Structure of the configuration file

The configuration file points Advanced Message Security to the location of the appropriate keystore.

Each of the following configuration file types has a prefix:

    CMS
    Certificate Management System, configuration entries are prefixed with: cms.

    PKCS#11
    Public Key Cryptography Standard #11, configuration entries are prefixed with: pkcs11.

    PEM
    Privacy Enhanced Mail format, configuration entries are prefixed with: pem.

    JKS
    Java KeyStore, configuration entries are prefixed with: jks.

    JCEKS
    Java Cryptographic Encryption KeyStore, configuration entries are prefixed with: jceks.

    JCERACFKS
    Java Cryptographic Encryption RACF keyring KeyStore, configuration entries are prefixed with: jceracfks.

Important: From IBM MQ Version 9.0 the JCEKS.provider and JKS.provider values are ignored. The Bouncy Castle provider is used, in conjunction with whichever JCE/JCE provision is supplied by the JRE in use. For more information, see Support for non-IBM JREs.

Example structures for keystores:

CMS 
cms.keystore = /dir/keystore_file
cms.certificate = certificate_label
PKCS#11 
pkcs11.library = dir\cryptoki.dll
pkcs11.certificate = certificatelabel
pkcs11.token = tokenlabel
pkcs11.token_pin = tokenpin
pkcs11.secondary_keystore = dir\signers
PEM 
pem.private = /dir/keystore_file_private_key
pem.public = /dir/keystore_file_public_keys
pem.password = password
Java JKS 
jks.keystore = dir/Keystore
jks.certificate = certificate_label
jks.encrypted = no
jks.keystore_pass = password
jks.key_pass = password
jks.provider = IBMJCE
Java JCEKS 
jceks.keystore = dir/Keystore
jceks.certificate = certificate_label
jceks.encrypted = no
jceks.keystore_pass = password
jceks.key_pass = password
jceks.provider = IBMJCE

Java JCERACFKS

jceracfks.keystore = safkeyring://user/keyring
jceracfks.certificate = certificate_label
Table 1. Summary of parameters needed for each configuration file type
Parameters Configuration file type
Java (JKS, JCEKS, and JCERACFKS) PEM PKCS#11 CMS
keystore      
private      
public      
password      
library      
certificate  
token      
token_pin      
secondary_keystore      
encrypted

     
keystore_pass      
provider      
Configuration file parameters are defined as follows:

    keystore
    CMS and Java configuration only. Path to the keystore file for CMS, JKS, and JCEKS configuration.

    URI to the RACF keyring for JCERACFKS configuration.

    Important:

    • The path to the keystore file must not include the file extension.
    • The URI to the RACF keyring must be in the form:
      safkeyring://user/keyring
      where:

      • user is the user id that owns the keyring
      • keyring is the keyring name.

    private
    PEM configuration only. File name of a file that contains private key and certificate in PEM format.

    public
    PEM configuration only. File name of a file that contains trusted public certificates in PEM format.

    password
    PEM configuration only. Password that is used to decrypt an encrypted private key.

    library
    PKCS#11 only. Path name of the PKCS#11 library.

    certificate
    CMS, PKCS#11 and Java configuration only. Certificate label.

    token
    PKCS#11 only. Token label.

    token_pin
    PKCS#11 only. PIN to unlock the token.

    secondary_keystore
    PKCS#11 only. Path name of the CMS keystore, provided without the .kdb extension, that contains anchor certificates (root certificates) required by certificates stored on the PKCS #11 token. The secondary keystore can also contain certificates that are intermediate in the trust chain, as well as recipient certificates that are defined in the privacy security policy. This CMS keystore must be accompanied by a stash file which must be located in the same directory as the secondary keystore.

    encrypted
    Java configuration only. Status of the password.

    keystore_pass
    Java configuration only. Password for the keystore file. Note:

    • For the CMS keystore, AMS relies on the stash files (.sth), whereas JKS and JCEKS might require a password for both the certificate and the user's private key.
    • Important: Storing passwords in plain text form is a security risk.
    Note: Ignored for jceracfks as access is not controlled by a password.

    key_pass
    Java configuration only. Password for the user's private key. Important: Storing passwords in plain text form is a security risk.
    Note: Ignored for jceracfks as access is not controlled by a password.

    provider
    Java configuration only. The Java security provider that implements cryptographic algorithms required by the keystore certificate. Note: Currently, IBMJCE is the only provider that is supported by Advanced Message Security.

Important: Information that is stored in the keystore is crucial for the secure flow of data that is sent by using IBM MQ. Security administrators must pay particular attention when they are assigning file permissions to these files.

For more information about managing the keystore by using GSKit commands, see GSKit: Commands renamed.

Example of the keystore.conf file: 
cms.keystore = c:\Documents and Settings\Alice\AliceKeystore
cms.certificate = AliceCert

jceks.keystore = c:/Documents and Settings/Alice/AliceKeystore
jceks.certificate = AliceCert
jceks.encrypted = no
jceks.keystore_pass = passw0rd
jceks.key_pass = passw0rd
jceks.provider = IBMJCE