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Sun Java System Access Manager 7.1 Technical Overview

Web Services

Web services follow a standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using XML, SOAP, and other open standards over an Internet protocol backbone. Web services enable applications from various sources to communicate with each other because they are not tied to any one operating system or programming language. Businesses use web services to communicate with each other and their respective clients without having to know detailed aspects of each other's IT systems. Access Manager provides web services that use XML and SOAP over HTTP. These web services are designed to be centrally provided in an enterprise's network for convenient access by client applications. The following table summarizes the web services provided in Access Manager.

Table 1–3 Access Manager Web Services

Web Service Name 

Description 

Authentication

Verifies that a user really is the person he claims to be. 

Policy (Authorization)

Evaluates rules (policies) associated with a user’s identity, and determines whether an authenticated user has permission to access a protected resource. 

SAML

Enables single sign-on sessions among different business domains. Allows business partners to securely exchange authentication and authorization information over the Internet. 

Federation

Enables a user to log in at one service provider’s site and move to an affiliated service provider site without having to re-authenticate or re-establish identity. 

Session

Maintains information about the user’s interaction with various applications the user accesses. 

Access Manager uses both XML files and Java interfaces to manage web services and web service configuration data. An Access Manager XML file is based on the structure defined in a Document Type Definition (DTD) file which defines the structure, elements and qualifying attributes needed to form the valid XML document. The DTD files are located in AccessManager-base/SUNWam/dtd. The main sms.dtd file defines the structure for all Access Manager XML service files (located in /etc/opt/SUNWam/config/xml).

Caution – Caution –

Do not modify any of the Access Manager DTD files. The Access Manager APIs and their internal parsing functions are based on the default definitions. Alterations to the DTD files may hinder the operation of Access Manager.