Configuring a local OS registry for the IBM MQ Console and REST API

You can configure a local operating system registry within the mqwebuser.xml file. The user names and passwords on the local operating system are used to authenticate and authorize users of the IBM® MQ Console and the REST API.

Before you begin

For client certificate authentication with the local OS authentication feature, the user identity is the common name (CN) from the distinguished name (DN) of the client certificate. If the user identity does not exist as an operating system user, client certificate login will fail and fallback to password based authentication.
To complete this task, you must be a user with sufficient privileges to edit the mqwebuser.xml file:
- If the mqweb server is part of a stand-alone IBM MQ Web Server installation, you must have write access to the mqwebuser.xml file in the IBM MQ Web Server data directory.
- If the mqweb server is part of an IBM MQ installation, you must be a privileged user.

About this task

With a local operating system registry, users and groups are automatically assigned a role:

Any user that is part of the 'mqm' group, or the 'QMQMADM' group on IBM i, is granted the MQWebAdmin and MFTWebAdmin roles.
All other users are granted the MQWebUser role.

For more information about these roles, see Roles on the IBM MQ Console and REST API.

A local operating system registry can only be used on AIX®, Linux®, and Windows. [z/OS] Equivalent function is provided on z/OS® by configuring a SAF registry. For more information, see Configuring a SAF registry for the IBM MQ Console and REST API.

Procedure

Copy the sample XML file local_os_registry.xml from one of the following paths:
- In a stand-alone IBM MQ Web Server installation: MQWEB_INSTALLATION_PATH/web/mq/samp/configuration
  where MQWEB_INSTALLATION_PATH is the directory to which the IBM MQ Web Server installation file was decompressed.
- In an IBM MQ installation: MQ_INSTALLATION_PATH/web/mq/samp/configuration
Place the sample file in one of the following directories:
- In a stand-alone IBM MQ Web Server installation: MQ_OVERRIDE_DATA_PATH/web/installations/MQWEBINST/servers/mqweb
  where MQ_OVERRIDE_DATA_PATH is the IBM MQ Web Server data directory that the MQ_OVERRIDE_DATA_PATH environment variable points to.
- In an IBM MQ installation: MQ_DATA_PATH/web/installations/installationName/servers/mqweb
Optional: If you changed any configuration settings in mqwebuser.xml, copy them into the sample file.
Delete the existing mqwebuser.xml file and rename the sample file to mqwebuser.xml.

What to do next

Choose how users authenticate:

IBM MQ Console authentication options

Let users authenticate by using token authentication. In this case, a user enters a user ID and password at the IBM MQ Console log in screen. An LTPA token is generated that enables the user to remain logged in and authorized for a set amount of time. No further configuration is required to use this authentication option, but you can optionally configure the expiry interval for the LTPA token. For more information, see Configuring the LTPA token expiry interval.
Let users authenticate by using client certificates. In this case, the user does not use a user ID or password to log in to the IBM MQ Console, but uses the client certificate instead. For more information, see Configuring client certificate authentication with the REST API and IBM MQ Console.

REST API authentication options

Let users authenticate by using HTTP basic authentication. In this case, a user name and password is encoded, but not encrypted, and sent with each REST API request to authenticate and authorize the user for that request. In order for this authentication to be secure, you must use a secure connection. That is, you must use HTTPS. For more information, see Using HTTP basic authentication with the REST API.
Let users authenticate by using token authentication. In this case, a user provides a user ID and password to the REST API login resource with the HTTP POST method. An LTPA token is generated that enables the user to remain logged in and authorized for a set amount of time. For more information, see Using token-based authentication with the REST API. You can configure the expiry interval for the LTPA token. For more information, see Configuring the LTPA token.
Let users authenticate by using client certificates. In this case, the user does not use a user ID or password to log in to the REST API, but uses the client certificate instead. For more information, see Configuring client certificate authentication with the REST API and IBM MQ Console.