Portal, Express Beta Version 6.1 Operating systems: i5/OS, Linux,Windows

Authentication

Authentication means that users identify themselves to gain access to the system. Users can identify themselves immediately upon entry to the system or they can be challenged by the system when they try to access a protected resource before identifying themselves. The user ID/password combination is the most common method of identifying a user to the system. After a user has been authenticated, the system can determine if that user is authorized to access the resources that are requested.

WebSphere Portal Express allows the following methods for login and authentication:

Form based authentication:

By default WebSphere Portal Express uses the Custom Form-based Authentication mechanism of IBM WebSphere Application Server to prompt users for identity. Users type their user ID and password in the login portlet or the login screen of the portal.

SSL client certificate authentication:

Alternately you can configure authentication via certificates that are stored in the browser or a SmartCard via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) client certificate authentication. In this case the authentication is done for the users when they access the protected area of the portal.

Third party authentication:

You can also configure your portal for third-party authentication, for example, through an external security manager such as IBM Tivoli^® Access Manager for e-business. With this method the portal trusts that the authentication was done by the third-party product.

Automatic login with the login URL:

It is also possible to log into the portal by using the following URL which includes the user ID and password: http://server:port/wps/portal/cxml/04_SD9ePMtCP1I800I_KydQvyHFUBADPmuQy?userid=userid&password=password, where you need to replace the variables for server,port, userid, and password with the values set for your environment. For example, this method is suitable for automatic logon by a utility program for administrative purposes.