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Requesting SAML bearer tokens from an external STS using WSS APIs and transport level protection

We can request SAML tokens with the bearer subject confirmation method from an external Security Token Service (STS). After obtaining the SAML bearer token, we can then send these tokens with web services request messages using the JAX-WS programming model and Web Services Security APIs (WSS API).

This task assumes that you are familiar with the JAX-WS programming model, the WSS API interfaces, SAML concepts, and the use of policy sets to configure and administer web services settings.

We can request a SAML token with the bearer subject confirmation method from an external STS and then send the SAML token in web services request messages from a web services client using WSS APIs.

The web services application client used in this task is a modified version of the client code contained in the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application that is available for download. Code snippets from the sample are described in the procedure section, and a complete, ready-to-use web services client sample is provided in the Example section.

  1. Identify and obtain the web services client to use to invoke a web services provider.

    Use this client to insert SAML tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs.

    The web services client used in this procedure is a modified version of the client code contained in the JaxWSServicesSamples web services sample application.

    To obtain and modify the sample web services client to add the Web Services Security API to pass SAML tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs...

    1. Download the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application. The JaxWSServicesSamples sample is not installed by default.

    2. Obtain the JaxWSServicesSamples client code.

      For example purposes, this procedure uses a modified version of the Echo thin client sample included in the JaxWSServicesSamples sample. The web services Echo thin client sample file, SampleClient.java, is located in the src\SampleClientSei\src\com\ibm\was\wssample\sei\cli directory. The sample class file is included in the WSSampleClientSei.jar file.

      The JaxWSServicesSamples.ear enterprise application and supporting Java archives (JAR) files are located in the installableApps directory within the JaxWSServicesSamples sample application.

    3. Deploy the JaxWSServicesSamples.ear file onto the application server. After you deploy the JaxWSServicesSamples.ear file, you are ready to test the sample web services client code against the sample application.

    Instead of using the web services client sample, we can choose to add the code snippets to pass SAML tokens in SOAP request messages programmatically using WSS APIs in our own web services client application. The example in this procedure uses a JAX-WS web services thin client; however, we can also use a managed client.

  2. Attach the SAML20 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set to the web services provider. This policy set is used to protect messages using HTTPS transport. Read about configuring client and provider bindings for the SAML Bearer token for details on how to attach the SAML20 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set to the web services provider.

  3. Assign the SAML Bearer Provider sample default general bindings to the sample web services provider. Read about configuring client and provider bindings for the SAML bearer token for details on assigning the SAML Bearer Provider sample default general bindings to the web services application.

  4. Verify that the trustStoreType, trustStorePassword and trustStorePath custom properties correspond to the trust store containing the STS signer certificate. Using the console...

    1. Click Services > Policy sets > General provider policy set bindings > Saml Bearer Provider sample > WS-Security > Authentication and protection.

    2. Click gen_saml11token in the Authentication tokens table.

    3. Click Callback handler.

    4. In the Custom Properties section, ensure that the trustStoreType, trustStorePassword and trustStorePath custom properties correspond to the trust store containing the STS signer certificate.

  5. Request the SAML token from an external STS. The following code snippet illustrates how to request the SAML token and assumes that an external STS is configured to accept a UsernameToken, and to issue a SAML 2.0 token after validation: 
    //Request the SAML Token from external STS
WSSFactory factory = WSSFactory.getInstance();
String STS_URI  = "https://externalstsserverurl:port/TrustServerWST13/services/RequestSecurityToken";
String ENDPOINT_URL = "http://localhost:9080/WSSampleSei/EchoService";
WSSGenerationContext gencont1 = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
WSSConsumingContext concont1 = factory.newWSSConsumingContext(); 
HashMap<Object, Object> cbackMap1 = new HashMap<Object, Object>();
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.STS_ADDRESS, STS_URI);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.SAML_APPLIES_TO, ENDPOINT_URL);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_WSTRUST_NAMESPACE, "http://docs.oasis-open.org/ws-sx/ws-trust/200512");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_COLLECTION_REQUEST, "false");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML20_VALUE_TYPE);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD, "Bearer");

SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler cbHandler1 = new SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler(cbackMap1);

// Add UNT to trust request UNTGenerateCallbackHandler utCallbackHandler = new UNTGenerateCallbackHandler("testuser", "testuserpwd");
SecurityToken ut = factory.newSecurityToken(UsernameToken.class, utCallbackHandler);

gencont1.add(ut);

cbHandler1.setWSSConsumingContextForTrustClient(concont1);
cbHandler1.setWSSGenerationContextForTrustClient(gencont1);
SecurityToken samlToken = factory.newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, cbHandler1, "system.wss.generate.saml");

System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId());

    1. Add the Thin Client for JAX-WS JAR file to the class path. Add the app_server_root/runtimes/com.ibm.jaxws.thinclient_8.5.0.jar file to the class path. See the testing web services-enabled clients information for more information about adding this JAR file to the class path.

