...

The connections from Controllers to Agents can be secured by HTTPS with TLS/SSL certificates.
This article describes the steps required to set up secure HTTPS communication from a Controller to an Agent. This includes to use using a standalone Controller or a Controller cluster with a primary and standby instance.
- Consider See the JS7 - System Architecture article for an overview of components and connections.
- Consider to set up Follow the instructions in the JS7 - JOC Cockpit HTTPS Connections article for secure securing connections from clients (user browser / REST API client) to JOC Cockpit.
- Consider See the JS7 - Controller HTTPS Connections for article for information about securing the connections between JOC Cockpit and Controller instances.

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Certificate stores can be managed from the command line and by use of using tools that provide a GUI for this purpose:
- the Java keytool is available from the Java JRE or JDK,
- the Keystore Explorer, which is an open source utility to graphically manage certificate stores.

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Flowchart

Controller[label="&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Controller&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\nStandalone / Cluster",fillcolor="lightskyblue"]
Agent_A [label="&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Agent&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;",fillcolor="lightskyblue"]
 
Controller_Truststore [label="Controller Truststore\nhttps-truststore.p12\n\nCA certificates",fillcolor="orange"]
Controller_Keystore [label="Controller Keystore\nhttps-keystore.p12\n\nCA certificates\nPrivate Key / Certificate",fillcolor="limegreen"]

Agent_A_Truststore [label="Agent Truststore\nhttps-truststore.p12\n\nCA certificates",fillcolor="limegreen"]
Agent_A_Keystore [label="Agent Keystore\nhttps-keystore.p12\n\nCA certificates\nPrivate Key / Certificate",fillcolor="orange"]

Controller_Truststore_RootCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Root\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]
Controller_Keystore_RootCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Root\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]
Controller_Keystore_IntermediateCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Intermediate\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]
Controller_Keystore_PrivateKey [shape="ellipse",label="Client Authenciation\nPrivate Key",fillcolor="white"]
Controller_Keystore_Certificate [shape="ellipse",label="Client Authentication\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]

Agent_A_Truststore_RootCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Root\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]
Agent_A_Keystore_RootCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Root\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]
Agent_A_Keystore_IntermediateCertificate [shape="ellipse",label="CA Intermediate\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]

Agent_A_PrivateKey [shape="ellipse",label="Server Authenciation\nPrivate Key",fillcolor="white"]
Agent_A_Keystore_Certificate [shape="ellipse",label="Server Authentication\nCertificate",fillcolor="white"]

Agent_A -> Agent_A_Keystore 
Agent_A_Keystore -> Agent_A_PrivateKey -> Agent_A_Keystore_Certificate [label="&nbsp;add to keystore&nbsp;"]
Agent_A_Keystore -> Agent_A_Keystore_RootCertificate -> Agent_A_Keystore_IntermediateCertificate [label="&nbsp;add to keystore&nbsp;"]
Agent_A -> Agent_A_Truststore
Agent_A_Truststore -> Agent_A_Truststore_RootCertificate [label="&nbsp;add to truststore&nbsp;"]

Controller -> Agent_A [label="&nbsp;establish connection&nbsp;"]
Controller -> Controller_Truststore
Controller_Truststore -> Controller_Truststore_RootCertificate [label="&nbsp;add to truststore&nbsp;"]
Controller -> Controller_Keystore
Controller_Keystore -> Controller_Keystore_RootCertificate -> Controller_Keystore_IntermediateCertificate [label="&nbsp;add to keystore&nbsp;"]
Controller_Keystore -> Controller_Keystore_PrivateKey -> Controller_Keystore_Certificate [label=" add to keystore "]

Explanation:

Keystore The keystore and truststore shown in orange color are required for any connections of a Controller to an Agent.
- The Agent's private key and certificate for Server Authentication are added to the Agent's keystore. In case of a If the certificate is self-signed certificate the certificate is then it has to be added to the Controller's truststore tooas well.
- This step can be skipped if a CA-signed certificate is used as the Root Certificate in the Controller's truststore is sufficient to verify Agent certificates.
Keystore The keystore and truststore shown in green color are required if mutual authentication is in place for certificate based client authentication (default).

