> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex-xpanse/onboard-and-configure-cortex-xpanse/step-2-set-up-users-and-roles.md).

# Step 2: Set up users and roles

After activating your Cortex Xpanse tenant, you can begin to assign users to roles. Cortex Xpanse uses role-based access control (RBAC) to manage roles with specific permissions for controlling user access. RBAC helps manage access to Cortex Xpanse components, so that users, based on their roles, are granted minimal access required to accomplish their tasks.

You can set up and manage user roles in the following locations:

* **Cortex Gateway:** Set up and manage roles and permissions for multiple tenants linked to the same Customer Support Portal account. Roles and permissions are applied across all tenants and all Cortex products. You can exclude different tenants or different Cortex products. For more information, see [Cortex Gateway Administrator Guide](/cortex-agentix-docs/cortex-gateway-admin-guide.md).
* **Cortex Xpanse tenant:** Set up and manage users, roles, groups, and user scope for a specific Cortex Xpanse tenant only. For details, see [Users and roles](/cortex-xpanse/users-and-roles.md)

You can assign roles directly to users or create user groups and assign roles to those groups. We recommend creating user groups (with a user role), and assigning users to those user groups rather than creating direct roles for each user. For a list of predefined roles and detailed steps to assign users to roles and create user groups, see [Users and roles](/cortex-xpanse/users-and-roles.md).


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