Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.1 Administration Guide 2005Q1 |
Chapter 14
Configuring SecurityThis chapter describes some core application server security concepts, and describes how to configure security for the Sun Java System Application Server 8.1 2005Q1. This chapter contains the following topics:
About Application Server SecurityOverview of Security
Security is about protecting data: how to prevent unauthorized access or damage to it in storage or transit. The Application Server has a dynamic, extensible security architecture based on the J2EE standard. Built in security features include cryptography, authentication and authorization, and public key infrastructure. The Application Server is built on the Java security model, which uses a sandbox where applications can run safely, without potential risk to systems or users. The following topics are discussed:
Understanding Application and System Security
Broadly, there are two kinds of application security:
- In programmatic security, application code written by the developer handles security chores. As an administrator, you don’t have any control over this mechanism. Generally, programmatic security is discouraged since it hard-codes security configurations in the application instead of managing it through the J2EE containers.
- In declarative security, the container (the Application Server) handles security through an application’s deployment descriptors. You can control declarative security by editing deployment descriptors directly or with a tool such as
deploytool
. Because deployment descriptors can change after an application is developed, declarative security allows for more flexibility.In addition to application security, there is also system security, which affects all the applications on an Application Server system.
Programmatic security is controlled by the application developer, so this document does not discuss it; declarative security is somewhat less so, and this document touches on it occasionally. This document is intended primarily for system administrators, and so focuses on system security.
Tools for Managing Security
The Application Server provides the following tools for managing security:
- Admin Console, a browser-based tool used to configure security for the entire server, to manage users, groups, and realms, and to perform other system-wide security tasks. For a general introduction to Admin Console, see "Tools for Administration". For an overview of the security tasks you can perform with Admin Console, see "Managing Security With the Admin Console".
asadmin
, a command-line tool that performs many of the same tasks as the Admin Console. You may be able to do some things withasadmin
that you cannot do with Admin Console. You performasadmin
commands from either a command prompt or from a script, to automate repetitive tasks. For a general introduction toasadmin
, see "Tools for Administration".deploytool
, a graphical packaging and deployment tool for editing application deployment descriptors to control individual applications’ security. Becausedeploytool
is intended for application developers, this document does not describe its use in detail. For instructions on usingdeploytool
, see the tool’s online help and The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial at http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/docs/tutorial/doc/index.html.The Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) provides two tools for managing security:
For more information on using
keytool
,policytool
, and other Java security tools, see Java 2 SDK Tools and Utilities at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/tools.html#security.In the Enterprise Edition, two other tools that implement Network Security Services (NSS) are available for managing security. For more information on NSS, go to http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/. The tools for managing security include the following:
For more information on using
certutil
,pk12util
, and other NSS security tools, see NSS Security Tools at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools.Managing Security of Passwords
In this release of the Application Server, the file
domain.xml
, which contains the specifications for a particular domain, initially contains the password of the IMQ broker in clear text. The element in thedomain.xml
file that contains this password is theadmin-password
attribute of thejms-host
element. Because this password is not changeable at installation time, it is not a significant security impact.However, use the Admin Console to add users and resources and assign passwords to these users and resources. Some of these passwords are written to the
domain.xml
file in clear text, for example, passwords for accessing a database. Having these passwords in clear text in thedomain.xml
file can present a security hazard. You can encrypt any password indomain.xml
, including theadmin-password
attribute or a database password by following this procedure:
- From the directory where the
domain.xml
file resides (which is install_dir/domains/
domain_dir/config
by default), run the followingasadmin
command:
asadmin create-password-alias <
alias-name>
For example,
asadmin create-password-alias jms-password
A password prompt appears (
admin
in this case). Refer to the manpages for thecreate-password-alias
,list-password-aliases
,delete-password-alias
commands for more information.- Remove and replace the password in
domain.xml
. This is accomplished using theasadmin
set
command. An example of using theset
command for this purpose is as follows:asadmin set server.jms-service.jms-host.default_JMS_host.admin-password=${ALIAS=jms -password}
- Restart the Application Server for the relevant domain.
Protecting files with encoded passwords
Some files contain encoded passwords that need protecting using file system permissions. These files include the following:
Changing the Master Password
The master password (MP) is an overall shared password. It is never used for authentication and is never transmitted over the network. This password is the choke point for overall security; the user can choose to enter it manually when required, or obscure it in a file. It is the most sensitive piece of data in the system. The user can force prompting for the MP by removing this file. When the master password is changed, it is re-saved in the master-password keystore.
To change the master password, the following procedure must be followed:
- Stop the Application Server for the domain. Use the
asadmin
commandchange-master-password
that prompts for the old and new passwords, then re-encrypts all dependent items. For example,asadmin change-master-password>
Please enter the master password>
Please enter the new master password>
Please enter the the new master password again>- Restart the Application Server.
WARNING: At this point in time, server instances that are running must not be started and running server instances must not be restarted until the SMP on their corresponding node agent has been changed. If a server instance is restarted before changing its SMP, it will fail to come up.
Changing the Admin Password
Encrypting the admin password was discussed in "Managing Security of Passwords". Encrypting the admin password is strongly encouraged. If you want to change the admin password before encrypting it, use the
asadmin
set
command. An example of using theset
command for this purpose is as follows:asadmin set server.jms-service.jms-host.default_JMS_host.admin-password=new_pwd
It is also possible to change the admin password using Admin Console. To change the admin password using the Admin Console, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance you want to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Realms node.
- Select the
admin-realm
node.- Click the Manage Users button from the Edit Realm page.
- Select the user named
admin
.- Enter the new password and confirm the password.
- Click Save to save or click Close to close without saving.
Assigning Security Responsibilities
Security responsibilities are assigned to the following:
Application Developer
The application developer is responsible for the following:
An application developer can use tools such as
deploytool
to edit application deployment descriptors. These security tasks are discussed in more detail in the Security chapter of The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial, which can be viewed at the following URL:Application Deployer
The application deployer is responsible for:
An application deployer can use tools such as
deploytool
to edit application deployment descriptors. These security tasks are discussed in more detail in the Security chapter of The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial, which can be viewed at the following URL:System Administrator
The system administrator is responsible for:
- Configuring security realms.
- Managing user accounts and groups.
- Managing audit logs.
- Managing server certificates and configuring the server’s use of secure sockets layer (SSL).
- Handling other miscellaneous system-wide security features, such as security maps for connector connection pools, additional JACC Providers, and so on.
