General - release notes


1.0 Known problems
   1.1 Repaint problems on Linux
   1.2 KDE and GNOME take Ctrl+Fn keys
   1.3 Configuring the trusted mode to determine if administrators can trust private HTTP headers or not

1.0 Known problems

1.1 Repaint problems on Linux

In some cases on Linux, GTK items in the GUI may not repaint properly. For example, when working with the Tasks view, it may not get refreshed properly. Should this occur, close all perspectives by selecting Windows > Close All Perspectives and then re-open the perspectives you were working with. The refresh problem should no longer occur.

1.2 KDE and GNOME take Ctrl+Fn keys

When using the KDE or GNOME desktop on Linux systems, the Ctrl+Fn key sequences are used for switching between virtual desktops. This means that commands bound to these key sequences do not get activated, including Ctrl+F1 (Help), Ctrl+F4 (File > Close) and Ctrl+F6 (Next Editor).

These keys can be reassigned in KDE or GNOME using the Control Center. To do this, open the Control Centre, and select Look & Feel > Shortcuts, then click the Shortcut Sequences tab and select System > Desktop Switching. Set all items to None or to a different key sequence such as Ctrl+Alt+Fn.

1.3 Configuring the trusted mode to determine if administrators can trust private HTTP headers or not

WebSphere Application Server has further tightened security by introducing a configuration option that permits administrators to specify if they trust private HTTP headers or not. You should carefully evaluate enabling the WebSphere Application Server internal HTTP server in the trusted mode in the production environment to determine if sufficient trust is established. When the trusted mode is enabled, the WebSphere Application Server internal HTTP server allows the assertion of the user identity by adding the client certificate to the HTTP header. The Web server plug-in can use this feature to support client certificate authentication. The HTTP header does not carry verifiable information that WebSphere Application Server can use to determine the server identity that asserts the client certificate. You should establish a secure communication channel with transport level authentication between the Web server plug-in and WebSphere Application Server to avoid HTTP header spoofing. You can configure the trusted mode for each HTTP port independently and disable on any port that client machines can access directly, both from the Internet and the Intranet. Requiring the Web server plug-in to establish a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection with client certificate authentication is a way to ensure that only a trusted Web server plug-in asserts the user certificate. Moreover, you should use a self-signed certificate so that only those servers that have the self-signed certificate can establish a secure connection to the trusted internal HTTP server port. For more information on setting up the SSL connection with self-signed certificate authentication, visit the following Web site: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.wasee.doc/info/ee/ae/tsec_httpserv.html Other than SSL, you can use mechanisms such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) and IPSec to protect the Internal HTTP Transport from being accessed by unauthorized users.

The trusted mode is set to true by default. Perform the following steps to add a custom transport property to disable the trusted mode: 1. Using the administrative console, click Servers > Application Servers > <server name> > Web Container >HTTP Transports > <host> > Custom Properties. 2. Click New and enter the property name Trusted with the value of false. 3. Restart the server. 4. After the server restarts, the Transports for which you set Trusted to false do not accept client certificate assertion and return an HTTP Error 403 with the error message similar to the following in your log file: Requests through proxies such as the WebSphere webserver plug-in are not permitted to this port. The HTTP transport on port 9080 is not configured to be trusted.

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