Enable security

 

For WebSphere Application Server V6.1, administrative security is enabled by default whenever a new profile is created, either during the initial install when you create a new profile or during post-install when you use the profile creation tooling. You can decide not to enable administrative security during profile creation time by instead enabling security post-profile creation using the administrative console.

 

Procedure

1. Start the WAS administrative console.

   If security is currently disabled, you are prompted for a user ID. Log in with any user ID. However, if security is currently enabled, you are prompted for both a user ID and a password. Log in with a predefined administrative user ID and password.

2. Click...

   Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure

   Use the Security Configuration Wizard to configure security, or do it manually. The configuration order is not important.

   You must separately enable administrative security, and application security. Because of this split, WAS clients must know whether application security is disabled at the target server. Administrative security is enabled, by default. Application security is disabled, by default. Before you attempt to enable application security on the target server, verify that administrative security is enabled on that server. Application security can be in effect only when administrative security is enabled.

   For more information on manual configuration, see Authenticating users.

3. Configure the user account repository.

   On the Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure panel, you can configure user account repositories such as...

   • federated repositories
   • local operating system
   • standalone LDAP registry
   • standalone custom registry

   You can choose to specify either a server ID and password for interoperability or enable a WAS 6.1 installation to automatically generate an internal server ID.

   One of the details common to all user registries or repositories is the Primary administrative user name. This ID is a member of the chosen repository, but also has special privileges in WebSphere Application Server. The privileges for this ID and the privileges that are associated with the administrative role ID are the same. The Primary administrative user name can access all of the protected administrative methods.

   The ID must not be the same name as the machine name of your system because the repository sometimes returns machine-specific information when querying a user of the same name.

   In standalone LDAP registries, verify that the Primary administrative user name is a member of the repository and not just the LDAP administrative role ID. The entry must be searchable.

   The Primary administrative user name does not run WAS processes. Rather, the process ID runs the WAS processes.

   The process ID is determined by the way the process starts. For example, if you use a command line to start processes, the user ID that is logged into the system is the process ID. If running as a service, the user ID that is logged into the system is the user ID running the service. If you choose the local operating system registry, the process ID requires special privileges to call the operating system APIs. The process ID must have the following platform-specific privileges:

   • Act as Part of Operating System privileges

   • Root privileges

4. Select the Set as current option after you configure the user account repository.

   When you click Apply and the Enable administrative security option is set, a verification occurs to see if an administrative user ID has been configured and is present in the active user registry. The administrative user ID can be specified at the active user registry panel or from the console users link. If you do not configure an administrative ID for the active user registry, the validation fails.

   When you switch user registries, the admin-authz.xml file should be cleared of existing administrative ids and application names. Exceptions will occur in the logs for ids that exist in the admin-authz.xml file but do not exist in the current user registry.

5. Configure the authentication mechanism.

   Configure LTPA, which is the default authentication mechanism, on the Authentication mechanisms and expiration panel. LTPA credentials can be forwarded to other machines. For security reasons, credential expire; however, you can configure the expiration dates on the console. LTPA credentials enable browsers to visit different product servers, which means you do not have to authenticate multiple times. For more information,

   You can configure SWAM as your authentication mechanism. However, SWAM is deprecated in WAS V6.1 and will be removed in a future release. SWAM credentials are not forwardable to other machines and for that reason do not expire. To use SWAM, select the Use SWAM-no authenticated communication between servers option.

6. Import and export the LTPA keys for cross-cell single Sign-on (SSO) between cells. For more information, see...
   • Exporting Lightweight Third Party Authentication keys.
   • Importing Lightweight Third Party Authentication keys

7. Configure the authentication protocol for special security requirements from Java clients, if needed.

   You can configure CSIv2 through links on the Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure panel. The SAS protocol is provided for backwards compatibility with previous product releases, but is deprecated. Links to the SAS protocol panels display on the Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure panel if your environment contains servers that use previous versions of WebSphere Application Server and support the SAS protocol. For details on configuring CSIv2 or SAS, see the article, Configuring CSIV2 and SAS.

   SAS is supported only between V6.0.x and previous version servers that have been federated in a V6.1 cell.

   IBM no longer ships or supports the SAS IIOP security protocol. IBM recommends that you use the CSIv2 protocol.

8. Modify or a create a default Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) configuration.

   This action protects the integrity of the messages sent across the Internet. The product provides a single location where you can specify SSL configurations that the various WAS features that use SSL can utilize, including the LDAP registry, Web container and the authentication protocol (CSIv2 and SAS).

   After you modify a configuration or create a new configuration, specify it on the SSL configurations panel...

   1. Click...

      Security | SSL certificate and key management | Configuration settings | Manage endpoint security configurations | configuration_name | Related items | SSL configurations

   You can either edit the DefaultSSLConfig file or create a new SSL configuration with a new alias name. If you create a new alias name for your new keystore and truststore files, change every location that references the DefaultSSLConfig SSL configuration alias. The following list specifies the locations of where the SSL configuration repertoire aliases are used in the WAS configuration.

   For any transports that use the new network input/output channel chains, including HTTP and JMS, modify the SSL configuration repertoire aliases in the following locations for each server:

   • Server | Application server | server_name | Communications | Ports | transport chain where SSL is enabled | View associated transports | transport_channel_name | Transport Channels | SSL Inbound Channel (SSL_2).

   For the Object Request Broker (ORB) SSL transports, modify the SSL configuration repertoire aliases in the following locations. These configurations are for the server-level for WAS and WAS Express and the cell level for WAS Network Deployment.

   • Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure | RMI/IIOP security | CSIv2 inbound transport

   • Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure | RMI/IIOP security | CSIv2 outbound transport

   • Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure | RMI/IIOP security | SAS inbound transport

   • Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure | RMI/IIOP security | SAS outbound transport

   For the SOAP JMX administrative transports, modify the SSL configurations repertoire aliases by clicking...

   Servers | Application servers | server_name | Server infrastructure | Administration | Administration services | Additional properties | JMX connectors | SOAPConnector | Additional properties | Custom properties

   To point the sslConfig property to a new alias, click New and type sslConfig in the name field, and its value in the Value field.

   For the LDAP SSL transport, modify the SSL configuration repertoire aliases by clicking...

   Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure | User account repository | Available realm definitions drop-down list | Standalone LDAP registry

9. To configure the rest of the security settings and enable security.

   Security | Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure

10. Validate the completed security configuration by clicking OK or Apply. If problems occur, they display at the top of the console page in red type.

11. If there are no validation problems, click Save to save the settings to a file that the server uses when it restarts. Saving writes the settings to the configuration repository.

    If you do not click Apply or OK in the Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure panel before you click Save, your changes are not written to the repository. The server must be restarted for any changes to take effect when you start the administrative console.

12. Start the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.

    If security is currently disabled, log in with any user ID. If security is currently enabled, log in with a predefined administrative ID and password. This ID is typically the server user ID specified when you configured the user registry.

 

Related concepts

Java 2 security
Administrative security
Application security
Java 2 security
Enabling security for the realm
Testing security after enabling it
The Security Configuration Wizard

 

Related tasks

Selecting a registry or repository

Configuring the Lightweight Third Party Authentication mechanism

 

Related reference

Java 2 security policy files

• Administrative security
• Security

Secure administration, applications, and infrastructure settings

Specify extent of protection wizard settings