A system administrator uses the Admin Console to manage server security settings and
certutil
to manage certificates. This document is intended primarily for system administrators.About Authentication and Authorization
Authentication and authorization are central concepts of application server security. The following topics are discussed related to authentication and authorization:
Authenticating Entities
Authentication is the way an entity (a user, an application, or a component) determines that another entity is who it claims to be. An entity uses security credentials to authenticate itself. The credentials may be a user name and password, a digital certificate, or something else.
Typically, authentication means a user logging in to an application with a user name and password; but it might also refer to an EJB providing security credentials when it requests a resource from the server. Usually, servers or applications require clients to authenticate; additionally, clients can require servers to authenticate themselves, too. When authentication is bidirectional, it is called mutual authentication.
When an entity tries to access a protected resource, the Application Server uses the authentication mechanism configured for that resource to determine whether to grant access. For example, a user can enter a user name and password in a Web browser, and if the application verifies those credentials, the user is authenticated. The user is associated with this authenticated security identity for the remainder of the session.
The Application Server supports four types of authentication, as outlined in Table 14-1. An application specifies the type of authentication it uses within its deployment descriptors. For more information on using
deploytool
to configure the authentication method for an application, see The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial at the following URL:
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/docs/tutorial/doc/index.html
Verifying Single Sign-On
Single sign-on enables multiple applications in one virtual server instance to share user authentication state. With single sign-on, a user who logs in to one application becomes implicitly logged in to other applications that require the same authentication information.
Single sign-on is based on groups. All Web applications whose deployment descriptor defines the same group and use the same authentication method (basic, form, digest, certificate) share single sign-on.
Single sign-on is enabled by default for virtual servers defined for the Application Server. For information on disabling single sign-on, see "Configuring Single Sign-On (SSO)".
Authorizing Users
Once a user is authenticated, the level of authorization determines what operations can be performed. A user’s authorization is based on his role. For example, a human resources application may authorize managers to view personal employee information for all employees, but allow employees to view only their own personal information. For more on roles, see "Understanding Users, Groups, Roles, and Realms".
Specifying JACC Providers
JACC (Java Authorization Contract for Containers) is part of the J2EE 1.4 specification that defines an interface for pluggable authorization providers. This enables the administrator to set up third-party plug-in modules to perform authorization.
By default, the Application Server provides a simple, file-based authorization engine that complies with the JACC specification. It is also possible to specify additional third-party JACC providers.
JACC providers use the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) APIs. JAAS enables services to authenticate and enforce access controls upon users. It implements a Java technology version of the standard Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) framework.
Auditing Authentication and Authorization Decisions
The Application Server can provide an audit trail of all authentication and authorization decisions through audit modules. The Application Server provides a default audit module, as well as the ability to customize the audit modules. For information on developing custom audit modules, see the Application Server Developer's Guide. For a link to the Developer’s Guide, see "Further Information".
Configuring Message Security
Message Security enables a server to perform end-to-end authentication of web service invocations and responses at the message layer. The Application Server implements message security using message security providers on the SOAP layer. The message security providers provide information such as the type of authentication that is required for the request and response messages. The types of authentication that are supported include the following:
Two message security providers are included with this release. The message security providers can be configured for authentication for the SOAP layer. The providers that can be configured include
ClientProvider
andServerProvider
.Support for message layer security is integrated into the Application Server and its client containers in the form of (pluggable) authentication modules. By default, message layer security is disabled on the Application Server.
Message level security can be configured for the entire Application Server or for specific applications or methods. Configuring message security at the Application Server level is discussed in "Configuring Message Security". Configuring message security at the application level is discussed in the Developer’s Guide chapter titled Securing Applications.
Understanding Users, Groups, Roles, and Realms
The Application Server enforces its authentication and authorization policies upon the following entities:
- Users: An individual identity defined in the Application Server. In general, a user is a person, a software component such as an enterprise bean, or even a service. A user who has been authenticated is sometimes called a principal. Users are sometimes referred to as subjects.
- Groups: A set of users defined in the Application Server, classified by common traits.
- Roles: A named authorization level defined by an application. A role can be compared to a key that opens a lock. Many people might have a copy of the key. The lock doesn't care who seeks access, only that the right key is used.
- Realms: A repository containing user and group information and their associated security credentials. A realm is also called a security policy domain.
NOTE: Users and groups are designated for the entire Application Server, whereas each application defines its own roles. When the application is being packaged and deployed, the application specifies mappings between users/groups and roles, as illustrated in the following figure.
Role Mapping
Users
A user is an individual (or application program) identity that has been defined in the Application Server. A user can be associated with a group. The Application Server authentication service can govern users in multiple realms.
Groups
A J2EE group (or simply group) is a category of users classified by common traits, such as job title or customer profile. For example, users of an e-commerce application might belong to the
customer
group, but the big spenders would belong to thepreferred
group. Categorizing users into groups makes it easier to control the access of large numbers of users.Roles
A role defines which applications and what parts of each application users can access and what they can do. In other words, roles determine users’ authorization levels.
For example, in a personnel application all employees might have access to phone numbers and email addresses, but only managers would have access to salary information. The application might define at least two roles:
employee
andmanager
; only users in themanager
role are allowed to view salary information.A role is different from a user group in that a role defines a function in an application, while a group is a set of users who are related in some way. For example, in the personnel application there might be groups such as
full-time
,part-time
, andon-leave
, but users in all these groups would still be in theemployee
role.Roles are defined in application deployment descriptors. In contrast, groups are defined for an entire server and realm. The application developer or deployer maps roles to one or more groups for each application in its deployment descriptor.
Realms
A realm, also called a security policy domain or security domain, is a scope over which the server defines and enforces a common security policy. In practical terms, a realm is a repository where the server stores user and group information.
The Application Server comes pre-configured with three realms:
file
(the initial default realm),certificate
, andadmin-realm
. It is possible to also set upldap
,solaris
, or custom realms. Applications can specify the realm to use in their deployment descriptor. If they do not specify a realm, the Application Server uses its default realm.In the
file
realm, the server stores user credentials locally in a file namedkeyfile
. You can use the Admin Console to manage users in thefile
realm. For more information, see "Managing file Realm Users".In the
certificate
realm, the server stores user credentials in a certificate database. When using thecertificate
realm, the server uses certificates with the HTTPS protocol to authenticate Web clients. For more information about certificates, see "Introduction to Certificates and SSL".The
admin-realm
is also aFileRealm
and stores administrator user credentials locally in a file namedadmin-keyfile
. Use the Admin Console to manage users in this realm in the same way you manage users in thefile
realm. For more information, see "Managing file Realm Users".In the
ldap
realm the server gets user credentials from a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server such as the Sun Java System Directory Server. LDAP is a protocol for enabling anyone to locate organizations, individuals, and other resources such as files and devices in a network, whether on the public Internet or on a corporate intranet. Consult your LDAP server documentation for information on managing users and groups in theldap
realm.In the
solaris
realm the server gets user credentials from the Solaris operating system. This realm is supported on the Solaris 9 OS and later. Consult your Solaris documentation for information on managing users and groups in thesolaris
realm.A custom realm is any other repository of user credentials, such as a relational database or third-party component. For more information, see "Creating a Custom Realm" or he Developer’s Guide chapter titled Securing Applications.