Secure Connection Setup

In the following the placeholder JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR specifies placeholder specifies the configuration directory of the Controller. The placeholders JS7_AGENT_HOME, JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR specify placeholders specify the directories where the Agent is installed and configured.

...

By default Controller and Agent use mutual authentication:
- The Controller verifies the Agent's certificate for Server Authentication.
- The Agent verifies the Controller's certificate for Client Authentication.
- For details details see the JS7 - Configuration for mutual HTTPS Server Authentication and Client Authentication article.
If mutual authentication cannot be applied, e.g. in case of use with for example, when wildcard certificates are used:
- Consider to use using password based authentication.
- For details see see the JS7 - Configuration for HTTPS Server Authentication with Passwords article.

For the a complete list of related configuration items see see JS7 - Agent Configuration Items.

The following chapters assume mutual authentication to be in place.

...

On the Agent server create the keystore using the keytool from your Java JRE or JKD. Alternatively import a private key and certificate that you received from your certificate authority:

For use with a third party utility create a keystore, e.g. https-keystore.p12, in PKCS12 format and import:
- the Agent private key and certificate for Server Authentication
- the Root CA certificate
- Intermediate CA certificates

For use with keytool create the keystore with the private key and certificate for Server Authentication from the command line. The examples below examples suggest show one possible approach for certificate management. However, however, there may be other ways how to achieve similar results.

Example for the use of private key and CA-signed certificate with a PKCS12 store:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to add a private key and CA-signed certificate to a PKCS12 keystore

# should your Agent's private key and certificate be provided with a .jks keystore (keypair.jks) then temporarily convert the keystore to pkcs12 (keystore.p12)
#   for later use with openssl, assuming the alias name of the Agent private key is "agent-https"
# keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore keypair.jks -srcstoretype JKS -destkeystore keystore.p12 -deststoretype PKCS12 -srcalias agent-https

# assuming your Agent's private key is from a pkcs12 keystore (keystore.p12), store the Agent's private key toin a .key file in PEM format (agent-https.key)
openssl pkcs12 -in keystore.p12 -nocerts -out agent-https.key

# concatenate the CA root certificate and the CA intermediate certificate to a single CA Bundle certificate file (ca-bundle.crt)
cat RootCACertificate.crt > ca-bundle.crt
cat CACertificate.crt >> ca-bundle.crt

# Export the Agent's private key (agent-https.key), Agent's certificate (agent-https.crt) and CA Bundle (ca-bundle.crt) in PEM format to a new keystore (https-keystore.p12)
#   assume the fully qualified hostname (FQDN) of the Agent server beingis agent.example.com
openssl pkcs12 -export -in agent-https.crt -inkey agent-https.key -chain -CAfile ca-bundle.crt -name agent.example.com -out JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.p12

# should you require use of a .jks keystore type then convert the pkcs12 keystore assuming the alias name of the Agent's private key beingis "agent-https"
# keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore agent-https.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 -destkeystore JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.jks -deststoretype JKS -srcalias agent-https

Example for the use of a private key and self-signed certificate with a PKCS12 keystore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to generate a private key and self-signed certificate for import into a PKCS12 keystore
collapse	true

# generate the Agent's private key with alias name "agent-https" and certificate in a keystore (https-keystore.p12)
#   use the fully qualified hostname (FQDN) and name of your organization for the distinguished name
keytool -genkey -alias "agent-https" -dname "CN=hostname,O=organization" -validity 1461 -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -keypass jobscheduler -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.p12" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype PKCS12

Example for the use of a private key and self-signed certificate with JKS keystore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to generate a private key and self-signed certificate for import into a JKS keystore
collapse	true

# generate Agent's private key with alias name "agent-https" and certificate in a keystore (https-keystore.jks)
#   use the fully qualified hostname (FQDN) and name of your organization for the distinguished name
keytool -genkey -alias "agent-https" -dname "CN=hostname,O=organization" -validity 1461 -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -keypass jobscheduler -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.jks" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype JKS

Explanation:
- The -dname option specifies the certificate issuer, therefore use your own set of CN, O, OU, DC that specify the issuer's distinguished name. The O setting is required for the issuer.
- The -keypass option accepts the password that you will need later on to manage your private key.
- The -keystore option specifies the location of the keystore file. The keystore file should be in reach of the Agent, it is recommended to that you use the sub-folder private in the JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR directory.
- The -storepass option specifies the password for access to the keystore file.
- The -storetype option is used to specify the PKCS12 or JKS keystore format.

