We want to protect the Natural Earth data set from unauthorized access, while leaving the remaining layers freely available to all users. In this section we are going to associate layers and roles. We will also use the new layer you created for editing.
Select Data, under the Security section from the left pane. The rules list shows the two shipped with the default GeoServer's configuration. Click on the Add a new rule link.
In the rule editing page, select NaturalEarth as the workspace. Leave * as a layer. Since we want to protect all layers in this workspace, the access mode should be Read. Select the NE_READER role and move it to the right list by clicking on the arrow. Click on the Save button to create the reading rule:
Repeat the previous step to create a writing rule. Select Write as the access mode and NE_EDITOR as the role.
Then create the administration rule. Select Admin as the access mode and NE_ADMIN as the role. After saving, you will see a rule...