The default binding information is defined in the ws-security.xml file
and can be administered by either the administrative console or by
scripting. Only default bindings for JAX-RPC applications are supported.
Default bindings for JAX-WS applications are not supported.
Important: There is an important distinction between Version
5.x and Version 6 and later applications. The information in
this article supports version 5.x applications only that are
used with WebSphere® Application Server Version
6.0.x and later. The information does not apply to Version
6 and later applications. Also, policy sets can only be used with
JAX-WS applications. Policy sets cannot be used for JAX-RPC applications.
Certain applications can share certain binding information. This
information includes truststores, keystores, and authentication methods
(token validation).
WebSphere Application Server provides
support for default binding information. Administrators can define
binding information at:
- The server level
- The cell level
Applications can refer to this binding information.
You can define the following binding information in the ws-security.xml file:
- Trust anchors (truststore)
- Trust anchors contain key store configuration information
that has the root-trusted certificates. Trust anchors are used for
certificate path validation of the incoming X.509-formatted
security tokens.
- The Trust Anchor Name is used in the binding file (ibm-webservices-bnd.xmi and ibm-webservicesclient-bnd-xmi when
Web services is running as a client) to refer to the trust anchor
defined in the default binding information. The trust anchor name
must be unique in the trust anchor collection.
- Collection certificate store
- The collection certificate store specifies a list of untrusted,
intermediate certificates and is used for certificate path validation
of incoming X.509-formatted security tokens. The default provider
is IBMCertPath.
- The Certificate Store Name is used in the binding file (ibm-webservices-bnd.xmi and ibm-webservicesclient-bnd-xmi when
Web services is running as a client) to refer to the certificate store
defined in the default binding information. The Certificate Store
Name must be unique to the collection certificate store collection.
- Key locators
- Key locators specify implementation of the com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.config.KeyLocator
interface. This interface is used to retrieve keys for signature or
encryption. Customer implementations can extend the key locator interface
to retrieve keys using other methods. WebSphere Application Server provides implementations
to retrieve a key from the key store, map an authenticated identity
to a key in the key store, or retrieve a key from the signer certificate
(mapping and retrieving actions are used for encrypting the response).
- The Key Locator Name is used in the binding file (ibm-webservices-bnd.xmi and ibm-webservicesclient-bnd-xmi when
Web services is running as a client) to refer to the key locator defined
in the default binding information. The Key Locator Name must be unique
to the key locators collection in the default binding information.
- Trusted ID evaluators
- Trusted ID evaluators are an implementation of the com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.id.TrustedIDEvaluator
interface. This interface is used to make sure the identity (ID)-asserting
authority is trusted. Additionally, you can extend the trusted identity
evaluator to validate the trust. WebSphere Application Server provides a default
implementation for validating trust based on a predefined list of
identities.
- The Trusted ID Evaluator Name is used in the binding file (ibm-webservices-bnd.xmi)
to refer to the trusted identity evaluator defined in the default
binding information. The Trusted ID Evaluator Name must be unique
to the Trusted ID Evaluator collection.
- Login mappings
- Login mappings define the mapping of the authentication
method to the Java Authentication and Authorization
Service (JAAS) login configuration. The mappings are used to authenticate
the incoming security token embedded in the Web services security
SOAP message header. The
JAAS login configuration is defined in the administrative console
under Security > Global security > Java Authentication
and Authorization Service > Application logins.
- WebSphere Application Server defines
the following authentication methods:
- BasicAuth
- Authenticates user name and password.
- Signature
- Maps the subject distinguished name (DN) in the certificate to
a WebSphere Application Server credential.
- IDAssertion
- Maps the identity to a WebSphere Application Server credential.
- LTPA
- Authenticates a Lightweight Third Party Authentication (LTPA)
token.
After identity authentication, the associated credential
is used in the downstream call.
- This method can be extended to authenticate custom security tokens
by providing a custom JAAS login configuration and by using the com.ibm.wsspi.wssecurity.auth.module.WSSecurityMappingModule to
create the principal and credential required by WebSphere Application Server.
- If LoginConfig (AuthMethod)
is defined in the IBM® extension deployment descriptor
(ibm-webservices-ext.xmi), but there are no login mapping
bindings (ibm-webservices-bnd.xmi) defined for the AuthMethod, Web services security run time
uses the login mapping defined in the default binding information.
WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment
When
the WebSphere Application Server is federated
to a WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment cell,
the default binding file (ws-security.xml) of the server
is added to the new cell (with other server level configuration information).
If you use the cell-level default binding, the entries of the server
level default binding must be removed.
There
is a cell-level default binding (
ws-security.xml) for
WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment installation.
Furthermore, for
WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment installation
server-level binding is optional. To navigate to the cell-level default
binding in the administrative console, click
Security > Web
Services.
Figure 1. Web services security application-level,
cell-level, and server-level default binding information
The order of the default binding information is application-level
binding, server-level, and cell-level default binding.