Elements of JAAS

Figure 1–1 shows the basic elements of JAAS: a JAAS client, a JAAS-compliant authentication service, and a JAAS configuration file.

• The JAAS client is an application that wants to perform authentication using a JAAS-compliant authentication service. It communicates with this service using a LoginModule and it is responsible for providing a callback handler that the LoginModule can call to obtain the user name, password, and other relevant information.

• The JAAS-compliant Authentication Service consists of one or more LoginModule and of logic that performs the needed authentication. The LoginModule may include the authentication logic, or it may use a private protocol or API to communicate with a module that provides that logic.

• The JAAS configuration file is a text file that the JAAS client uses to locate the LoginModule(s) needed to communicate with the JAAS-compliant service.

Figure 1–1 JAAS Elements

The next section explains how the Message Queue service uses these elements to provide JAAS-compliant authentication.