Retrieving signers using the retrieveSigners utility at the client

The client requires the signer certificates from the server to be able to communicate with WebSphere Application Server. Use the retrieveSigners command to get the signer certificate from a server.

The retrieveSigners utility is located in one of the following directories, depending on the operating system:

• profile_root\bin . For example: C:\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\AppSrv01\bin

• ../ profile_root/bin

• (iseries) profile_root/bin

In this release, a Java client that does not have access to a stdin console prompt should use the retrieveSigners utility to download the signers from the remote server key store when signers are needed for an SSL handshake. For example, you might interpret the client as failing to respond if an applet client or Java Web Start Client application cannot access the stdin signer exchange prompt. Thus, add the WebSphere Java method call com.ibm.wsspi.ssl.RetrieveSignersHelper.callRetrieveSigners to your client application to retrieve the signers and to avoid running the retrieveSigners utility manually.

Use the retrieveSigners utility for situations where we cannot verify whether or not the com.ibm.ssl.enableSignerExchangePrompt= property is enabled or disabled when the application makes a request. Set the com.ibm.ssl.enableSignerExchangePrompt= property to false in ssl.client.props if we cannot see the console.

Alternatively, we can manually create the server key in the client truststore.

Complete the following steps, as required:

1. Use the retrieveSigners command to get the signer certificate from a server. We can find details about the retrieveSigners parameters in Secure installation for client signer retrieval in SSL.

2. If the client and server are on the same machine, you will need only the remoteKeyStoreName and localKeyStoreName parameters. The most typical key store to reference on a remote system is CellDefaultTrustStore on a network deployed environment and NodeDefaultTrustStore on an application server.

3. When retrieving signers from a remote server, add these required connection-related parameters: -host host, -port port, -conntype {RMI | SOAP}.

4. Use the -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner parameter to enable automation of the signer retrieval. This parameter automatically adds to the server all the signers that are needed to make the connection.

Results

After running, the command displays the SHI-1 digest of the signers added. The output looks similar to the following output:

(dist)(zos)

C:\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\AppSrv01\bin\retrieveSigners.bat CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore CWPKI0308I: Add signer alias "default_signer" to local keystore "ClientDefaultTrustStore" with the following SHA digest:

(iseries)

/QIBM/UserData/WebSphere/AppServer/V85/ND/profiles/AppSrv01/bin/retrieveSigners
 CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore   CWPKI0308I: Add signer alias "default_signer" to local keystore            "ClientDefaultTrustStore" with the following SHA digest:

Example

The following examples illustrate how to call the retrieveSigners.bat file.

(dist)(zos) To retrieve signers on the same system, enter:

profile_root\bin\retrieveSigners.bat CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore

(iseries) To retrieve signers on the same system, enter:

profile_root/bin/retrieveSigners CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore

(dist)(zos) To retrieve signers on a remote system with a SOAP connection, enter:

profile_root\bin\retrieveSigners.bat CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore -host myRemoteHost -port 8879 -conntype SOAP -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner

(iseries) To retrieve signers on a remote system with a SOAP connection, enter:

profile_root/bin/retrieveSigners CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore -host myRemoteHost -port 8879 -conntype SOAP -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner

(dist)(zos) To retrieve signers on a remote system with an RMI connection, enter:

profile_root\bin\retrieveSigners.bat CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore -host myRemoteHost -port 2809 -conntype RMI -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner

(iseries) To retrieve signers on a remote system that has security enabled, enter:

profile_root/bin/retrieveSigners CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore -host myRemoteHost -port 8879 -conntype SOAP -user testuser -password testuserpwd -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner

(dist)(zos) To retrieve signers on a remote system that has security enabled, enter:

profile_root\bin\retrieveSigners.bat CellDefaultTrustStore ClientDefaultTrustStore -host myRemoteHost -port 8879 -conntype SOAP -user testuser -password testuserpwd -autoAcceptBootstrapSigner

Related concepts

Secure installation for client signer retrieval in SSL

retrieveSigners command