SELinux

Chapter 5. SELinux Policy and Policy Language Overview

Chapter 2 examined the SELinux security model from a bird’s-eye perspective. The purpose of that chapter was to acquaint you with SELinux just enough to enable you to understand the procedure for installing and initially configuring SELinux. In the long run, you’re likely to need to know significantly more about the SELinux security model. So this chapter picks up where Chapter 2 left off, explaining the SELinux security model and SELinux policies in greater detail and laying the groundwork for the following chapters, which explain the SELinux policy language in detail.

Tip

For convenience, this chapter recapitulates some of the key concepts and terms introduced in Chapter 2. However, I assume that you’re generally familiar with and able to recall the material from that chapter. If you find this chapter difficult to follow, I suggest that you revisit Chapter 2 and then return to this chapter. I anticipate that you’ll find this chapter much clearer when the material from Chapter 2 is fresh in your mind.

The SELinux Policy

General systems theory arose in the middle of the last century, as systems analysts discovered that systems of a variety of types share common characteristics. One such characteristic is that systems can often be understood at any of several levels, sometimes referred to as levels of abstraction. For example, scientists tell us that interactions among atoms and molecules are governed by the quantum mechanical properties ...