Securing a File-Based Data Store

The persistent data store can contain, among other information, message files that are being temporarily stored. Since these messages may contain proprietary information, it is important to secure the data store against unauthorized access. This section describes how to secure data in a file-based data store.

A broker using file-based persistence writes persistent data to a flat-file data store whose location is platform-dependent (see Appendix A, Platform-Specific Locations of Message Queue Data):

   …/instances/instanceName/fs370

where instanceName is a name identifying the broker instance. This directory is created when the broker instance is started for the first time. The procedure for securing this directory depends on the operating system platform on which the broker is running:

• On Solaris and Linux, the directory’s permissions are determined by the file mode creation mask (umask) of the user who started the broker instance. Hence, permission to start a broker instance and to read its persistent files can be restricted by setting the mask appropriately. Alternatively, an administrator (superuser) can secure persistent data by setting the permissions on the instances directory to 700.

• On Windows, the directory’s permissions can be set using the mechanisms provided by the Windows operating system. This generally involves opening a Properties dialog for the directory.