Introduction to Certificates and SSL
The following topics are discussed in this section:
About Digital Certificates
Digital certificates (or simply certificates) are electronic files that uniquely identify people and resources on the Internet. Certificates also enable secure, confidential communication between two entities.
There are different kinds of certificates, such as personal certificates, used by individuals, and server certificates, used to establish secure sessions between the server and clients through secure sockets layer (SSL) technology. For more information on SSL, see "About Secure Sockets Layer".
Certificates are based on public key cryptography, which uses pairs of digital keys (very long numbers) to encrypt, or encode, information so it can be read only by its intended recipient. The recipient then decrypts (decodes) the information to read it.
A key pair contains a public key and a private key. The owner distributes the public key and makes it available to anyone. But the owner never distributes the private key; it is always kept secret. Because the keys are mathematically related, data encrypted with one key can be decrypted only with the other key in the pair.
A certificate is like a passport: it identifies the holder and provides other important information. Certificates are issued by a trusted third party called a Certification Authority (CA). The CA is analogous to passport office: it validates the certificate holder’s identity and signs the certificate so that it cannot be forged or tampered with. Once a CA has signed a certificate, the holder can present it as proof of identity and to establish encrypted, confidential communications.
Most importantly, a certificate binds the owner’s public key to the owner’s identity. Like a passport binds a photograph to personal information about its holder, a certificate binds a public key to information about its owner.
In addition to the public key, a certificate typically includes information such as:
Digital Certificates are governed by the technical specifications of the x.509 format. To verify the identity of a user in the
certificate
realm, the authentication service verifies an X.509 certificate, using the common name field of the X.509 certificate as the principal name.About Certificate Chains
Web browsers are pre-configured with a set of root CA certificates that the browser automatically trusts. Any certificates from elsewhere must come with a certificate chain to verify their validity. A certificate chain is series of certificates issued by successive CAs, eventually ending in a root CA certificate.
When a certificate is first generated, it is a self-signed certificate. A self-signed certificate is one for which the issuer (signer) is the same as the subject (the entity whose public key is being authenticated by the certificate). When the owner sends a certificate signing request (CSR) to a CA, then imports the response, the self-signed certificate is replaced by a chain of certificates. At the bottom of the chain is the certificate (reply) issued by the CA authenticating the subject's public key. The next certificate in the chain is one that authenticates the CA's public key. Usually, this is a self-signed certificate (that is, a certificate from the CA authenticating its own public key) and the last certificate in the chain.
In other cases, the CA can return a chain of certificates. In this case, the bottom certificate in the chain is the same (a certificate signed by the CA, authenticating the public key of the key entry), but the second certificate in the chain is a certificate signed by a different CA, authenticating the public key of the CA to which you sent the CSR. Then, the next certificate in the chain is a certificate authenticating the second CA's key, and so on, until a self-signed root certificate is reached. Each certificate in the chain (after the first) thus authenticates the public key of the signer of the previous certificate in the chain.
About Secure Sockets Layer
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the most popular standard for securing Internet communications and transactions. Web applications use HTTPS (HTTP over SSL), which uses digital certificates to ensure secure, confidential communications between server and clients. In an SSL connection, both the client and the server encrypt data before sending it, then decrypt it upon receipt.
When a Web browser (client) wants to connect to a secure site, an SSL handshake happens:
- The browser sends a message over the network requesting a secure session (typically, by requesting a URL that begins with
https
instead ofhttp
).- The server responds by sending its certificate (including its public key).
- The browser verifies that the server’s certificate is valid and is signed by a CA whose certificate is in the browser’s database (and who is trusted). It also verifies that the CA certificate has not expired.
- If the certificate is valid, the browser generates a one-time, unique session key and encrypts it with the server’s public key. The browser then sends the encrypted session key to the server so that they both have a copy.
- The server decrypts the message using its private key and recovers the session key.
After the handshake, the client has verified the identity of the Web site, and only the client and the Web server have a copy of the session key. From this point forward, the client and the server use the session key to encrypt all their communications with each other. Thus, their communications are ensured to be secure.
The newest version of the SSL standard is called TLS (Transport Layer Security). The Application Server supports the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0 and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 encryption protocols.
To use SSL, the Application Server must have a certificate for each external interface, or IP address, that accepts secure connections. The HTTPS service of most Web servers will not run unless a digital certificate has been installed. Use the procedure described in "Generating a Server Certificate" to set up a digital certificate that your Web server can use for SSL.
About Ciphers
A cipher is a cryptographic algorithm used for encryption or decryption. SSL and TLS protocols support a variety of ciphers used to authenticate the server and client to each other, transmit certificates, and establish session keys.
Some ciphers are stronger and more secure than others. Clients and servers can support different cipher suites. Choose ciphers from the SSL3 and TLS protocols. During a secure connection, the client and the server agree to use the strongest cipher they both have enabled for communication, so it is usually sufficient to enable all ciphers.
Using Name-based Virtual Hosts
Using name-based virtual hosts for a secure application can be problematic. This is a design limitation of the SSL protocol itself. The SSL handshake, where the client browser accepts the server certificate, must occur before the HTTP request is accessed. As a result, the request information containing the virtual host name cannot be determined prior to authentication, and it is therefore not possible to assign multiple certificates to a single IP address.
If all virtual hosts on a single IP address need to authenticate against the same certificate, the addition of multiple virtual hosts probably will not interfere with normal SSL operations on the server. Be aware, however, that most browsers will compare the server’s domain name against the domain name listed in the certificate, if any (applicable primarily to official, CA-signed certificates). If the domain names do not match, these browsers display a warning. In general, only address-based virtual hosts are commonly used with SSL in a production environment.
About Firewalls
A firewall controls the flow of data between two or more networks, and manages the links between the networks. A firewall can consist of both hardware and software elements. This section describes some common firewall architectures and their configuration. The information here pertains primarily to the Application Server. For details about a specific firewall technology, refer to the documentation from your firewall vendor.
