Sun GlassFish Web Space Server 10.0 Secure Web Access Add-On Guide

Chapter 1 Overview

The Secure Web Access Add-On for Sun GlassFish Web Space Server 10.0 software enables secure access of both Internet web sites and intranets.

Web Space Server offers browser-based secure remote access to portal content and services from any remote device. Web Space Server is a secure access solution that is accessible to users from any device with a Java^TM technology-enabled browser, eliminating the need for a client software. Integration with Web Space Server ensures that users receive secure encrypted access to the content and services that they have permission to access.

Secure Web Access (SWA) software is targeted towards enterprises deploying highly secure remote access portals. These portals emphasize security, protection, and privacy of intranet resources. The architecture of Secure Web Access is well suited to these types of portals, which enable users to securely access intranet resources through the Internet without exposing the resources to the Internet.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Who Should Read This Guide?

This guide is intended for registered Web Space Server developers and administrators who want to use the Secure Web Access Add-On for Sun GlassFish Web Space Server package to enhance the power of Web Space Server software with secure remote login features.

For complete documentation for the core Sun GlassFish Web Space Server 10.0 software product, see the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Document Collection. Some of the portal-related documentation is also available on OpenPortal web site.

Note –

This guide does not provide detailed usage instructions for using Web Space Server in general. For such information, refer to the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Document Collection. Also, this guide does not explain how to install and configure the Web Space Server. You need to have a working knowledge of how to install and configure the Web Space Server before installing the SWA Add-On.

What Are the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Add-Ons?

The Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Add-Ons, also called accelerators, are an evolving set of stand-alone feature packages that provide performance enhancements or easier integration with third-party software tools. The Secure Web Access Add-On for the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server is one of the several add-on packages that are available in the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server software. See the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server product page for the most current list of add-on packages.

Each Web Space Server add-on package has its own user's guide. See the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Add-On Document Collection for links to the documentation for the currently available add-on products. Check often, as the list of available add-ons is frequently updated.

Implementation

The high level design of Secure Web Access (SWA) provides access to intranet web contents from the Internet in a secure fashion. The two major components of SWA are Gateway and Rewriter. The Gateway component uses the Rewriter to rewrite the URLs in the contents that are obtained from the origin servers located in the intranet to point back to the Gateway.

SWA Gateway is implemented as a web application. You can off-load the low level networking and encryption to the web container or server to keep the Gateway code cleaner. The configuration of SSL and certificates will be more standard.

Gateway and Rewriter both use JCR as their data repository. The bundled JCR implementation is Jackrabbit, which is configured to use the local file system as the persistent data store for the ease of deployment out of the box. It can easily be reconfigured to use RDBMS or WebDAV in a production environment. Consult the Jackrabbit documentation for more details.

The SWA Gateway is a plain web application and the resources that it is trying to protect are all based on URLs of the intranet portal or non-portal web contents. Therefore, any access manager that is designed to protect web contents (such as OpenSSO, CA SiteMinder, IBM Tivoli Access Manager) can be used for authentication and access control. The SWA Gateway will be tested with the OpenSSO only out of the box.

Where Can You Get the Web Space Server Add-On Packages?

The Sun GlassFish Web Space Server add-on packages are available for free to registered Web Space Server users through the GlassFish Update Tool. The add-on packages that are available to you depend on how your Web Space Server software is registered:

Registered users with a paid Web Space Server contract have unlimited access to the full set of Web Space Server add-ons.
Registered users who do not have a paid Web Space Serverr service contract have access to a limited subset of the Web Space Server add-on collection.

Note –

Although the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server software is a free, open-source product, the Web Space Server add-ons are proprietary components developed and licensed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

To learn more about Web Space Server, add-on products for Web Space Server, and Web Space Server service contracts, refer to the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server product page.

Additional Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Documentation

Each Web Space Server Add-On package has its own user's guide. Please see the Sun GlassFish Web Space Server Add-On Document Collection for the links to documentation of the currently available add-on products. Please check the list often, as the list of available add-ons is frequently updated.