# Admin role conflates server admin and board admin
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Created:** [June 17, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132 "2020-06-17T14:25:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nap](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nap)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/1 "2020-06-17T14:25:33Z")
The admin privilege seems to conflate the `server admin` role with `chief moderator` role.
My question is based on our use-case whereby the IT department setup our Discourse server instance but have no responsibility or interest in running/developing the content within Discourse.
Is there some way in which to separate options that an `server admin` should be responsible (such as SSL configuration) from tasks that a `chief moderator` would do, like setting up Categories?
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/2 "2020-06-17T14:52:00Z")
> [@nap](#):
>
> Is there some way in which to separate options that an IT admin should be responsible (such as SSL configuration) from tasks that a ‘chief’ moderator would do, like setting up Categories?
An IT admin responsible for settings SSL, for example, doesn’t even need a Discourse account, just access to the server. Also, most IT-related settings can be set as environment variables on the app.yml making unnecessary IT-access for the web part of Discourse.
This way your ‘chief’ moderator can be a Discourse admin/moderator just fine.
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### Author:  [@nap](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nap)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/3 "2020-06-17T16:27:55Z")
Thanks @Falco.
Then, is it possible to have levels within the admin privilege? Where adminType2 is able to do XYZ but not JKL?
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/4 "2020-06-17T16:49:06Z")
No, there is no fine-grained customization permission system.
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### Author:  [@nap](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nap)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/5 "2020-06-18T05:43:09Z")
@Falco, that seems to me to be somewhat unfortunate.
There are some fields in the `Email` section which would be of concern to some `server admins` which the `chief moderator` does not really need. For example, the email account and password, the port number to use for pop3 polling, and other stuff.
In addition, there are a number of other `Admin` parameters that have the potential to affect server load, and I can easily see `server admins` wanting to control those settings as well. Just a simple example being maximum file size of images and attachments. After scanning all the Admin options, there are a **lot** of settings which should be controlled by a `server admin` rather than `chief moderator`.
The up-shot of my questions is that the public facing team can easily be hampered by the back-end team, though both have legitimate concerns.
Is there perhaps a `chief moderator` template which removes access to certain parameters from the Admin panel?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/6 "2020-06-18T07:06:24Z")
You can put those settings in the `app.yml` env section and they’ll not be visible in the ux.
Have a look at [Using Object Storage for Uploads (S3 Clones)](https://meta.discourse.org/t/using-object-storage-for-uploads-s3-clones/148916) for examples. All site settings can be overridden and hidden this way.
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### Author:  [@nap](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nap)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/7 "2020-06-18T07:15:20Z")
Thanks @pfaffman.
I had a look at the link which refers to external storage, but for a new user its a bit confusing.
So, as I understand it, what you’re saying is two fold: (1) all the settings seen in the Admin area can be configured in the `app.yml` file, and (2) that the Admin area will not display any options which are configured in the `app.yml` file.
Is that correct?
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### Author:  [@nap](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nap)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/8 "2020-06-18T07:17:13Z")
A follow-up question is; can the current admin settings be exported to a file, which would be incorporated in the `app.yml` file?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/9 "2020-06-18T07:35:28Z")
It seems like you understand. You will need to generate the env values by hand.
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/admin-role-conflates-server-admin-and-board-admin/155132/10 "2020-07-18T07:44:53Z")
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