With the keystore being set up specify respective the relevant properties with the JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf configuration file:

Example

Code Block

language	text
title	Example for private.conf file specifying the Agent keystore

js7 {
    web {
        # keystore and truststore locations for https connections
        https {
            keystore {
                # Default: ${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-keystore.p12"
                file=${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-keystore.p12"
                key-password="jobscheduler"
                store-password="jobscheduler"
            }
        }
    }
}

Explanation:

js7.web.https.keystore.file is used for the path to the keystore.
js7.web.https.keystore.key-password is used for access to the private key.
js7.web.https.keystore.store-password is used for access to the keystore

...

By default mutual authentication is in place.
- The Controller is challenged by the Agent to present its Client Authentication certificate that which is then verified by the Agent.
- If a Controller cluster is used then connections from both Controller instances are authenticated by the distinguished name of the instance's Client Authentication certificate.

The JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf configuration file should include authentication details like this:

Code Block

title	Example for private.conf file specifying Controller authentication

js7 {
    auth {
        users {
            # Controller ID for connections by primary/standby Controller instance
            jobscheduler {
                distinguished-names=[
                    "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=apmacwin_primary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE",
                    "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=apmacwin_secondary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE"
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Explanation:

The jobscheduler user account is an example for of a Controller ID that is specified during Controller installation.
The distinguished-names property offers to add allows the addition of a number of distinguished names as available from the subject of Client Authentication certificates that are used by Controller instances when connecting to the Agent.
- Except for whitespace between attributes the precise sequence and values as available from the certificate's subject has to match this property value.

...

To make an Agent use HTTPS, the respective relevant port setting has to be specified with the Agent's Instance Start Script.

For Unix the Instance Start Script is available from JS7_AGENT_HOME/bin/agent_<port>.sh:

Code Block

language	xml
title	Example for HTTP and HTTPS port settings with Agent Instance Start Script for Unix

# Sets the http port for the JS7 Agent.
# Without this setting the default port 4445 is used.
# If just a port is specified then the JS7 Agent listens to all
# available network interfaces. This corresponds to 0.0.0.0:<port>.
# Use the form <ip address or hostname>:<port> to indicate
# a specific network interface the JS7 Agent should listen to.
# The command line option --http-port beats the environment
# variable JS7_AGENT_HTTP_PORT.

JS7_AGENT_HTTP_PORT=localhost:4445


# In addition to the http port an https port for the
# JS7 Agent can be specified. If just a port is specified
# then the JS7 Agent listens to all available network interfaces.
# This corresponds to using 0.0.0.0:<port>.
# Use the form <ip address or hostname>:<port> to indicate
# a specific network interface the JS7 Agent should listen to.
# The command line option --https-port beats the environment
# variable JS7_AGENT_HTTPS_PORT.

JS7_AGENT_HTTPS_PORT=apmacwin:4445

For Windows the Instance Start Script is available from JS7_AGENT_HOME\bin\agent_<port>.cmd:

Code Block

language	xml
title	Example for HTTP and HTTPS port settings with Agent Instance Start Script for Windows
collapse	true

rem # Sets the http port for the JS7 Agent.
rem # Without this setting the default port 4445 is used.
rem # If just a port is specified then the JS7 Agent listens to all
rem # available network interfaces. This corresponds to 0.0.0.0:<port>.
rem # Use the form <ip address or hostname>:<port> to indicate
rem # a specific network interface the JS7 Agent should listen to.
rem # The command line option --http-port beats the environment
rem # variable JS7_AGENT_HTTP_PORT.