    2. Use the WSSFactory newSecurityToken method to request a SAML token from an external STS.

      Specify the following method to request the SAML token:

        WSSFactory newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, callbackHandler, "system.wss.generate.saml")

      Requesting a SAML token requires the Java security permission wssapi.SAMLTokenFactory.newSAMLToken. Use the Policy Tool to add the following policy statement to the Java security policy file or the application client was.policy file:

        permission java.security.SecurityPermission "wssapi.SAMLTokenFactory.newSAMLToken"

      The SAMLToken.class parameter specifies the type of security token to create.

      The callbackHandler object contains parameters that define the characteristics of the SAML token that you are requesting and other parameters required to reach the STS and obtain the SAML token. The SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler object specifies the configuration parameters described in the following table:

      properties. This table describes the configuration parameters for the SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler object using the bearer subject
      Property Description Required
      SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD Specifies to use the Bearer confirmation method. Yes
      SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE
    3. Token type.

      When a web services client has policy set attachments, this property is not used by Web Services Security runtime environment.

      Specify the token value type using the valueType attribute of the tokenGenerator binding configuration.

      The example in this procedure uses a SAML 2.0 token; however, we can also use the WSSConstants.SAML.SAML11_VALUE_TYPE value.

      		4. Yes
      SamlConstants.STS_ADDRESS

      Security Token Service address.

      For the example used in this task topic, the value of this property is set to https to specify to use SSL to protect the SAML Token request.

      Set the -Dcom.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL property to enable the use of SSL to protect the SAML token request with the STS.

      		Yes
      SamlConstants.SAML_APPLIES_TO Target STS address for where to use the SAML token. No
      SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_COLLECTION_REQUEST Whether to request from the STS a single token that is enclosed in a RequestSecurityToken (RST) element or multiple tokens in a collection of RST elements that are enclosed in a single RequestSecurityTokenCollection (RSTC) element.

      The default behavior is to request a single token that is enclosed in a RequestSecurityToken (RST) element from the STS.

      Specifying a true value for this property indicates to request multiple tokens in a collection of RST elements that are enclosed in a single RequestSecurityTokenCollection (RSTC) element from the STS.

      		No
      SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_WSTRUST_NAMESPACE Specifies the WS-Trust namespace included in the WS-Trust request. No

      A WSSGenerationContext instance and a WSSConsumingContext instance are also set in the SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler object. The WSSGenerationContext instance must contain a UNTGenerateCallbackHandler object with the information to create the UsernameToken to send to the STS.

      The system.wss.generate.saml parameter specifies the JAAS login module used to create the SAML token. Specify a JVM property to define a JAAS configuration file containing the required JAAS login configuration; for example:

        -Djava.security.auth.login.config= profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf

      Alternatively, we can specify a JAAS login configuration file by setting a Java system property in the sample client code; for example:

        System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", " profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf");

    4. Obtain the token identifier of the created SAML token.

      Use the following statement as a simple test for the SAML token created:

        System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId())

  6. Add the SAML token to the SOAP security header of a web services request messages.

    1. Initialize the web services client and configure the SOAPAction properties. The following code snippet illustrates these actions: 
      // Initialize web services client EchoService12PortProxy echo = new EchoService12PortProxy();
echo._getDescriptor().setEndpoint(endpointURL);

// Configure SOAPAction properties BindingProvider bp = (BindingProvider) (echo._getDescriptor().getProxy());
Map<String, Object> requestContext = bp.getRequestContext();
requestContext.put(BindingProvider.ENDPOINT_ADDRESS_PROPERTY, endpointURL);
requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_USE_PROPERTY, Boolean.TRUE);
requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_URI_PROPERTY, "echoOperation");

    2. Initialize the WSSGenerationContext. The following code illustrates the use of the WSSGenerationContext interface to initialize a generation context and enable you to insert the SAMLToken into the web services request message: 
      // Initialize WSSGenerationContext
WSSGenerationContext gencont = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
gencont.add(samlToken);

      Specifically, the gencont.add(samlToken) method call specifies to put the SAML token into a request message. Use the Policy Tool to add the following policy statement to the Java security policy file or the application client was.policy file:

        permission javax.security.auth.AuthPermission "modifyPrivateCredentials"

    3. Add the timestamp element in the SOAP messages security header. The SAML20 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set requires web services requests and response messages to carry a timestamp element in SOAP messages Security header. In the following code snippet, the factory.newWSSTimestamp() method call generates the timestamp, and the gencont.add(timestamp) method call specifies the timestamp to put into a request message: 
      // Add a timestamp to the request message. 
WSSTimestamp timestamp = factory.newWSSTimestamp();
gencont.add(timestamp);
         
gencont.process(requestContext);

