Errors after configuring or enabling Secure Sockets Layer

This topic explains various problems you might encounter after configuring or enabling Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

Stopping the deployment manager after configuring Secure Sockets Layer

After configuring the Secure Sockets Layer repertoires, if you stop the deployment manager without also stopping the node agents, you might receive the following error message when you restart the deployment manager:

CWWMU0509I: The server "nodeagent" cannot be reached. It appears to be stopped.
CWWMU0211I: Error details may be seen in the file:
           /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/logs/nodeagent/stopServer.log

The error occurs because the deployment manager did not propagate the new SSL certificate to the node agents. The node agents are using an older certificate file than the deployment manager and the certificate files are incompatible. To work around this problem, manually stop the node agent and deployment manager processes.

To end the processes, use the Task Manager.

Run the command to end the process.

You need to consider certain items when identifying the specific process to stop. For each process that is stopped, WebSphere Application Server stores the process ID in a pid file and you need to find these *.pid files. For example, the server1.pid for a stand-alone install action might be found at: install_root/logs/server1.pid

Accessing resources using HTTPS

If you are unable to access resources using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) URL (beginning with https:), or encounter error messages that indicate SSL problems, verify that your HTTP server is configured correctly for SSL. Browse the welcome page of the HTTP server using SSL by entering the URL: https://host_name. If the page works with HTTP, but not HTTPS, the problem is with the HTTP server.

• Refer to the documentation for your HTTP server for instructions on correctly enabling SSL. If you are using the IBM HTTP Server or Apache, go to: http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/httpservers/library.html. Click Frequently Asked Questions> SSL.

• If you use the IBM Key Management (IKeyman) tool to create certificates and keys, remember to stash the password to a file when creating the Key Database (KDB) file with the IBM Key Management Tool.

  1. Go to the directory where the KDB file is created, and see if an .sth file exists.

  2. If not, open the KDB file with the IBM Key Management Tool, and click Key
     Database File > Stash Password. The following message is displayed: The password has been encrypted and saved in the file.

If the HTTP server handles SSL-encrypted requests successfully, or is not involved (for example, traffic flows from a Java client application directly to an enterprise bean that is hosted by WebSphere Application Server, or the problem displays only after enabling WebSphere Application Server security), what kind of error are you seeing?

• javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: handshake failure

• javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: unknown certificate

• javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: bad certificate

• org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: EntryNotFoundException or NTRegistryImp E CWSCJ0070E: No privilege id configured for: error when programmatically creating a credential.

For general tips on diagnosing and resolving security-related problems, see Security components troubleshooting tips

If you do not see a problem that resembles yours, or if the information provided does not solve your problem, see Troubleshooting help from IBM

javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: handshake failureIf you see a Java exception stack similar to the following example:

[Root exception is org.omg.CORBA.TRANSIENT:  CAUGHT_EXCEPTION_WHILE_CONFIGURING_
SSL_CLIENT_SOCKET: CWWJE0080E:   javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not negotiate the desired level of   security. Reason: handshake 
failure:host=MYSERVER,port=1079 minor code: 4942F303 completed: No]   at 
com.ibm.CORBA.transport.TransportConnectionBase.connect 
(TransportConnectionBase.java:NNN)

• Not having common ciphers between the client and server.

• Not specifying the correct protocol.

To correct these problems:

1. Review the SSL settings. Click WebSphere Administrative Console Security Settings > SSL Configuration Repertoires > DefaultSSLSettings or other named SSL settings.

2. Select the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) option from the Additional Properties menu. You can also browse the file manually by viewing the install_root/properties/sas.client.props file.

3. Check the property that is specified by the com.ibm.ssl.protocol file to determine which protocol is specified.

4. Check the cipher types that are specified by the com.ibm.ssl.enabledCipherSuites interface. You might want to add more cipher types to the list. To see which cipher suites are currently enabled, click Quality of protection settings (QoP), and look for the Cipher Suites property.

5. Correct the protocol or cipher problem by using a different client or server protocol and cipher selection. Typical protocols are SSL or SSLv3.

