Authorization over a distributed and partitioned management system

A method comprising:

• receiving a request from a user to perform a task at one or more computing devices in a distributed management system, wherein the user is authorized to perform tasks based on class space and instance space;
• validating whether the user is authorized to perform the task at the one or more computing devices;
• and
• if authorized, instructing the one or more computing devices to run the task.

A management server of a management system that includes one or distributed computing devices, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including an authorization database;
• a service process component that authorizes users based on class space and instance space and creates authorization relationships between the users and the one or more distributed computing devices, the authorization relationships being stored in the authorization database;
• and
• a client process component that interfaces with the service process component and passes requests by the users to perform one or more tasks on the one or more distributed computing devices.