4.2.5 Distribution Process

The distribution process in a policy-based system is necessary for spreading the policies to the places of their actual enforcement. Figure  shows the distribution process getting policy descriptions or objects from the global policy repository. Only deployable (thus refined low-level policies) are multiplied and distributed to the local policy repositories where new policy objects are created if the distributed policy was not already contained there. The decision of the proper destinations is taken by looking at the subjects and targets of a policy.

The distribution process has to consider whether there are constraints regarding the distribution. For instance, a policy must be distributed and stored in the local repository before another one. This could be the case when policy chaining is used as described in section .

Also duty-bound to the distribution process is guarantee that the policies transfered to the local repositories are provided with all the components and objects needed by the new policy. A component can be the monitoring part of a policy as suggested by [Wies 95] and required objects can be special objects the policy references to.

Some (automatic) customising may be in the responsibility of the distribution process, such as translating configuration files, or changing the representation of values (e.g., convert big-endian to little-endian) if not done transparently by the transport system or any middle-ware.

After the distribution process has completed its work, the policy in the local policy repositories will not be significantly altered. Small modifications, which do not change the semantics of the policy, are done by the test process and the enforcement process.