@Override
  public void start(CoprocessorEnvironment env) throws IOException {
    this.conf = env.getConfiguration();

    authorizationEnabled = AccessChecker.isAuthorizationSupported(conf);
    if (!authorizationEnabled) {
      LOG.warn("The VisibilityController has been loaded with authorization checks disabled.");
    }

    if (HFile.getFormatVersion(conf) < HFile.MIN_FORMAT_VERSION_WITH_TAGS) {
      throw new RuntimeException("A minimum HFile version of " + HFile.MIN_FORMAT_VERSION_WITH_TAGS
        + " is required to persist visibility labels. Consider setting " + HFile.FORMAT_VERSION_KEY
        + " accordingly.");
    }

    // Do not create for master CPs
    if (!(env instanceof MasterCoprocessorEnvironment)) {
      visibilityLabelService =
        VisibilityLabelServiceManager.getInstance().getVisibilityLabelService(this.conf);
    }
  }
if we are active, usually false, only true if "hbase.security.authorization" has been set to
true in site configuration
hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/security/visibility/VisibilityController.java