In general, configure the firewalls so that clients can access the necessary TCP/IP ports. For example, if the HTTP listener is operating on port 8080, configure the firewall to allow HTTP requests on port 8080 only. Likewise, if HTTPS requests are setup for port 8181, you must configure the firewalls to allow HTTPS requests on port 8181.
If direct Remote Method Invocations over Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (RMI-IIOP) access from the Internet to EJB modules are required, open the RMI-IIOP listener port as well, but this is strongly discouraged because it creates security risks.
In double firewall architecture, you must configure the outer firewall to allow for HTTP and HTTPS transactions. You must configure the inner firewall to allow the HTTP server plug-in to communicate with the Application Server behind the firewall.
Managing Security With the Admin Console
The Admin Console provides the means to manage the following aspects of security:
Server Security Settings
On the Security Settings page, set properties for the entire server, including specifying the default realm, the anonymous role, and the default principal user name and password. For more information, see "Configuring Security Settings".
Realms and file Realm Users
The concept of realms was introduced in "Understanding Users, Groups, Roles, and Realms". Use the Admin Console to perform the following tasks:
See "Admin Console Tasks for Realms" for details on these tasks.
JACC Providers
JACC providers were introduced in "Specifying JACC Providers". Use the Admin Console to perform the following tasks:
Add a new JACC provider
See "Admin Console Tasks for JACC Providers" for details on these tasks.
Audit Modules
Audit modules were introduced in "Auditing Authentication and Authorization Decisions". Auditing is the method by which significant events, such as errors or security breaches, are recorded for subsequent examination. All authentication events are logged to the Application Server logs. A complete access log provides a sequential trail of Application Server access events.
Use the Admin Console to perform the following tasks:
See "Admin Console Tasks for Audit Modules" for details on these tasks.
Message Security
The concept of message security was introduced in "Configuring Message Security". Use the Admin Console to perform the following tasks:
See "Configuring Message Security" for details on these tasks.
HTTP and IIOP Listener Security
Each virtual server in the HTTP service provides network connections through one or more HTTP listeners. For general information about the HTTP service and HTTP listeners, see "What Is the HTTP Service?"
The Application Server supports CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) objects, which use the Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (IIOP) to communicate across the network. An IIOP listener accepts incoming connections from remote clients of EJBs and from other CORBA-based clients. For general information on IIOP listeners, see "IIOP Listeners".
With the Admin Console, perform the following tasks:
See "Admin Console Tasks for Listeners and JMX Connectors" for details on these tasks.
Admin Service Security
The Admin Service determines whether the server instance is a regular instance, a domain administration server (DAS), or a combination. Use the Admin Service to configure a JSR-160 compliant remote JMX connector, which handles communication between the domain administration server and the node agents, which manage server instances on a host machine, for remote server instances.
With the Admin Console, perform the following tasks:
See "Configuring Security for the Admin Service’s JMX Connector" for details on these tasks.
Security Maps
The concept of security maps for connector connection pools is introduced in "About Security Maps". Use the Admin Console to perform the following tasks:
See "Admin Console Tasks for Connector Connection Pools" for details on these tasks.
Admin Console Tasks for SecurityConfiguring Security Settings
The Security page in the Admin Console enables you to set a variety of system-wide security settings.
To edit these settings, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Select the Security node.
The Security page displays.
- Modify the values as necessary. The general security options are discussed in Table 14-2.
Table 14-2 General Security Settings
Setting
Description
Audit Logging
Select to enable audit logging. If enabled, the server will load and run all the audit modules specified in the Audit Modules setting. If disabled, the server does not access audit modules. Disabled by default.
Default Realm
The active (default) realm the server uses for authentication. Applications use this realm unless they specify a different realm in their deployment descriptor. All configured realms appear in the list. The initial default realm is the
file
realm.Anonymous Role
The name for the default or anonymous role. The anonymous role is assigned to all users. Applications can use this role in their deployment descriptors to grant authorization to anyone.
Default Principal
Specifies the default user name. The server uses this when no principal is provided. If you enter a value in this field, enter a corresponding value in the Default Principal Password field.
This attribute is not required for normal server operation.
Default Principal Password
Password of the default principal specified in the Default Principal field.
This attribute is not required for normal server operation.
JACC
Class name of a configured JACC provider. See "Creating a JACC Provider" for Information on adding JACC providers.
Audit Modules
List of audit module provider classes, delimited by commas. A module listed here must already be configured. If Audit Logging is enabled, this setting must list audit modules. By default, the server uses an audit module named
default
. For information on creating new audit modules, see "Creating an Audit Module".- Enter additional properties to pass to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in the Additional Properties section.
Valid properties are dependent upon the type of realm selected ini the Default Realm field. Valid properties are discussed in the following sections:
- Select Save to save the changes or Load Defaults to restore the default values
Controlling Access to Administration Tools
Only users in the
asadmin
group are able to access Admin Console and theasadmin
command line utility.To give a user access to these administration tools, add them to the
asadmin
group in theadmin-realm
. To do this, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Realms node.
- Select the
admin-realm
node.- Click the Manage Users button from the Edit Realm page.
Initially after installation, the administrator user name and password entered during installation are listed in a file named
admin-keyfile
. By default, this user belongs to the groupasadmin
, which gives rights to modify the Application Server. Assign users to this group only if you want to grant them administrator privileges for the Application Server.If you add users to the
admin-realm
realm, but assign the user to a group other thanasadmin
, the user information will still be written to the file namedadmin-keyfile
, but the user will have no access to administrative tools or to applications in thefile
realm.- Click New to add a new user to the
admin-realm
realm.- Enter the correct information into the User ID, Password, and Group List fields. To authorize a user to make modifications to the Application Server, include the
asadmin
group in the Group List.- Click OK to add this user to the
admin-realm
realm or click Cancel to quit without saving.
Admin Console Tasks for Realms
- Managing Users with Network Security Services (NSS) (Enterprise Edition)
Creating a Realm
The Application Server comes preconfigured with three realms:
file
,certificate
, andadmin-realm
. It is also possible to createldap
,solaris
, and custom realms. Generally, you will have one realm of each type on a server, but on the Application Server there are two file realms:file
andadmin-realm
. These are two realms of the same type used for two different purposes. It is also possible to have a different certificate database for each virtual server on your system.To create a security realm, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance you want to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Select the Realms node.
- On the Realms page, click New.
The Create Realm page is displayed.
- Enter a name for the realm in the Name field.