6. Make the cipher selection 40-bit instead of 128-bit. For Common Secure Interoperability Version 2 (CSIv2), set both of the following properties to

   false in the sas.client.props file, or set

   security level=medium in
   the administrative console settings:

   • com.ibm.CSI.performMessageConfidentialityRequired=false

   • com.ibm.CSI.performMessageConfidentialitySupported=false

javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: unknown certificateIf you see a Java exception stack similar to the following example, it might be caused by not having the personal certificate for the server in the client truststore file:

ERROR: Could not get the initial context or unable to look up the starting context. 
Exiting.  Exception received: javax.naming.ServiceUnavailableException: A 
communication failure occurred while attempting to obtain an initial context using 
the provider url: "corbaloc:iiop:localhost:2809". Make sure that the host and port 
information is correct and that the server identified by the provider url is a 
running name server. If no port number is specified, the default port number 2809 
is used. Other possible causes include the network environment or workstation 
network configuration. [Root exception is org.omg.CORBA.TRANSIENT: 
CAUGHT_EXCEPTION_WHILE_CONFIGURING_SSL_CLIENT_SOCKET: CWWJE0080E: 
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and server could not 
negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: unknown 
certificate:host=MYSERVER,port=1940 minor code: 4942F303 completed: No]

1. Check the client truststore file to determine if the signer certificate from the server personal certificate is there. For a self-signed server personal certificate, the signer certificate is the public key of the personal certificate. For a certificate authority (CA)-signed server personal certificate, the signer certificate is the root CA certificate of the CA that signed the personal certificate.

2. Add the server signer certificate to the client truststore file.

javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: bad certificateA Java exception stack error might display if the following situations occur:

• A personal certificate exists in the client keystore that is used for SSL mutual authentication.

• The signer certificate is not extracted into the server truststore file, and thus the server cannot trust the certificate whenever the SSL handshake is made.

The following message is an example of the Java exception stack error:

ERROR: Could not get the initial context or unable to look 
up the starting context. Exiting.  
Exception received: javax.naming.ServiceUnavailableException: 
A communication failure occurred while attempting to obtain an 
initial context using the provider url: "corbaloc:iiop:localhost:2809". 
Make sure that the host and port information is correct and that the server identified by the provider url is a running name 
server. If no port number is specified, the default port number 2809 
is used. Other possible causes include the network environment or 
workstation network configuration. 
[Root exception is org.omg.CORBA.TRANSIENT: CAUGHT_EXCEPTION_WHILE_CONFIGURING_SSL_
CLIENT_SOCKET: CWWJE0080E: javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException - The client and 
server could not negotiate the desired level of security. Reason: 
bad certificate: host=MYSERVER,port=1940 minor code: 4942F303 completed: No]

To verify this problem, check the server truststore file to determine if the signer certificate from the client personal certificate is there. For a self-signed client personal certificate, the signer certificate is the public key of the personal certificate. For a certificate authority-signed client personal certificate, the signer certificate is the root CA certificate of the CA that signed the personal certificate.

To correct this problem, add the client signer certificate to the server truststore file.

org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: EntryNotFoundException or NTRegistryImp E CWSCJ0070E: No privilege id configured for: error when programmatically creating a credentialIf you encounter the following exception in a client application attempting to request a credential from a WebSphere Application Server using SSL mutual authentication:

ERROR: Could not get the initial context or unable to look up the starting context. 
Exiting. Exception received: org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: Trace from server: 1198777258 
at host MYHOST on port 0 >>org.omg.CORBA.INTERNAL: EntryNotFoundException minor 
code: 494210B0 completed: 
No at com.ibm.ISecurityLocalObjectBaseL13Impl.PrincipalAuthFailReason.
map_auth_fail_to_minor_code(PrincipalAuthFailReason.java:99)

[7/31/02 15:38:48:452 CDT] 27318f5 NTRegistryImp E CWSCJ0070E: No privilege id 
configured for: testuser

The cause might be that the user ID sent by the client to the server is not in the user registry for that server.

To confirm this problem, check that an entry exists for the personal certificate that is sent to the server. Depending on the user registry mechanism, look at the native operating system user ID or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server entries.

To correct this problem, add the user ID to the user registry entry (for example, operating system, LDAP directory, or other custom registry) for the personal certificate identity.

Related tasks

Related reference

Troubleshooting testing and first time run problems

Searchable topic ID: rtrb_sslprobs