Web Services Stack

The OpenSSO Enterprise Web Services Stack follows a standardized way of integrating web-based applications using XML, SOAP, and other open standards over an Internet Protocol (IP) backbone. They 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. OpenSSO Enterprise provides web services that primarily 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. OpenSSO Enterprise implements the follow web service specifications.

• Liberty Alliance Project Identity Web Services Framework (Liberty ID-WSF) 1.x

• Web Services-Interoperability (WS-I) Basic Security Profile

The following table lists the OpenSSO Enterprise web services.

Table 2–1 OpenSSO Enterprise Web Services Stack

Web Service Name	Description
Authentication Web Service	Provides authentication to a web service client (WSC), allowing the WSC to obtain security tokens for further interactions with other services at the same provider. Upon successful authentication, the final Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) response contains the resource offering for the Discovery Service.
Discovery Service	A web service that allows a requesting entity, such as a service provider, to dynamically determine a principal's registered attribute provider. Typically, a service provider queries the Discovery Service, which responds by providing a resource offering that describes the requested attribute provider. The implementation of the Discovery Service includes Java and web-based interfaces.
Liberty Personal Profile Service	A data service that supports storing and modifying a principal's identity attributes. Identity attributes might include information such as first name, last name, home address, and emergency contact information. The Liberty Personal Profile Service is queried or updated by a WSC acting on behalf of the principal.
Security Token Service	The centralized Security Token Service that issues, renews, cancels, and validates security tokens is also used in tandem with the Web Services Security framework.
SOAP Binding Service	A set of Java APIs implemented by the developer of a Liberty-enabled identity service. The APIs are used to send and receive identity-based messages using SOAP, an XML-based messaging protocol.

OpenSSO Enterprise uses both XML files and Java interfaces to manage web services and web services configuration data. A OpenSSO Enterprise XML file is based on the structure defined in the OpenSSO Enterprise Document Type Definition (DTD) files located in path-to-context-root/opensso/WEB-INF. The main sms.dtd file defines the structure for all OpenSSO Enterprise service files (located in path-to-context-root/opensso/WEB-INF/classes).

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Caution –

Do not modify any of the DTD files. The OpenSSO Enterprise API and their internal parsing functions are based on the default definitions and alterations to them may hinder the operation of the application.

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For more information, see Part IV, The Web Services Stack, Identity Services, and Web Services Security.