- Specify the class name for the realm being created. Valid choices are shown in Table 14-3:
- Add the required properties and any desired optional properties for the realm.
To add a property:
- Click Add Property.
- In the Name field, enter the name of the property.
- For a description of
file
realm properties, see "Editing the file and admin-realm Realms".- For a description of
certificate
realm properties, see "Editing the certificate Realm".- For a description of
ldap
realm properties, see "Creating an ldap Realm".- For a description of
solaris
realm properties, see "Creating the solaris Realm".- For a description of custom realm properties, see "Creating a Custom Realm".
- In the Value field, enter the value of the property.
- Click OK.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:create-auth-realm
Creating an ldap Realm
The
ldap
realm performs authentication using information from an LDAP server. User information includes user name, password, and the groups to which the user belongs. To use an LDAP realm, the users and groups must already be defined in your LDAP directory.To create an LDAP realm, follow the steps in "Creating a Realm" for adding a new realm, then add the properties as shown in Table 14-4.
Optional properties for the
ldap
realm are shown in Table 14-5:
Example
For example, suppose an LDAP user, Joe Java, is defined in the LDAP directory as follows:
uid=jjava,ou=People,dc=acme,dc=com
uid=jjava
givenName=joe
objectClass=top
objectClass=person
objectClass=organizationalPerson
objectClass=inetorgperson
sn=java
cn=Joe JavaUsing the example code, when creating or editing the
ldap
realm, you can enter the values as shown in Table 14-6.
Creating the solaris Realm
The
solaris
realm gets user and group information from the underlying Solaris user database, as determined by the system’s configuration. Thesolaris
realm invokes the underlying PAM infrastructure for authenticating. If the configured PAM modules require root privileges, the domain must run as root to use this realm. For details, see the Solaris documentation for security services.The
solaris
realm has one required property,jaas-context
that specifies the type of login module to use. The property value must besolarisRealm
.Note: The
solaris
realm is supported only for Solaris 9 or later.Creating a Custom Realm
In addition to the four built-in realms, you can also create custom realms that store user data in some other way, such as in a relational database. Development of a custom realm is outside the scope of this document. For more information, see the Application Server Developer's Guide chapter titled Securing Applications.
As an administrator, the main thing you need to know is that a custom realm is implemented by a class (called the
LoginModule
) derived from the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) package.To configure the Application Server to use a custom realm:
- Follow the procedure outline in "Creating a Realm", entering the name of the custom realm and the name of the
LoginModule
class. Any unique name can be used for the custom realm, for examplemyCustomRealm
.- Add the properties shown in Table 14-7:
- Click OK.
- Edit the domain's login configuration file, install_dir
/domains/
domain_name/config/login.conf
, and add the fully-qualified class name of the JAASLoginModule
at the end of the file, as follows:realmName {
fully-qualified-LoginModule-classname required;
};For example,
myCustomRealm {
com.foo.bar.security.customrealm.simpleCustomLoginModule required;
};- Copy the
LoginModule
class and all dependent classes into the directory install_dir/domains/
domain_name/lib/classes
.- Restart the Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
- Make sure that the realm is properly loaded.
Check install_dir
/domains/
domain_name/logs/server.log
to make sure the server loaded the realm. The server should invoke the realm’sinit()
method.Editing a Realm
To edit a realm, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Realms node.
- Select the name of an existing realm.
The Edit Realm page displays.
- Edit existing properties and their values as desired.
For information on
file
realm properties, see "Editing the file and admin-realm Realms". To manage users in thefile
realm, click the Manage Users button; see "Managing file Realm Users" for more information.For information on
certificate
realm properties, see "Editing the certificate Realm".- To add additional properties, click the Add Properties button. The page displays a new row. Enter a valid property name and property value. See the following tables for a description of the optional properties that can be configured:
- Click Save to save the changes.
Editing the file and admin-realm Realms
The server maintains all user, group, and password information in a file named
keyfile
for thefile
realm andadmin-keyfile
for theadmin-realm
. For both, thefile
property specifies the location of the keyfile. Table 14-8 shows required properties for afile
realm.
The
keyfile
is initially empty, so users must be added before thefile
realm is used. For instructions, see "Managing file Realm Users".The
admin-keyfile
initially contains the admin user name, the admin password in an encrypted format, and the group to which this user belongs, which isasadmin
by default. For more information on adding users to theadmin-realm
, read "Controlling Access to Administration Tools".Note: Users in the group
asadmin
in theadmin-realm
are authorized to use the Admin Console andasadmin
tools. Add only users to this group that have server administrative privileges.Managing Users with Network Security Services (NSS)
In the Enterprise Edition only, you can manage users using the Admin Console as discussed in "Managing file Realm Users" or you can manage users using NSS tools. Network Security Services (NSS) is a set of libraries designed to support cross-platform development of security-enabled client and server applications. Applications built with NSS can support SSL v2 and v3, TLS, PKCS #5, PKCS #7, PKCS #11, PKCS #12, S/MIME, X.509 v3 certificates, and other security standards. For detailed information, link to the following URLs:
- Network Security Services (NSS) at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/
- NSS Security Tools at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/
- Overview of NSS at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/overview.html
Managing file Realm Users
Manage
file
realm users with the Admin Console. Users and groups in thefile
realm are listed in the keyfile, whose location is specified by thefile
property.Note: It is also possible to use these steps to add users to any file realm, including the
admin-realm
. Simply substitute the name of the target realm in place of thefile
realm referenced in this section.A user in the
file
realm can belong to a J2EE group, a category of users classified by common traits. For example, customers of an e-commerce application might belong to theCUSTOMER
group, but the big spenders would belong to thePREFERRED
group. Categorizing users into groups makes it easier to control the access of large numbers of users.Initially after installation of the Application Server, the only user is the administrator entered during installation. By default, this user belongs to the group
asadmin
, in the realmadmin-realm
, which gives rights to modify the Application Server. Any users assigned to this group will have administrator privileges, that is, they will have access to theasadmin
tool and the Admin Console.To manage
file
realm users, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Realms node.
- Select the
file
node.- Click the Manage Users button from the Edit Realm page.
The File Users page displays. In this page, perform the following tasks:
Adding a User
In the File Users page, add a new user by following these steps:
Equivalent
asadmin
command:create-file-user
Editing a User
In the File Users page, change a user’s information by following these steps:
- In the User ID column, click the name of the user to be modified.
The Edit File Realm User page displays.
- Change the user’s password by entering a new password in the Password and Confirm Password fields.
- Change the groups to which the user belongs by adding or deleting groups in the Group List field. Separate group names with commas. Groups need not be previously defined.
