Securing downstream JAX-RS resources

You can secure downstream Java™ API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS) resources by configuring the BasicAuth method for authentication and by using the LTPA JAX-RS security handler to take advantage of single sign-on for user authentication.

Before you begin

This task assumes that you have completed the following steps:
  • You have installed your JAX-RS application onto the application server.
  • You have enabled security for your JAX-RS application.
  • You have secured your JAX-RS applications within the web container by configuring downstream JAX-RS applications to use the basic authentication (BasicAuth) method for user authentication.

About this task

When composing JAX-RS resources, a new LTPA JAX-RS security handler can be used to seamlessly authenticate on downstream resource invocations.

When invoking downstream secure JAX-RS resources, the calling application is required to authenticate to the target resource. If the target resource on a downstream server uses the BasicAuth method for security, the calling application can take advantage of single sign-on (SSO) for JAX-RS resources. Using single sign-on, an authenticated context is propagated along downstream calls. You can use the LTPA-based security client handler to authenticate to downstream resources that are distributed across servers.

To illustrate this scenario, assume that you have two servers in your cell and that you have deployed JAX-RS resources on both of these servers. Suppose from one resource on server1 you need to invoke another resource that is deployed on server2. When server2 resources are secured using the BasicAuth method for authentication, use the LTPA JAX-RS security handler to take advantage of single sign-on and seamlessly propagate user authentication on downstream calls without having to provide or manage user identities and passwords in the application.

Figure 1. Securing JAX-RS downstream resources
You can secure downstream resources by configuring the BasicAuth method for authentication and by using the LTPA JAX-RS security handler.

Use the following steps to configure user authentication to a downstream server using the JAX-RS security handler at application build time.

Procedure

  1. At application build time, use the LTPA-based security client handler, LtpaAuthSecurityHandler, to authenticate to downstream resources that are distributed across servers.
    • For JAX-RS 1.1, when using the LtpaAuthSecurityHandler class, ensure that you target resources using the https scheme for your URLs, and that the target application is SSL-enabled. It is highly recommended to use SSL connections when sending user credentials, including LTPA cookies. You may explicitly turn off the requirement for SSL in the LtpaAuthSecurityHandler class by invoking the setSSLRequired method on the security handler with the false value. The default value is true.
      yourLtpaAuthSecHandler.setSSLRequired(false);
    • For JAX-RS 2.0, you can use the com.ibm.ws.jaxrs.client.ltpa.handler client property to set SSO cookie and set the value to true: 
      ClientBuilder cb = ClientBuilder.newBuilder();

        Client c = cb.build();
        c.property("com.ibm.ws.jaxrs.client.ltpa.handler", "true");
        WebTarget t = c.target("http://" + serverIP + ":" + serverPort + "/" + moduleName + "/ComplexClientTest/ComplexResource");
        String res = t.path("echo1").path("test1").request().get(String.class);
        c.close();
        ret.append(res);
    If you want to use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) function in JAX-RS 2.0, you need to enable the transportSecurity-1.0 or appSecurity-2.0 feature. For the LTPA token function, the appSecurity-2.0 feature is must.
    Note: The transportSecurity-1.0 feature is a subfeature of the appSecurity-2.0 feature. If you enable the jaxrsClient-2.0 feature and the transportSecurity-1.0 feature, the appSecurity-2.0 feature is enabled automatically.
  2. Add the security handler to the handlers chain.
  3. Create the REST client instance.
  4. Create the resource instance that you want to interact with.
  5. Substitute a value representing your resource address.

Results

You have defined secure JAX-RS resources such that when downstream resources are invoked, you can use single sign-on and seamlessly propagate user authentication on downstream calls without having to provide or manage user identities and passwords in the application.

Example

For JAX-RS 1.1, the following code snippet demonstrates how to use this security handler that is packaged as part of the JAX-RS client.
import org.apache.wink.client.Resource;
 import org.apache.wink.client.RestClient;
 import org.apache.wink.client.ClientConfig;
 import org.apache.wink.client.handlers.LtpaAuthSecurityHandler;

 ClientConfig config = new ClientConfig();
 LtpaAuthSecurityHandler secHandler = new LtpaAuthSecurityHandler();

 // Add this security handler to the handlers chain.
 config.handlers(secHandler);

 // Create the REST client instance.
 RestClient client = new RestClient(config);

 // Create the resource instance that you want to interact with.
 // Substitute a value representing your resource address
 resource =
  client.resource("http://localhost:8080/path/to/resource");

// Now you are ready to begin calling your resource.
For JAX-RS 2.0, the following code snippet demonstrates how to use this security handler that is packaged as part of the JAX-RS client.
ClientBuilder cb = ClientBuilder.newBuilder();
Client c = cb.build();
c.property("com.ibm.ws.jaxrs.client.ltpa.handler", "true");

String res = "";
res = c.target("http://" + serverIP + ":" + serverPort + "/" + moduleName + "/rest/ltpa")
                            .request()
c.close();
return res;