Before you begin
Why and when to perform this task
Complete the following steps to specify which message parts to digitally sign when configuring the client for request signing:Steps for this task
Name | Purpose |
---|---|
Canonicalization method algorithm | Canonicalizes the <SignedInfo> element before the information is digested as part of the signature operation. |
Digest method algorithm | Applies to the data after transforms are applied, if specified, to yield the <DigestValue> element. Signing the <DigestValue> element binds the resource content to the signer key. The algorithm selected for the client request sender configuration must match the algorithm selected in the server request receiver configuration. |
Signature method algorithm | Converts the canonicalized <SignedInfo> element into the <SignatureValue> element. The algorithm selected for the client request sender configuration must match the algorithm selected in the server request receiver configuration. |
Signing key name | Represents the key entry associated with the signing key locator. The key entry refers to an alias of the key, which is found in the key store and is used to sign the request. |
Signing key locator | Represents a reference to a key locator implementation class that locates the correct hey store where the alias and the certificate exist. |
Result
The actor information on both the client and server must refer to the same exact string. When the actor fields on the client and server match, the request or response is acted upon instead of being forwarded downstream. The actor fields might be different when you have Web services acting as a gateway to other Web services. However, in all other cases, make sure that the actor information matches on the client and server. When Web services are acting as a gateway and they do not have the same actor configured as the request passing through the gateway, Web services do not process the message from a client. Instead, these Web services send the request downstream. The downstream process that contains the correct actor string processes the request. The same situation occurs for the response. Therefore, it is important that you verify that the appropriate client and server actor fields are synchronized.
What to do next
After you configure the client to digitally sign the message, you must configure the server to verify the digital signature. See Configuring the server for request digital signature verification: Verifying the message parts for more information.Related concepts
XML digital signature
Request sender
Request receiver
Security token
Key locator
Related tasks
Configuring the client security bindings using an assembly tool
Configuring the security bindings on a server acting as a client using
the administrative console
Configuring the client for request signing: digitally signing message
parts
Configuring the server for request digital signature verification:
Verifying the message parts
Configuring key locators using an assembly tool
Configuring key locators using the administrative console
Securing Web services for version 5.x applications using XML digital
signature