    4. Attach WSSGenerationContext object to the web services RequestContext object. The WSSGenerationContext object now contains all the security information required to format a request message. The gencont.process(requestContext) method call attaches the WSSGenerationContext object to the web services RequestContext object to enable the Web Services Security runtime environment to format the required SOAP security header; for example: 
      // Attaches WSSGenerationContext object to the web services RequestContext object. 
gencont.process(requestContext);

    5. Specify SSL transport level message protection using JVM properties.

      The SAML20 Bearer WSHTTPS default policy set requires transport-level message protection using SSL. In addition, we can use this same property to enable protection of the SAML token request to the STS using SSL. Specify SSL transport-level message protection using the following JVM property:

        -Dcom.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL=file:profile_root\properties\ssl.client.props

      Alternatively, we can define the SSL configuration file using a Java system property in the sample client code; for example:

        System.setProperty("com.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL", "file: profile_root/properties/ssl.client.props");


Results

You have requested a SAML token with the bearer subject confirmation method with transport level protection from an external STS. After obtaining the token, you sent the token with web services request messages using the JAX-WS programming model and WSS APIs.

To request a SAML token with the bearer subject confirmation method with message level protection from an external STS, see the documentation for requesting SAML sender-vouches tokens from an external STS using WSS APIs and message level protection. To use message level protection for SAML tokens with the bearer subject confirmation method, in the step to request the SAML token from an external STS, specify a confirmation method of Bearer instead of sender-vouches; for example: 

//Request the SAML Token from external STS
WSSFactory factory = WSSFactory.getInstance();
String STS_URI  = "https://externalstsserverurl:port/TrustServerWST13/services/RequestSecurityToken";
String ENDPOINT_URL = "http://localhost:9080/WSSampleSei/EchoService";
WSSGenerationContext gencont1 = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
WSSConsumingContext concont1 = factory.newWSSConsumingContext(); 
HashMap<Object, Object> cbackMap1 = new HashMap<Object, Object>();
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.STS_ADDRESS, STS_URI);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.SAML_APPLIES_TO, ENDPOINT_URL);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_WSTRUST_NAMESPACE, "http://docs.oasis-open.org/ws-sx/ws-trust/200512");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_COLLECTION_REQUEST, "false");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML11_VALUE_TYPE);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD, "Bearer");

SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler cbHandler1 = new SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler(cbackMap1);

// Add UNT to trust request UNTGenerateCallbackHandler utCallbackHandler = new UNTGenerateCallbackHandler("testuser", "testuserpwd");
SecurityToken ut = factory.newSecurityToken(UsernameToken.class, utCallbackHandler);

gencont1.add(ut);

cbHandler1.setWSSConsumingContextForTrustClient(concont1);
cbHandler1.setWSSGenerationContextForTrustClient(gencont1);
SecurityToken samlToken = factory.newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, cbHandler1, "system.wss.generate.saml");

System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId());
Additionally, the step to configure the verification of the digital signature in the response message is optional in the case of the bearer token.


Example

The following code sample is a web services client application that demonstrates how to request a SAML token from an external STS and send that SAML token in web services request messages. If wer usage scenario requires SAML tokens, but does not require the application to pass the SAML tokens using web services messages, we only need to use the first part of the following sample code, up through the // Initialize web services client section. 

/**
 * The following source code is sample code created by IBM Corporation.  
 * This sample code is provided to you solely for the purpose of assisting you in the 
 * use of the technology.  The code is provided 'AS IS', without warranty or condition of 
 * any kind.  IBM shall not be liable for any damages arising out of the use of the 
 * sample code, even if IBM has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
 */

package com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.cli;

import com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.EchoService12PortProxy;
import com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.EchoStringInput;

import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSFactory;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSGenerationContext;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSConsumingContext;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.WSSTimestamp;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.callbackhandler.SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.callbackhandler.UNTGenerateCallbackHandler;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.token.UsernameToken;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.token.SAMLToken;
import com.ibm.websphere.wssecurity.wssapi.token.SecurityToken;
import com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.core.token.config.WSSConstants;
import com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.saml.config.SamlConstants;

import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;

import javax.xml.ws.BindingProvider;

/**
 * SampleClient
 * main entry point for thin client JAR sample
 * and worker class to communicate with the services  */
public class SampleClient {

 private String urlHost = "localhost";
 private String urlPort = "9443";
 private static final String CONTEXT_BASE = "/WSSampleSei/";
 private static final String ECHO_CONTEXT12 = CONTEXT_BASE+"EchoService12"; 
 private String message = "HELLO";
 private String uriString = "https://" + urlHost + ":" + urlPort;
 private String endpointURL = uriString + ECHO_CONTEXT12;
 private String input = message;

