAM Scripts Only". See below for details.
PAM Resource
For General rotation type, specifies the PAM Resource record which can provide the necessary privilege. For IAM User rotation type, specifies the PAM Configuration utilizing cloud APIs.
Required only for "General" and "IAM User" rotation types
Rotation Schedule
Rotation can be performed on-demand or on a specific schedule.
For advanced scheduling, see the cron spec.
Password Complexity
Applies to password-based rotations, not PEM keys.
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