Getting Started with Tuxedo CORBA Applications

Using Security

This topic includes the following sections:

Notes: This chapter describes how to use authentication. For a complete description of all the security features available in the CORBA security environment and instructions for implementing the features, see Using Security in CORBA Applications in the BEA Tuxedo online documentation.

The BEA Tuxedo CORBA Java client and BEA Tuxedo CORBA Java client ORB were deprecated in Tuxedo 8.1 and are no longer supported in Tuxedo 9.0. All BEA Tuxedo CORBA Java client and BEA Tuxedo CORBA Java client ORB text references, associated code samples, etc. should only be used:

to help implement/run third party Java ORB libraries, and
for programmer reference only.

Technical support for third party CORBA Java ORBs should be provided by their respective vendors. BEA Tuxedo does not provide any technical support or documentation for third party CORBA Java ORBs.

Overview of the Security Service

The CORBA environment in the BEA Tuxedo product offers a security model based on the CORBA Services Security Service. The BEA Tuxedo CORBA security model implements the authentication portion of the CORBA Services Security Service.

In the CORBA environment security information is defined on a domain basis. The security level for the domain is defined in the configuration file. Client applications use the SecurityCurrent object to provide the necessary authentication information to log on to the BEA Tuxedo domain.

The following levels of authentication are provided:

TOBJ_NOAUTH

No authentication is needed; however, the client application may still authenticate itself, and may specify a username and a client application name, but no password.

TOBJ_SYSAUTH

The client application must authenticate itself to the BEA Tuxedo domain and must specify a username, client application name, and application password.

TOBJ_APPAUTH

In addition to the TOBJ_SYSAUTH information, the client application must provide application-specific information. If the default BEA Tuxedo CORBA authentication service is used in the application configuration, the client application must provide a user password; otherwise, the client application provides authentication data that is interpreted by the custom authentication service in the application.

Note: If a client application is not authenticated and the security level is TOBJ_NOAUTH, the IIOP Listener/Handler of the BEA Tuxedo domain registers the client application with the username and client application name sent to the IIOP Listener/Handler.

In the BEA Tuxedo CORBA security environment, only the PrincipalAuthenticator and Credentials properties on the SecurityCurrent object are supported. For a description of the SecurityLevel1::Current and SecurityLevel2::Current interfaces, see the CORBA Programming Reference in the BEA Tuxedo online documentation.

How Security Works

Figure 4-1 illustrates how CORBA security works in a BEA Tuxedo domain.

Figure 4-1 How CORBA Security Works on BEA Tuxedo Domain

How CORBA Security Works on BEA Tuxedo Domain

The steps are as follows:

The client application uses the Bootstrap object to return an object reference to the SecurityCurrent object for the BEA Tuxedo domain.

The client application obtains the PrincipalAuthenticator.

The client application uses the Tobj::PrincipalAuthenticator::get_auth_type() method to get the authentication level for the BEA Tuxedo domain.

The proper authentication level is returned to the client application.

The client application uses the Tobj::PrincipalAuthenticator::logon() method to log on to the BEA Tuxedo domain with the proper authentication information.

Note: BEA Tuxedo CORBA also supports the use of the CORBA Interoperable Naming Service (INS) to obtain an initial object reference for the Security Service. For information on the INS bootstrapping mechanism, see the CORBA Programming Reference.

The Security Sample Application

The Security sample application demonstrates how to use password authentication. The Security sample application requires that each student using the application has an ID and a password. The Security sample application works in the following manner:

The client application has a logon() operation. This operation invokes operations on the PrincipalAuthenticator object, which is obtained as part of the process of logging on to access the domain.
The server application implements a get_student_details() operation on the Registrar object to return information about a student. After the user is authenticated, logon is complete and the get_student_details() operation accesses the student information in the database to obtain the student information needed by the client logon operation.
The database in the Security sample application contains course and student information.

Note: Certificate authentication is illustrated in the Secure Simpapp sample application.

Figure 4-2 illustrates the Security sample application.

Figure 4-2 Security Sample Application

Security Sample Application

The source files for the Security sample application are located in the \samples\corba\university directory in the BEA Tuxedo software. For information about building and running the Security sample application, see Using Security in CORBA Applications in the BEA Tuxedo online documentation.

Development Steps

Table 4-1 lists the development steps for writing a BEA Tuxedo CORBA application that employs authentication security.

Table 4-1 Development Steps for BEA Tuxedo CORBA Applications That Have Security

Step	Description
1	Define the security level in the configuration file.
2	Write the CORBA client application.

Step 1: Define the Security Level in the Configuration File

The security level for a BEA Tuxedo domain is defined by setting the SECURITY parameter in the RESOURCES section of the configuration file to the desired security level. Table 4-2 lists the options for the SECURITY parameter.

Table 4-2 Options for the SECURITY Parameter

Option	Definition
`NONE`	No security is implemented in the domain. This option is the default. This option maps to the `TOBJ_NOAUTH` level of authentication.
`APP_PW`	Requires that client applications provide an application password during initialization. The `tmloadcf` command prompts for an application password. This option maps to the `TOBJ_SYSAUTH` level of authentication.
`USER_AUTH`	Requires an application password and performs a per-user authentication during the initialization of the client application. This option maps to the `TOBJ_APPAUTH` level of authentication.

In the Security sample application, the SECURITY parameter is set to APP_PW for application-level security. For information about adding security to a BEA Tuxedo CORBA application, see Using Security in CORBA Applications in the BEA Tuxedo online documentation.

Step 2: Write the CORBA Client Application

Write client application code that does the following:

Uses the Bootstrap object to obtain a reference to the SecurityCurrent object for the specific BEA Tuxedo domain.

Gets the PrincipalAuthenticator object from the SecurityCurrent object.

Uses the get_auth_type() operation of the PrincipalAuthenticator object to return the type of authentication expected by the BEA Tuxedo domain.

Listing 4-1 include the portions of the CORBA C++ client applications in the Security sample application that illustrate the development steps for security.

Listing 4-1 Example of Security in a CORBA C++ Client Application

CORBA::Object_var var_security_current_oref =   
     bootstrap.resolve_initial_references("SecurityCurrent");
SecurityLevel2::Current_var var_security_current_ref = 
     SecurityLevel2::Current::_narrow(var_security_current_oref.in());

//Get the PrincipalAuthenticator
SecurityLevel2::PrincipalAuthenticator_var var_principal_authenticator_oref =
     var_security_current_ref->principal_authenticator();
//Narrow the PrincipalAuthenticator
Tobj::PrincipalAuthenticator_var var_bea_principal_authenticator =
     Tobj::PrincipalAuthenticator::_narrow (
                                     var_principal_authenticator_oref.in());

//Determine the security level
Tobj::AuthType auth_type = var_bea_principal_authenticator->get_auth_type();
Security::AuthenticationStatus status = var_bea_principalauthenticator->logon(
                                                   user_name,
                                                   client_name,
                                                   system_password,
                                                   user_password,
                                                   0);