Service client or provider policy set bindings collection
Use this page to create, copy, and manage general policy set bindings, such as the service client or provider bindings. These bindings provide system-specific configuration, and can be reused across policy set attachments. You can select the general default bindings, create new general bindings, or use existing bindings for an attached policy set.
To view this administrative console page, click
. You can also view this page by clicking .About policy set bindings
There are two types of bindings, application specific bindings and general bindings.
Application specific binding
You can create application specific bindings only at a policy set attachment point. These bindings are specific to and defined by the characteristics of the defined policy. Application specific bindings can provide configuration for advanced policy requirements, such as multiple signatures; however, these bindings are only reusable within an application. Furthermore, application specific bindings have limited reuse across policy sets.
When you create an application specific binding for a policy set attachment, the binding begins in an unconfigured state. You must add each policy, such as WS-Security or HTTP transport, that you want to override the default binding and fully configure the bindings for each policy that you have added. For WS-Security policy, some high level configuration attributes such as TokenConsumer, TokenGenerator, SigningInfo, or EncryptionInfo might be obtained from the default bindings if they are not configured in the application specific bindings.
For service providers, you can only create application specific bindings by selecting
for service provider resources that have an attached policy set. See service providers policy sets and bindings collection. Similarly, for service clients, you can only create application specific bindings by selecting for service client resources that have an attached policy set. See service client policy set and bindings collection.General bindings
General bindings were introduced in WebSphere® Application Server Version 7.0. These bindings can be configured to be used across a range of policy sets and can be reused across applications and for trust service attachments. Though general bindings are highly reusable, they are however not able to provide configuration for advanced policy requirements, such as multiple signatures. There are two types of general bindings:
- General provider policy set bindings
- General client policy set bindings
You can create general policy set bindings by copying an existing binding or by creating a new one. For WS-Security bindings, copy an existing sample binding. Creating a new policy set binding from scratch for WS-Security can cause unexpected problems at run time.
To create general provider policy set bindings, in the administrative console, select
. To create general client policy set bindings, select .For more information, see Defining and managing service client or provider bindings. General provider policy set bindings can also be used for trust service attachments.

You cannot assign a binding to a service provider resource that does not have a policy set or has an inherited attachment. To assign a binding to such a service provider resource, you must first attach a policy set to the resource. Also, you cannot assign a binding to a service client resource that does not have an effective policy configuration or has an inherited policy attachment. To assign a binding to such a service client resource, you must first attach a policy set or specify the use of the provider policy.
Depending on your assigned security role when security is enabled, you might not have access to text entry fields or buttons to create or edit configuration data. Review the administrative roles documentation to learn more about the valid roles for the application server.
Name
Specifies the name of the service client or provider policy set binding.
Button | Resulting Action |
---|---|
New | Creates a new client or provider policy set binding. This option accesses the New binding panel. The binding is empty initially; you must enter a name and an optional description for a new client or provider policy set binding. |
Delete | Removes the selected client or provider general policy set binding. The default general bindings are being used as the default for a server or a security domain, including the global security domain. You cannot delete default bindings for global security or other security domains. An attempt to delete such default general binding generates an error message that the selected binding cannot be deleted because it is currently the default binding for a security domain. |
Copy | Creates a modifiable copy of the selected client or provider policy set binding using a new name that you provide. |
Import | Imports a client or provider policy set binding. This is a menu item with the option of importing a binding with the same name or providing a different name for the import. |
Export | Exports the selected client or provider policy set binding to an archive file. |
Security Domain
Indicates which security domain uses the general policy set binding. The default domain is global security. This column in the collection table appears only when there are multiple security domains to which the binding can be scoped.
Description
Specifies the user-defined description for the client or provider policy set bindings.