Configure single sign-on for portlets with SPNEGO

Configure IBM Connections portlets to use single sign-on with SPNEGO.

Single sign-on (SSO) enables users to log in to a Connections application, and switch to other applications within the product without having to authenticate again.

This procedure describes an approach that uses the Kerberos authentication protocol. This authentication method allows users web browsers to prove their identities to one another in a secure manner. After users sign in to their Active Directory Windows client systems, they are automatically signed into IBM Connections.

Configure IBM Connections and WebSphere Portal to share a single dmgr saves on administration time by combining administration tasks for the two applications. Establishing a single-sign on environment benefits the users by creating a more seamless environment between the two applications.

Follow these steps to configure single sign-on.

1. Before federating Portal as a managed node of the dmgr of Connections, verify the realms match between Connections dmgr and Portal.

   If change the realm names so they match, follow the steps in Changing the realm name.

2. To collect files from the primary node and copy them to the dmgr:

   1. From the primary node ..
      cd wp_profile_root>/ConfigEngine ConfigEngine.bat collect-files-for-dmgr -DWasPassword=foo

      This creates a compressed file containing all the files which must be copied to the dmgr. The compressed file, named filesForDmgr.zip, will be placed in the <wp_profile_root>/filesForDmgr directory.

   2. Stop the dmgr.

   3. Expand each of the files in the filesForDmgr.zip file into the proper location on the dmgr based on the directory names within the compressed file. The directory names in the compressed file are based on the typical default directory names. The directory AppServer/profiles/Dmgr01 is used to identify the dmgr profile root, and the AppServer directory is used to identify the dmgr installation root directory. If the dmgr was installed into the default directory (AppServer) and the profile was created in the default directory...
      AppServer/profiles/Dmgr01

      ...then the compressed file can be expanded directly into the directory above the AppServer directory; for example /IBM/WebSphere.

   4. Start the dmgr.

3. To augment a dmgr profile,
   cd AppServer_root>/bin
   manageprofiles.bat -augment -templatePath c:/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profileTemplates/management.portal.augment -profileName Dmgr01

4. Restart the dmgr.

5. Add the same Portal administration group as an administrators group on the Connections dmgr.

6. Federate the primary node:

   cd ;wp_profile_root/bin 
   addNode.bat dmgr_hostname dmgr_port 
               -includeapps \
               -includebuses \
               -username was_admin_user \
               -password was_admin_password

   For example:

   addNode.bat DMhost.cn.ibm.com 8879 \ -includeapps \ -includebuses \ -username adminuser \ -password adminpwd

7. On the Portal server, run syncNode.bat and then restart the dmgr and all node agents.

8. To configure the IBM HTTP Server with Single Sign-On, delete and re-add the webserver on the WAS console in order to re-map all applications including Portal, and import the Portal certificate into IBM HTTP Server.

9. To Configure the same SPNEGO single sign-on for Portal and Connections.

   1. Create user for Portal host server on AD.

   2. Create keytab file for Portal server on AD:

      ktpass -out path_to_keytab 
             –princ SPN 
             -mapuser account_name 
             -mapOp set 
             –pass account_password 

      Where:

      • path_to_keytab is the file path to store the generated keytab file.

      • SPN is the Kerberos service principal name.

      • account_name is the service account name.

      • account_password is the password associated with the service account.

      For example:

      ktpass -princ HTTP/portal.cn.ibm.com@cn.ibm.com -out c:\portal.keytab -mapuser portaluser -mapOp set -pass Passw0rd

   3. Merge the portal keytab into the merged Connections keytab by running the ktab command with the following switch:
      -m source_keytab_name destination_keytab_name

      Where:

      • source_keytab_name is the name of the keytab file on the source system.

      • destination_keytab_name is the name of the keytab file on the destination system.

      For example:

      c:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\java\jre\bin>ktab.exe -m y:\SPNEGO\portal.keytab y:\SPNEGO\merged.keytab

   4. Recreate the krb5.conf file using the new merged keytab file:

      $AdminTask createKrbConfigFile
      
      {
      
      -krbPath appserver\java\jre\lib\security\krb5.conf
      
      -realm REALM 
      -kdcHost kdc_hostname 
      -dns dns_hostname 
      -keytabPath path_to_keytab }

      For example:

      wsadmin.bat -user adminuser -password adminpwd $AdminTask createKrbConfigFile {-krbPath y:\SPNEGO\krb5.conf -realm CN.IBM.COM -kdcHost AD.cn.ibm.com -dns cn.ibm.com -keytabPath y:\SPNEGO\merged.keytab}

   5. Enable SPNEGO single sign-on by configuring Kerberos in the WAS console, following the steps in the Enabling single sign-on for the Windows desktop topic.

   6. Synchronize the node and restart the dmgr node. If we cannot manage the Portal node on the WAS console, manually synchronize the node and restart the dmgr node.

Parent topic:
Configure authentication for the portlets