set JS7_AGENT_HTTP_PORT=localhost:4445


rem # In addition to the http port an https port for the
rem # JS7 Agent can be specified. If just a port is specified
rem # then the JS7 Agent listens to all available network interfaces.
rem # This corresponds to using 0.0.0.0:<port>.
rem # Use the form <ip address or hostname>:<port> to indicate
rem # a specific network interface the JS7 Agent should listen to.
rem # The command line option --https-port beats the environment
rem # variable JS7_AGENT_HTTPS_PORT.

set JS7_AGENT_HTTPS_PORT=apmacwin:4445

Explanation:

The HTTP port is required but is limited to the localhost network interface with the localhost prefix.
The HTTPS port is specified with the hostname prefix that indicates the network interface.

...

On the Controller server create the truststore using the keytool from your Java JRE or JDK or some a third party utility.

For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g. https-truststore.p12, in PKCS12 format and import:
- the Root CA certificate

For use with keytool create the truststore in PKCS12 or JKS format with the Root CA certificate. The examples below examples suggest show one possible approach for certificate management. However, however, there may be other ways how to achieve similar results.

Example for import of importing a Root CA certificate to a PKCS12 truststore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to import a CA-signed certificate into a PKCS12 Truststore

# import Root CA certificate in PEM format to a PKCS12 truststore (https-truststore.p12)
keytool -import -alias "root-ca" -file "RootCACertificate.crt" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.p12" -storetype PKCS12

Example for use of a self-signed Controller certificate with a PKCS12 truststore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example for import of a self-signed Controller certificate the Master public certificate to JOC Cockpit PKCS12 Truststore
collapse	true

# on Agent server: export Agent's certificate from keystore (https-keystore.p12) identified by its alias name (agent-https) to a file in PEM format (agent-https.crt)
keytool -exportcert -rfc -noprompt -file "agent-https.crt" -alias "agent-https" -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.p12" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype PKCS12

# on Controller server: import the Agent's certificate from a file in PEM format (agent-https.crt) identified by its alias name (agent-https) to the Controller's PKCS12 truststore (https-truststore.p12)
keytool -importcert -noprompt -file "agent-https.crt" -alias "agent-https" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.p12" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype PKCS12 -trustcacerts

Example for use of a self-signed Controller certificate with a JKS truststore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example for import of a self-signed Controller certificate the Master public certificate to JOC Cockpit JKS Truststore
collapse	true

# on Agent server: export Agent's certificate from keystore (https-keystore.jks) identified by its alias name (agent-https) to a file in PEM format (agent-https.crt)
keytool -exportcert -rfc -noprompt -file "agent-https.crt" -alias "agent-https" -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.jks" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype JKS

# import the Agent's certificate from a file in PEM format (agent-https.crt) identified by its alias name (agent-https) to the Controller's JKS truststore (https-truststore.jks)
keytool -importcert -noprompt -file "agent-https.crt" -alias "agent-https" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.jks" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype JKS -trustcacerts

On the Controller server specify the location of the truststore with the JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf configuration file:

Example

Code Block

language	text
title	Example for private.conf file specifying the Controller truststore

js7 {
    web {
        # keystore and truststore locations for https connections
        https {
            truststores=[
                {
                    # Default: ${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-truststore.p12"
                    file=${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-truststore.p12"
                    store-password=jobscheduler
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

Explanation:

js7.web.https.truststores.file is used for the path to the truststore.
js7.web.https.truststores.store-password is used for access to the truststore.

...

This configuration is applied in order to enable mutual authentication:

from the Controller to the Agent:
- the Controller verifies the Agent's certificate for Server Authentication
- the Agent verifies the Controller's certificate for Client Authentication
from pairing Controller instances.

...

This can be simplified by use of using a private key/certificate pair that is created for both extended key usages uses Server Authentication and Client Authentication. In this case a single private key and certificate is stored with the Controller's keystore as indicated with in the JS7 - Controller HTTPS Connections article.
If separate private key/certificate pairs should are to be used for Server Authentication and Client Authentication purposes then the use of separate certificate stores for the Controller is recommended:
- The keystore holds the private key/certificate for Server Authentication.
- The client keystore holds the private key/certificate for Client Authentication.

...