 /**
  * main()
  * 
  * see printusage() for command-line arguments   * 
  * @param args
  */
 public static void main(String[] args) {
  SampleClient sample = new SampleClient();
  sample.CallService();
 }

 /**
  * CallService Parms were already read. Now call the service proxy classes   * 
  */
 void CallService() {
  String response = "ERROR!:";
  try {
      System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", " profile_root/properties/wsjaas_client.conf");
   System.setProperty("com.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL", "file: profile_root/properties/ssl.client.props");

//Request the SAML Token from external STS
WSSFactory factory = WSSFactory.getInstance();
String STS_URI  = "https://externalstsserverurl:port/TrustServerWST13/services/RequestSecurityToken";
String ENDPOINT_URL = "http://localhost:9080/WSSampleSei/EchoService";
WSSGenerationContext gencont1 = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
WSSConsumingContext concont1 = factory.newWSSConsumingContext(); 
HashMap<Object, Object> cbackMap1 = new HashMap<Object, Object>();
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.STS_ADDRESS, STS_URI);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.SAML_APPLIES_TO, ENDPOINT_URL);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_WSTRUST_NAMESPACE, "http://docs.oasis-open.org/ws-sx/ws-trust/200512");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TRUST_CLIENT_COLLECTION_REQUEST, "false");
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.TOKEN_TYPE, WSSConstants.SAML.SAML20_VALUE_TYPE);
cbackMap1.put(SamlConstants.CONFIRMATION_METHOD, "Bearer");

SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler cbHandler1 = new SAMLGenerateCallbackHandler(cbackMap1);   


// Add UNT to trust request UNTGenerateCallbackHandler utCallbackHandler = new UNTGenerateCallbackHandler("testuser", "testuserpwd");
SecurityToken ut = factory.newSecurityToken(UsernameToken.class, utCallbackHandler);

gencont1.add(ut);

cbHandler1.setWSSConsumingContextForTrustClient(concont1);
cbHandler1.setWSSGenerationContextForTrustClient(gencont1);
SecurityToken samlToken = factory.newSecurityToken(SAMLToken.class, cbHandler1, "system.wss.generate.saml");

System.out.println("SAMLToken id = " + samlToken.getId());


         // Initialize web services client    EchoService12PortProxy echo = new EchoService12PortProxy();
   echo._getDescriptor().setEndpoint(endpointURL);

   // Configure SOAPAction properties    BindingProvider bp = (BindingProvider) (echo._getDescriptor().getProxy());
   Map<String, Object> requestContext = bp.getRequestContext();
   requestContext.put(BindingProvider.ENDPOINT_ADDRESS_PROPERTY, endpointURL);
   requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_USE_PROPERTY, Boolean.TRUE);
   requestContext.put(BindingProvider.SOAPACTION_URI_PROPERTY, "echoOperation");
   
   // Initialize WSSGenerationContext
   WSSGenerationContext gencont = factory.newWSSGenerationContext();
         gencont.add(samlToken);          
         
         // Add timestamp
         WSSTimestamp timestamp = factory.newWSSTimestamp();
   gencont.add(timestamp);
         
         gencont.process(requestContext);
         
         // Build the input object    EchoStringInput echoParm = 
    new com.ibm.was.wssample.sei.echo.ObjectFactory().createEchoStringInput();
   echoParm.setEchoInput(input);
   System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo to " + endpointURL);  
   
   // Prepare to consume timestamp in response message. 
   WSSConsumingContext concont = factory.newWSSConsumingContext();      
       concont.add(WSSConsumingContext.TIMESTAMP); 
       concont.process(requestContext);
       
   // Call the service    response = echo.echoOperation(echoParm).getEchoResponse();
      
   System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo invocation complete.");
   System.out.println(">> CLIENT: SEI Echo response is: " + response);
  } catch (Exception e) {
   System.out.println(">> CLIENT: ERROR: SEI Echo EXCEPTION.");
   e.printStackTrace();
  }
 }  
}

When this web services client application sample runs correctly, you receive messages like the following messages: 

SAMLToken id = _191EBC44865015D9AB1270745072344
Retrieving document at 'file: profile_root/.../wsdl/'.
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo to https://localhost:9443/WSSampleSei/EchoService12
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo invocation complete.
>> CLIENT: SEI Echo response is: SOAP12==>>HELLO


Related concepts

  • Access the samples
  • SAML concepts


    Related tasks

  • Secure JAX-WS web services using message-level security
  • Requesting SAML sender-vouches tokens from an external STS using WSS APIs and message level protection
  • Requesting SAML sender-vouches tokens from an external STS using WSS APIs and transport level protection
  • Configure client and provider bindings for the SAML sender-vouches token
  • Configure client and provider bindings for the SAML bearer token
  • Test web services-enabled clients
  • Use PolicyTool to edit policy files for Java 2 security
  • Samples documentation

  • SAML Issuer Config Properties
  • Web Services Security APIs