Manage Java 2 Connector Architecture authentication data entries for JAAS

This task creates and deletes Java 2 Connector (J2C) authentication data entries.

Java EE Connector authentication data entries are used by resource adapters and Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) data sources. A Java EE Connector authentication data entry contains authentication data, which includes the following information:

Alias

An identifier that identifies the authentication data entry. When configuring resource adapters or data sources, the administrator can specify which authentication data to choose using the corresponding alias.

User ID

A user identity of the intended security domain. For example, if a particular authentication data entry is used to open a new connection to DB2, this entry contains a DB2 user identity.

Password

The password of the user identity is encoded in the configuration repository.

Description

A short text description.

Tasks

1. Delete a J2C authentication data entry.

   1. Click Security > Global security.

   2. Under Java Authentication and Authorization Service, click J2C authentication data. The J2C Authentication Data Entries panel is displayed.

   3. Select the check boxes for the entries to delete and click Delete. Before deleting or removing an authentication data entry, make sure that it is not used or referenced by any resource adapter or data source. If the deleted authentication data entry is used or referenced by a resource, the application that uses the resource adapter or the data source fails to connect to the resources.

2. Create a new J2C authentication data entry.

   1. Click Security > Global security.

   2. Under Java Authentication and Authorization Service, click J2C authentication data. The J2C Authentication Data Entries panel is displayed.

   3. Click New.

   4. Enter a unique alias, a valid user ID, a valid password, and a short description (optional).

      Important: When creating a new authentication data entry and specifying an alias, be aware that the node name is automatically appended as a prefix to the alias name we specify. For example, if we specify the alias, tek_test_Con3, and the node is MyNode, then the final alias name is: MyNode/tek_test_Con3.

      This full alias name is the one used in the deployment descriptor.

   5. Click OK or Apply. No validation for the user ID and password is required.

   6. Click Save.

      Make sure that a file synchronized operation is performed to propagate the changes to other nodes.

A new J2C authentication data entry is created or an old entry is removed. The newly created entry is visible without restarting the application server process to use in the data source definition. But the entry is only in effect after the server is restarted. Specifically, the authentication data is loaded by an application server when starting an application and is shared among applications in the same application server.

If we create or update a data source that points to a newly created J2C authentication data alias, the test connection fails to connect until you restart the deployment manager. After you restart the deployment manager, the J2C authentication data is reflected in the runtime configuration. Any changes to the J2C authentication data fields require a deployment manager restart for the changes to take effect. The node agent must also be restarted.

What to do next

This step defines authentication data that we can share among resource adapters and data sources. Use the authentication data entry defined in the resource adapters or the data sources.

Subtopics

• Java 2 Connector authentication data entry settings
  Use this page as a central place for administrators to define authentication data, which includes user identities and passwords. These values can reference authentication data entries by resource adapters, data sources, and other configurations that require authentication data using an alias.
• J2C principal mapping modules
  We can develop our own J2EE Connector (J2C) mapping module if the application requires more sophisticated mapping functions. The mapping login module that we might have developed on WebSphere Application Server v5.x is still supported in WAS v6.0.x and later.

Related:

Programmatic login for JAAS

Configure programmatic logins for JAAS