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Sun Java System Access Manager 7 2005Q4 Technical Overview

Web Services

Web services follow a standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using XML, SOAP, and other open standards over an Internet protocol backbone. Web services enable applications from various sources to communicate with each other because web services are not tied to any one operating system or programming language. Businesses use web services to communicate with each other and with clients without having to know detailed aspects of each other's IT systems.

Access Manager provides web services that use XML and SOAP over HTTP. Access Manager web services are designed to be centrally provided in your network for convenient access by your client applications. The following table summarizes the web services provided in Access Manager.

Table 1–1 Access Manager Web Services

Web Service Name 

Description 

Authentication

Verifies that a user really is the person he claims to be. 

Policy (Authorization)

Evaluates policies associated with a user’s identity, and determines whether an authenticated user has permission to access a protected resource. 

SAML

Enables single sign-on sessions among different business domains. Allows business partners to securely exchange authentication and authorization information over the Internet. 

Identity Federation

Enables a user to log in at one service provider’s site and move to an affiliated service provider site without having to re-authenticate or re-establish his identity. 

Session

Maintains information about the user’s interaction with various applications the user accesses. 

Access Manager uses both eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files and Java interfaces to and manage web services and web service configuration data. An Access Manager XML file is based on a structure defined in a corresponding DTD file. The DTD file defines the elements and qualifying attributes needed to form a valid XML document. Access Manager includes DTD files that define the structure for the different types of XML files it uses. The DTDs are located in AccessManager-base/SUNWam/dtd. The file sms.dtd defines the structure for all XML service files. All XML service files are located in /etc/opt/SUNWam/config/xml.

Caution – Caution –

Do not modify any of the Access Manager DTD files. The Access Manager APIs and their internal parsing functions are based on the default definitions. Alterations to the DTD files may hinder the operation of Access Manager.