Role-Based Access Control Custom Roles Beta

Introduction

Welcome to the comprehensive guide for the Meraki RBAC – Custom Roles beta program. This article provides detailed information on how to get started, utilize the new features, and contribute your valuable feedback to help us refine this powerful new capability before its general availability.

Your participation is crucial to the success of this program, and we are excited to build something great together.

What is the RBAC Custom Roles beta program?

The RBAC Custom Roles beta program introduces a new framework for managing user access within your Cisco Meraki dashboard. This program allows you to create customized admin roles, offering enhanced flexibility and precise control over permissions for your Meraki MX (Security Appliances), MS (Switching), and MR (Wireless) products.

This new functionality is designed to simplify administrator management, improve security posture, and boost your operational efficiency by ensuring that administrators only have access to the specific functionalities and product types they need.

Getting started with the beta experience

After enrolling with your organization ID(-s) and receiving the confirmation email, you can begin exploring the new custom roles functionality within your Meraki Dashboard.

Steps to access the feature:

Step 1. In the Meraki Dashboard, go to Organization > Administrators.

 

Step 2. In the top right corner of the Administrators page, click on "Try new version".

 

Step 3. Once on the new version of the Administrators page, switch to the Roles tab.

 

Step 4. You should see a "+ Create custom role" button at the top of the Roles tab, indicating that the feature is enabled for your organization

 

Troubleshooting: If you have enrolled via the form and received the confirmation email but do not see the "+ Create custom role" button after two business days, please contact the product team at meraki-rbac-beta@cisco.com.

Features available in this beta

This initial beta release provides powerful capabilities for creating customizable admin roles:

• Create custom roles:
  • Design roles tailored to your specific operational needs.
  • Assign granular permissions for Security Appliances (MX), Switching (MS), and Wireless (MR) products.
  • Permissions can be set as:
    • "no access": The user cannot view or manage this product type.
    • "read-only": The user can view both Monitor and Configure feature groups for this product type but cannot make changes.
    • "read and write": The user has full view and management capabilities for this product type.
• Apply custom roles to selected networks: 
  • Assign your newly created custom roles to specific networks within your organization, allowing for fine-grained access control across your Meraki infrastructure.
• Adaptive dashboard navigation: 
  • Experience a streamlined Dashboard interface where the left navigation automatically adapts to show only the products and sections a user has access to, based on their assigned custom role.

Important limitations (what is NOT included in this beta)

To ensure a focused and effective beta program, the following functionalities are not included in this initial release:

• You cannot assign "no access" to all three product categories (Security Appliances, Switching, and Wireless). At least one product type must have "read" or "read and write" access.
• Custom role support is not yet available within the Meraki mobile application.
• Access control for Meraki products beyond MX, MS, and MR is not included. Similarly, custom roles do not currently apply to Organization-wide or Network-wide pages. These will be integrated in future updates.

Phased rollout of product-level access (MX/MS/MR)

The beta program is being rolled out in phases to allow for more focused feedback and to get this powerful feature into your hands sooner:

• Phase 1: MX and MS Devices
  • Scope: Role creation and access for Security Appliances (MX) and Switching (MS) devices.
  • Start Date: August 4, 2025
  • This phase allows you to begin using the core functionality and provide valuable feedback on these key product areas.
• Phase 2: MR Devices
  • Scope: Expansion to include Wireless (MR) devices within the same RBAC framework.
  • Target Start Date: August 28, 2025
  • This phase will provide comprehensive control across all three primary Meraki product types.

Beta program timeline

Here is an overview of the key dates for the Meraki RBAC Custom Roles Beta Program:

• Early August 2025: Onboarding calls and Phase 1 (MX and MS feature enablement) begins.
• Mid-August 2025: First dedicated feedback collection checkpoint.
• Late August 2025: Announcement of Phase 2 (MR availability).
• Early September 2025: Second dedicated feedback collection checkpoint.
• October 2025: The beta program officially concludes.

Providing feedback during the Beta

Your feedback is invaluable for shaping the final product. We encourage you to share your experiences and suggestions.

Methods for Providing Feedback:

• We have scheduled specific feedback collection checkpoints in mid-August and early September 2025. Details on how to submit your feedback during these periods will be provided during your onboarding.
• You can use the "Give Feedback" button located on the right side of the screen from either of the Administrators pages within the Dashboard.

• You can email the product team directly at meraki-rbac-beta@cisco.com.
• You can share feedback with your account team.

Getting support

Should you have any questions or encounter issues during the beta program, dedicated support channels are available:

For direct assistance from Product Management and Engineering, please email: meraki-rbac-beta@cisco.com.

Leaving the beta program

If you decide to opt out of the beta program, please follow these steps carefully:

1. Before initiating the opt-out process, you must re-assign default Dashboard roles to any administrators who were previously assigned custom roles.
2. Reach out to your account team or the Product team directly via email at meraki-rbac-beta@cisco.com.
3. Our team will then initiate the rollback process to remove beta access from your organization. We aim for a 1 business day Service Level Agreement (SLA) for rollbacks to minimize disruption.
4. You will be notified once the rollback is complete.

Note: If you do not submit an exit request and wish to continue using Custom Roles after the beta concludes, you may be able to do so, subject to terms communicated at the program's conclusion.

Thank you for your participation in the Meraki RBAC Custom Roles beta program. Your feedback is invaluable as we work to enhance Meraki's access control capabilities.