- Click Save to save this user to the list of users in the
file
realm. Click Close to quit without saving.Deleting a User
In the File Users page, delete a user by following these steps:
Equivalent
asadmin
command:delete-file-user
Editing the certificate Realm
The
certificate
realm supports SSL authentication. This realm sets up the user identity in the Application Server’s security context, and populates it with user data obtained from cryptographically verified client certificates in the trust-store and keystore files (see "About Certificate Files"). Add users to these files usingcertutil
. With thecertificate
realm, J2EE containers handle authorization processing based on each user’s Distinguished Name (DN) from his or her certificate. The DN is the name of the entity whose public key the certificate identifies. This name uses the X.500 standard, so it is intended to be unique across the Internet. For more information on keystores and trust-stores, refer to the certutil documentation at "About the CertUtil Utility".Table 14-9 lists the optional properties for the
certificate
realm.
Configuring Mutual Authentication
In mutual authentication, both server and client-side authentication are enabled. To test mutual authentication, a client with a valid certificate must exist. For information on mutual authentication, see the Security chapter of The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial at:
Enabling Mutual Authentication for all Applications
The Application Server uses the
certificate
realm for HTTPS authentication.To specify mutual authentication for all the applications that use this realm, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Realms node.
- Select the
certificate
realm.- Click the Add Property button.
- Click Save.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
After restarting the server, client authentication is required for all applications that use the
certificate
realm.Enabling Mutual SSL Authentication in an Application
To enable mutual authentication for a specific application, use
deploytool
to set the method of authentication toClient-Certificate
. For more information about usingdeploytool
, refer to the Security chapter of The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial at:Deleting a Realm
To delete a realm, follow these steps.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:delete-auth-realm
Setting the Default Realm
The default realm is the realm that the Application Server uses for authentication and authorization if an application’s deployment descriptor does not specify a realm.
To set the default realm, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Select the Security node.
The Security page displays.
- In the Default Realm field, pick the desired realm from the drop-down list.
- Click Save to save the changes or Load Defaults to delete changes and restore the Application Server default values.
- Restart the server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Admin Console Tasks for JACC ProvidersCreating a JACC Provider
JACC (Java Authorization Contract for Containers) is part of the J2EE 1.4 specification that defines an interface for pluggable authorization providers. This enables the administrator to set up third-party plug in modules to perform authorization. By default, the Application Server provides a simple, JACC-compliant file-based authorization engine.
To create a JACC provider, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Select the JACC Providers node.
- On the JACC Providers page, click New.
- On the Create JACC Provider page, enter the following:
- Name – The name to use to identify this provider.
- Policy Configuration – The name of the class that implements the policy configuration factory. The default provider uses
com.sun.enterprise.security.provider.PolicyConfigurationFactoryImpl
.- Policy Provider – The name of the class that implements the policy factory. The default provider uses
com.sun.enterprise.security.provider.PolicyWrapper
.- Add properties to the provider by clicking the Add Property button. Valid properties include:
- Click OK to save this configuration, or click Cancel to quit without saving.
Editing a JACC Provider
To edit a JACC provider, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the JACC Providers node.
- Select the node of the JACC provider to be edited.
- On the Edit JACC Provider page, modify the provider information as desired:
- To add properties, click the Add button. Enter the name and value for the property. Valid entries include:
- To delete an existing property, click in the checkbox to the left of the property, then click Delete Properties.
- Click Save to save or click the browser’s back button to cancel without saving.
Deleting a JACC Provider
To delete a JACC provider, follow these steps.
Setting the Active JACC Provider
To specify the JACC provider, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Select the Security node.
The Security page displays.
- In the JACC field, enter the name of the JACC provider to be used by the server.
If you don’t know which JACC providers are available, expand the JACC Provider component in the tree to view all configured JACC providers.
- Select Save to save the changes or Load Defaults to return to the default values.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Admin Console Tasks for Audit ModulesCreating an Audit Module
The Application Server provides a simple default audit module; for more information, see "Using the Default Audit Module".
To create a new audit module, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Select the Audit Modules node.
- On the Audit Modules page, click New.
- On the Create Audit Module page, enter the following information:
- To add JVM properties to this module, click Add Property. Specify a name and value for each property. Valid properties include:
- Click OK to save entries, or click Cancel to quit without saving.
Editing an Audit Module
Audit modules are not turned on by default. For more information on how to activate audit modules, read "Enabling and Disabling Audit Logging".
To edit an audit module, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Audit Modules node.
- Click the node of the audit module to be edited.
- On the Edit Audit Module page, modify the class name, if needed.
- Enter any additional properties for the module by selecting the Add button and entering the name and value of the property. Valid properties include:
- Modify any existing properties by selecting the name or value to be modified, and entering the changes directly into the text field.
- Delete a property by selecting the checkbox to the left of the property and clicking Delete Properties.
- Click Save to save or click the Back button on the browser to cancel without saving.
Deleting an Audit Module
To delete an audit module, follow these steps.
Enabling and Disabling Audit Logging
To specify the audit module that the server uses, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Select the Security node.
The Security page displays.
- To enable logging, select the Audit Logging check box. To disable it, deselect it. Selecting this option causes the loading of the audit modules and ensures they are called by the Application Server’s audit library at audit points.
- If you are enabling audit logging, specify a default audit module as described in "Setting the Active Audit Module".
- Select Save to save the changes.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Setting the Active Audit Module
To specify the audit module that the server uses, enable audit logging as described in "Enabling and Disabling Audit Logging" and then follow these steps:
- In the Audit Modules field, enter the name of the audit module to be used by the server. (The preconfigured audit module is called
default
.) Make sure that this audit module has auditOn set to true as described in "Enabling and Disabling the Default Audit Module".- Select Save to save the changes, Load Defaults to cancel.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Using the Default Audit Module
The
default
audit module logs authentication and authorization requests to the server log file. For information on changing the location of the log file, see "Configuring General Logging Settings".Authentication log entries include the following information:
Regardless of whether audit logging is enabled, the Application Server logs all denied authentication events.
Authorization log entries include the following information:
Enabling and Disabling the Default Audit Module
In addition to enabling logging, set any properties required by the specific audit modules required. In the case of the default audit module, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Security node.
- Expand the Audit Modules node.
- Click the
default
node.- Set the value of the
auditOn
property totrue
.- Select Save to save the changes.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Admin Console Tasks for Listeners and JMX ConnectorsConfiguring Security for HTTP Listeners
Each virtual server in the HTTP service provides network connections through one or more HTTP listeners. With the Admin Console, create new HTTP listeners and edit the security settings of existing HTTP listeners.
