SSL Support for JMX Clients

As mentioned above, a Message Queue message broker is configured by default for insecure communication using the preconfigured JMX connector jmxrmi. Applications wishing to use the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for secure communication must activate the alternate, secure JMX connector, ssljmxrmi, using the procedure shown below.

On the client side, the administrator connection factory (AdminConnectionFactory) must be configured with a URL specifying ssljmxrmi as the preferred connector:

   AdminConnectionFactory  acf = new AdminConnectionFactory();
   acf.setProperty(AdminConnectionConfiguration.imqAddress,
                   "mq://myhost:7676/ssljmxrmi");

If needed, use the system properties javax.net.ssl.trustStore and javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword to point the JMX client to the trust store.

Configuring JMX for SSL operation requires the following steps:

Configuring JMX for SSL Operation

1. Obtain and install a signed certificate.

   The procedure is the same as for the ssljms, ssladmin, or cluster connection service, as described under Using Signed Certificates.

2. Install the root certification authority certificate in the trust store if necessary.

3. Add the ssljmxrmi connector to the list of JMX connectors to be activated at broker startup:

      imq.jmx.connector.activelist=jmxrmi,ssljmxrmi
   

4. Start the broker.

   Use the Message Queue Broker utility (imqbrokerd, either passing it the key store password in a password file or typing it from the command line when prompted.

5. Disable validation of certificates if necessary.

   By default, the ssljmxrmi connector (or any other SSL-based connector) is configured to validate all broker SSL certificates presented to it. Validation will fail if the signer of the certificate is not in the client's trust store. To avoid this validation (for instance, when using self-signed certificates during software testing), set the broker property imq.jmx.connector.ssljmxrmi.brokerHostTrusted to true.