On the Controller server create the client keystore using the keytool from your Java JRE or JDK or some a third party utility.
- For use with a third party utility create a client keystore, e.g. https-client-keystore.p12, in PKCS12 format and import:
  - the Controller private key and certificate for Client Authentication
  - the Root CA certificate
  - Intermediate CA certificates
- For use with keytool create the client keystore in PKCS12 or JKS format according to the steps indicated with in the JS7 - Controller HTTPS Connections: Step 1: Create Controller Keystore chapter article.
  - Apply the indicated steps described to the client keystore and use the private key/certificate pair for Client Authentication.

The location of the client keystore is added to the JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf configuration file like thisas shown:

Example for PKCS12 client keystore:

Code Block

language	text
title	Example how to specify the client keystore location with private.conf file

js7 {
    web {
        # keystore and truststore location for https connections
        https {
            client-keystore {
                # Default: ${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-client-keystore.p12"
                file=${js7.config-directory}"/private/https-client-keystore.p12"
                key-password=jobscheduler
                store-password=jobscheduler
            }
        }
    }
}

...

On the Agent server create the truststore using the keytool from your Java JRE or JDK or some a third party utility.

For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g. https-truststore.p12, in PKCS12 format and import:
- the Root CA certificate

For use with keytool create the truststore in PKCS12 or JKS format with the Root CA certificate. The below examples suggest examples below show one possible approach for certificate management, however. However, there may be other ways how to achieve similar results.

Example for import importing of a Root CA certificate to a PKCS12 truststore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to import a CA-signed certificate into a PKCS12 truststore

# on the Agent server: import Root CA certificate in PEM format to a PKCS12 truststore (https-truststore.p12)
keytool -import -alias "root-ca" -file "RootCACertificate.crt" -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.p12" -storetype PKCS12

Example for exportexporting/import of importing a self-signed client authentication certificate to a PKCS12 keystore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to export/import a self-signed certificate to a PKCS12 truststore
collapse	true

# on the Controller server: export the Controller's certificate from the client keystore (https-client-keystore.p12) identified by its alias name (controller-client-https) to a file in PEM format (controller-client-https.crt)
keytool -exportcert -rfc -noprompt -file "controller-client-https.crt" -alias "controller-client-https" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-client-keystore.p12" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype PKCS12

# on the Agent server: import the Controller's certificate in PEM format to a PKCS12 truststore (https-truststore.p12)
keytool -import -alias "controller-client-https" -file "controller-client-https.crt" -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.p12" -storetype PKCS12

Example for exportexporting/import of importing a self-signed client authentication certificate to a JKS keystore:

Code Block

language	bash
title	Example how to export/import a self-signed certificate to a JKS truststore
collapse	true

# on Controller server: export Controller's certificate from client keystore (https-client-keystore.jks) identified by its alias name (controller-client-https) to a file in PEM format (controller-client-https.crt)
keytool -exportcert -rfc -noprompt -file "controller-client-https.crt" -alias "controller-client-https" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-client-keystore.jks" -storepass jobscheduler -storetype JKS

# on Agent server: import Controller's certificate in PEM format to a JKS truststore (https-truststore.jks)
keytool -import -alias "controller-client-https" -file "controller-client-https.crt" -keystore "JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.jks" -storetype JKS

Show If

match	all
user	ap

Risk Mitigation

The explanations above explanations indicate describe use of a Root CA certificate for verification of Client Authentication certificates when it comes to mutual authentication.

In fact, use of a Root CA certificate allows any clients that dispose of a Client Authentication certificate signed by the same Root CA certificate or Intermediate CA to be authenticated. This implication might allow an unwanted number of clients to access a Controller. By design the only clients to access a Controller should be JOC Cockpit instances.
Coping strategies include:
- to use using a separate certificate authority to sign Client Authentication certificates for access to Controllers.
- to import importing individual Client Authentication certificates to the Controller truststore instead of using a Root CA certificate.

Notes

A restart of the respective component relevant components is required to apply modifications to . the Agent's JS7_AGENT_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf file of the Agent and and the Controller's JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf file of the Controller respectively.

Further Resources

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