To edit security settings for an existing HTTP listener, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the HTTP Service node.
- Select the HTTP Listeners node.
- Select an HTTP listener to edit an existing listener or click New and follow the procedure in "Creating an HTTP Listener" to create a new listener.
- Follow the procedure in "Setting Listener Security Properties" to set security properties.
- Click Save to save the changes, or click the browser’s Back button to cancel without saving.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:create-http-listener
Configuring Security for IIOP Listeners
The Application Server supports CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) objects, which use the Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (IIOP) to communicate across the network. An IIOP listener accepts incoming connections from remote clients of EJBs and from other CORBA-based clients. With the Admin Console, create new IIOP listeners and edit the settings of existing IIOP listeners.
To edit security properties for an IIOP listener, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the ORB node.
- Select the IIOP Listeners node.
- Select an IIOP listener to edit that listener or click New and follow the procedure in "Creating an IIOP Listener" to create a new listener.
- Follow the procedure in "Setting Listener Security Properties" to set security properties.
- Click Save to save the changes, or click Load Defaults to restore the properties to their default values.
If a new listener was created, it will now be listed in the Current Listeners table on the IIOP Listeners page.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:create-iiop-listener
Configuring Security for the Admin Service’s JMX Connector
To edit security properties for a JMX Connector in the Admin Service, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the Admin Service node.
- Select the admin service to be modified.
- Follow the procedure in "Setting Listener Security Properties" to set security properties.
- Click Save to save the changes, or click Load Defaults to restore the properties to their default values.
Setting Listener Security Properties
Follow this common procedure for setting HTTP listener, IIOP listener, and JMX Connector security properties:
- In the Edit HTTP Listener, Edit IIOP Listener, or Edit JMX Connector page, go to the section labeled SSL.
- Check the Enabled box in the Security field to enable security for this listener. When this option is selected, you must select SSL3 or TLS to specify which type of security is enabled, and you must enter a certificate nickname.
- Check the Enabled box in the Client Authentication field if clients are to authenticate themselves to the Application Server when using this listener.
- Enter the keystore alias in the Certificate Nickname field if the Enabled box is checked. The keystore alias is a single value that identifies an existing server keypair and certificate. The certificate nickname for the default keystore is
s1as
.To find the Certificate Nickname, use the
certutil
utility, as described in "About the CertUtil Utility".- Select SSL3 and/or TLS if the Enabled box is checked. By default, both SSL3 and TLS are enabled.
- Enable individual cipher suites, if needed. By default, all supported cipher suites are enabled. Ciphers are discusses in "About Ciphers".
- Select Save to save the changes or Load Defaults to cancel.
Admin Console Security Tasks for Virtual ServersConfiguring Single Sign-On (SSO)
Single sign-on enables multiple applications to share user sign-on information, rather than requiring each application to have separate user sign-on. Applications using single sign-on authenticate the user one time, and the authentication information is propagated to all other involved applications.
Single sign-on applies to Web applications configured for the same realm and virtual server.
Note: Single sign-on uses an HTTP cookie to transmit a token that associates each request with the saved user identity, so it can be used only when the browser client supports cookies.
Single sign-on operates according to the following rules:
- When a user accesses a protected resource in a Web application, the server requires the user to authenticate himself or herself, using the method defined for that Web application.
- Once authenticated, the Application Server uses the roles associated with the user for authorization decisions across all Web applications on the virtual server, without challenging the user to authenticate to each application individually.
- When the user logs out of one Web application (explicitly, or because of session expiration), the user’s sessions in all Web applications become invalid. Thereafter, the user is required to log in to access a protected resource in any application.
Single sign-on is enabled by default for the Application Server. To disable it or configure other properties, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree component, expand the Configurations node.
- Expand the instance to configure:
- Expand the HTTP Service node.
- Expand the Virtual Servers node, and select the virtual server to be configured for single sign-on support.
- Click Add Property.
A blank property entry is added to the bottom of the list.
- Enter
sso-enable
in the Name field.- Enter
false
in the Value field to disable, entertrue
to enable SSO. SSO is enabled by default.- Add or change any other single sign-on properties by clicking Add Property and configuring any applicable SSO properties. Valid SSO properties are discussed in Table 14-10.
- Click Save.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
Admin Console Tasks for Connector Connection PoolsAbout Connector Connection Pools
A connector module (also called a resource adapter) enables J2EE applications to interact with enterprise information systems (EIS). A connector resource provides an application with a connection to an EIS. A connector connection pool is a group of reusable connections for a particular EIS.
Security maps enables the creation of a mapping between J2EE users and groups and EIS users and groups. Use the Admin Console to create, update, list, and delete security maps for connector connection pools.
Note: In this context, users are referred to as principals. The enterprise information system (EIS) is any system that holds the information. It can be a mainframe, a messaging system, a database system, or an application.
About Security Maps
Use security maps to map the caller identity of the application (principal or user group) to a suitable EIS principal in container-managed transaction-based scenarios. When an application principal initiates a request to an EIS, the application server first checks for an exact principal using the security map defined for the connector connection pool to determine the mapped backend EIS principal. If there is no exact match, then the application server uses the wild card character specification, if any, to determine the mapped backend EIS principal. Security maps are used when an application user needs to execute EIS operations that require to be executed as a specific identity in the EIS.
Creating a Security Map
A security map for a connector connection pool maps application users and groups (principals) to EIS principals. Use a security map when an application user needs to execute EIS operations that require a specific identity in the EIS.
To create a security map for a given connector connection pool, follow these steps.
- Expand the Resources node.
- Expand the Connectors node.
- Select the Connector Connection Pools node.
- Select a Connector Connection Pool by selecting its name from the list of current pools or create a new connector connection pool by selecting New from the list of current pools and following the instructions in "Creating a Connector Connection Pool".
- Select the Security Maps page.
- Click New to create a new Security Map.
- On the Create Security Map page, enter the following properties.
- Name – Enter a name to be used to reference this particular security map.
- User Groups – The caller identity of the application to be mapped to a suitable EIS principal. Enter a comma-separated list of application-specific user groups, or enter the wild card asterisk (*) to indicate all users or all user groups. Specify either the Principals or User Groups options, but not both.
- Principals – The caller identity of the application to be mapped to a suitable EIS principal. Enter a comma-separated list of application-specific principals, or enter the wild card asterisk (*) to indicate all principals. Specify either the Principals or User Groups options, but not both.
