Strong Authentication Administration Tools

You can use a set of strong authentication administration tools for native network encryption and public key infrastructure credentials.

About the Configuration and Administration Tools

The configuration and administration tools manage the encryption, integrity (checksumming), and strong authentication methods for Oracle Net Services.

Strong authentication method configuration can include third-party software, as is the case for Kerberos or RADIUS, or it may entail configuring and managing a public key infrastructure for using digital certificates with Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Native Network Encryption and Strong Authentication Configuration Tools

Oracle Net Services can encrypt data using standard encryption algorithms, and for strong authentication methods, such as Kerberos, RADIUS, and SSL.

About Oracle Net Manager

Oracle Net Manager configures Oracle Net Services for an Oracle home on a local client or server host.

Although you can use Oracle Net Manager, a graphical user interface tool, to configure Oracle Net Services, such as naming, listeners, and general network settings, it also enables you to configure the following features, which use the Oracle Net protocol:

Kerberos Adapter Command-Line Utilities

The Kerberos adapter provides command-line utilities that obtain, cache, display, and remove Kerberos credentials.

The following table briefly describes these utilities.

Utility Name Description
okinit Obtains Kerberos tickets from the Key Distribution Center (KDC) and caches them in the user’s credential cache
oklist Displays a list of Kerberos tickets in the specified credential cache
okdstry Removes Kerberos credentials from the specified credential cache
okcreate Automates the creation of keytabs from either the KDC or a service endpoint

Note: The Cybersafe adapter is not supported beginning with this release. You should use Oracle’s Kerberos adapter in its place. Kerberos authentication with the Cybersafe KDC (Trust Broker) continues to be supported when using the Kerberos adapter.

Public Key Infrastructure Credentials Management Tools

The security provided by a public key infrastructure (PKI) depends on how effectively you store, manage, and validate your PKI credentials.

About Oracle Wallet Manager

Wallet owners and security administrators use Oracle Wallet Manager to manage and edit the security credentials in their Oracle wallets.

A wallet is a password-protected container that is used to store authentication and signing credentials, including private keys, certificates, and trusted certificates needed by Transport Layer Security. You can use Oracle Wallet Manager to perform the following tasks:

About the orapki Utility

The orapki utility manages certificate revocation lists (CRLs), creates and manages Oracle wallets, and creates signed certificates.

The basic syntax for this command-line utility is as follows:

orapki module command -option_1 argument ... -option_n argument

For example, the following command lists all certificate revocation lists (CRLs) in the CRL subtree in an instance of Oracle Internet Directory that is installed on machine 1.us.example.com and that uses port 389:

orapki crl list -ldap machine1.us.example.com:389

Note: The use of orapki to configure Transparent Data Encryption has been deprecated. Instead, use the ADMINISTER KEY MANAGEMENT SQL statement.

Duties of Strong Authentication Administrators

Most of the tasks of a security administrator involve ensuring that the connections to and from Oracle databases are secure.

The following table describes the primary tasks of security administrators who are responsible for strong authentication, the tools used to perform the tasks, and links to where the tasks are documented.

Task Tools Used See Also
Configure encrypted Oracle Net connections between database servers and clients Oracle Net Manager Configuring Encryption on the Client and the Server
Configure checksumming on Oracle Net connections between database servers and clients Oracle Net Manager Configuring Integrity on the Client and the Server
Configure database clients to accept RADIUS authentication Oracle Net Manager Step 1A: Configure RADIUS on the Oracle Client
Configure a database to accept RADIUS authentication Oracle Net Manager Step 1B: Configure RADIUS on the Oracle Database Server
Create a RADIUS user and grant them access to a database session SQL*Plus Step 2: Create a User and Grant Access
Configure Kerberos authentication on a database client and server Oracle Net Manager Step 6: Configure Kerberos Authentication
Create a Kerberos database user kadmin.local and Oracle Net Manager Step 7: Create a Kerberos User and Step 8: Create an Externally Authenticated Oracle User
Manage Kerberos credentials in the credential cache okinit, oklist, okdstry, and okcreate okinit Utility Options for Obtaining the Initial Ticket, oklist Utility Options for Displaying Credentials, and okdstry Utility Options for Removing Credentials from the Cache File
Create a wallet for a database client or server Oracle Wallet Manager Oracle Database Enterprise User Security Administrator’s Guide
Request a user certificate from a certificate authority (CA) for TLS authentication Oracle Wallet Manager Oracle Database Enterprise User Security Administrator’s Guide to add a certificate request and Oracle Database Enterprise User Security Administrator’s Guide to import a user certificate into an Oracle wallet
Import a user certificate and its associated trusted certificate (CA certificate) into a wallet Oracle Wallet Manager Oracle Database Enterprise User Security Administrator’s Guide to import a trusted certificate and Oracle Database Enterprise User Security Administrator’s Guide to import a user certificate into an Oracle wallet
Configuring TLS connections for a database client Oracle Net Manager Step 2: Configure Transport Layer Security on the Client
Configuring TLS connections for a database server Oracle Net Manager Step 1: Configure Transport Layer Security on the Server
Enabling certificate validation with a certificate revocation list (CRL) Oracle Net Manager Configuring Certificate Validation with Certificate Revocation Lists