Configure the server to support signature authentication

Signature authentication refers to an X.509 certificate sent by the client to the server. The certificate is used to authenticate to the user registry configured at the server. After a request is received by the server that contains the certificate, the server needs to log in to form a credential. The credential is used for authorization. You can configure signature authentication at the server.

Overview

There is an important distinction between V5.x and V6.0.x and later applications. The information in this article supports V5.x applications only that are used with WebSphere Application Server V6.0.x and later. The information does not apply to V6.0.x and later applications.

If the certificate supplied cannot be mapped to an entry in the user registry, an exception is provided and the request ends without invoking the resource.

Procedure

1. Launch an assembly tool. For more information on the assembly tools, see Assembly tools.

2. Switch to the J2EE perspective by clicking Window > Open perspective > Other > J2EE.

3. Click EJB Projects > application_name > ejbModule > META-INF.

4. Right-click the webservices.xml file, and click Open with > Web services editor.

5. Click the Extensions tab, which is located at the bottom of the Web Services Editor within the assembly tool.

6. Expand the Request receiver service configuration details > Login configuration section. You can select from the following options: 

   • BasicAuth

   • Signature

   • ID assertion

   • Lightweight Third Party Authentication (LTPA)

7. Select Signature to authenticate the client using an X509 certificate. The certificate that is sent from the client is the certificate that issued for signing the message. You must be able to map this certificate to the configured user registry. For Local operating system (OS) registries, the common name (cn) of the distinguished name (DN) is mapped to a user ID in the registry. For Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), you can configure multiple mapping modes:

   • EXACT_DN is the default mode that directly maps the DN of the certificate to an entry in the LDAP server.

   • CERTIFICATE_FILTER is the mode that provides the LDAP advanced configuration with a place to specify a filter that maps specific attributes of the certificate to specific attributes of the LDAP server.

What to do next

After you specify how the server handles signature authentication information, specify how the server validates the authentication information. See the task for configuring the server to validate signature authentication.

Related concepts

Related tasks