- In the Backend Principal section, enter the following properties.
- Click OK to create the security map or Cancel to quit without saving.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:create-connector-security-map
Editing a Security Map
To modify a security map for a given connector connection pool, follow these steps.
- Expand the Resources node.
- Expand the Connectors node.
- Select the Connector Connection Pools node.
- Select a Connector Connection Pool by selecting its name from the list of current pools.
- Select the Security Maps page.
- On the Security Maps page, select a security map from the list of current security maps.
- On the Edit Security Map page, modify the following properties where needed.
- User Groups – The caller identity of the application to be mapped to a suitable EIS principal. Enter a comma-separated list of application-specific user groups, or enter the wild card asterisk (*) to indicate all users or all user groups. Specify either the Principals or User Groups options, but not both.
- Principals – The caller identity of the application to be mapped to a suitable EIS principal. Enter a comma-separated list of application-specific principals, or enter the wild card asterisk (*) to indicate all principals. Specify either the Principals or User Groups options, but not both.
- In the Backend Principal section, enter the following properties.
- Click Save to save the changes to the security map.
Helpful
asadmin
command:list-connector-security-maps, update-connector-security-maps
Deleting a Security Map
To delete a security map for a given connector connection pool, follow these steps.
- Expand the Resources node.
- Expand the Connectors node.
- Select the Connector Connection Pools node.
- Select a Connector Connection Pool by selecting its name from the list of current pools.
- Select the Security Maps page.
- On the Security Maps page, click the checkbox to the left of the name of the security map to be deleted.
- Click Delete.
Equivalent
asadmin
command:delete-connector-security-map
Working with Certificates and SSLAbout Certificate Files
Installation of the Application Server generates a digital certificate in NSS format suitable for internal testing. By default, the Application Server stores its certificate information in two files in the install_dir
/domains/
domain_name/config
directory:
- Keystore file - By default, named
key3.db
, contains the Application Server’s digital certificate, including its private key. The keystore file is protected with a password. Change the password using theasadmin
change-master-password
command. For more information aboutcertutil, read
"About the CertUtil Utility".
- Trust-store file - By default, named
cert8.db
, contains the Application Server’s trusted certificates, including public keys for other entities. For a trusted certificate, the server has confirmed that the public key in the certificate belongs to the certificate’s owner. Trusted certificates generally include those of certification authorities (CAs).In the Platform Edition, on the server side, the Application Server uses the JSSE format, which uses
keytool
to manage certificates and keystores. In the Enterprise Edition, on the server side, the Application Server uses NSS, which usescertutil
to manage the NSS database which stores private keys and certificates. In both editions, on the client side (appclient or stand-alone), use the JSSE format.By default, the Application Server is configured with a keystore and truststore that will work with the example applications and for development purposes. For production purposes, you may wish to change the certificate alias, add other certificates to the truststore, or change the name and/or location of the keystore and trust-store files.
Changing the Location of Certificate Files
The keystore and trust-store files provided for development are stored in the install_dir
/domains/
domain_name/config
directory. To change the name and/or location of the keystore and trust-store files, follow these steps.
- In the Admin Console tree, expand Configurations.
- Expand the server-config (Admin Config) node.
- Select the JVM Settings node.
- Click the JVM Options tab.
- On the JVM Options page, add or modify the following values in the Value field to reflect the new location of the certificate files:
-Dcom.sun.appserv.nss.db=${com.sun.aas.instanceRoot}/NSS_database_directory
where ks_name is the keystore file name and ts_name is the trust-store file name.
- Click Save.
- Restart the Application Server if Restart Required displays in the console.
About the Keytool Utility
Use
keytool t
o set up and work with JSSE digital certificates in the Platform Edition. The J2SE SDK ships withkeytool
, thus allowing the administrator to administer public/private key pairs and associated certificates. It also enables users to cache the public keys (in the form of certificates) of their communicating peers.To run
keytool
, the shell environment must be configured so that the J2SE/bin
directory is in the path, or the full path to the tool must be present on the command line. For more information onkeytool
, see thekeytool
documentation at:http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/solaris/keytool.html
About the CertUtil Utility
Use
certutil t
o set up and work with NSS digital certificates in the Enterprise Edition only. The Certificate Database Tool,certutil
, is a command-line utility that can create and modify the Netscape Communicatorcert8.db
andkey3.db
database files. It can also list, generate, modify, or delete certificates within thecert8.db
file and create or change the password, generate new public and private key pairs, display the contents of the key database, or delete key pairs within thekey3.db
file.The key and certificate management process generally begins with creating keys in the key database, then generating and managing certificates in the certificate database. The document listed below discusses certificate and key database management with NSS, including the syntax for the
certutil
utility:http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/certutil.html
The command-line utility used to import and export keys and certificates between the certificate/key databases and files in PKCS12 format is
pk12util
. More description of thepk12util
utility can be read at:http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/pk12util.html
For more information on using
certutil
,pk12util
, and other NSS security tools, see NSS Security Tools at http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/.The tools are located in the install_dir
/lib/
directory.Generating a Server Certificate
Use certutil to generate, import, and export certificates. Read "About the CertUtil Utility" for more information on how to do this.
Signing a Digital Certificate
After creating a digital certificate, the owner must sign it to prevent forgery. E-commerce sites, or those for which authentication of identity is important can purchase a certificate from a well-known Certificate Authority (CA). If authentication is not a concern, for example if private secure communications is all that is required, save the time and expense involved in obtaining a CA certificate and use a self-signed certificate.
Using a Certificate From a CA
To use a digital certificate signed by a CA:
- Follow the instructions on the CA’s Web site for generating certificate key pairs.
- Download the generated certificate key pair.
Save the certificate in the directory containing the server keystore and trust-store files, by default install_dir
/domains/
domain-dir/config
directory. See "Changing the Location of Certificate Files" for instructions on changing this location.- In your shell, change to the directory containing the certificate.
- Use
certutil
to import the certificate into the local keystore and, if necessary, the local trust-store.- Restart the Application Server.
For complete information about using
certutil
, see thecertutil
documentation at:http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/certutil.html
Deleting a Certificate
To delete an existing certificate, use the
certutil
utility.For more information on thecertutil
utility, see "About the CertUtil Utility".
Further Information
- The Java 2 Standard Edition discussion of security can be viewed from:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/security/index.html- The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial chapter titled Security can be viewed from:
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/docs/tutorial/doc/index.html- The Administration Guide chapter titled "Configuring Message Security".
- The Developer’s Guide chapter titled Securing ApplicationsSecuring Applications.