Introduction
- Connections from the JOC Cockpit to Controllers use the JS7 - REST Web Service API and can be secured by HTTPS with TLS/SSL certificates.
If the JOC Cockpit and Controller are operated on the same server and network interface then no HTTPS connection between components is required.
If the JOC Cockpit and Controller are operated on different servers or network interfaces then this connection should be secured by HTTPS.
- This article describes the steps required to set up secure HTTPS communication from the JOC Cockpit to a Controller. This includes to use a standalone Controller or a Controller cluster with a primary and standby instance.
- See the JS7 - System Architecture article for an overview of components and connections.
- Follow the instructions in the JS7 - JOC Cockpit HTTPS Connections article to set up secure connections from clients (user browser / REST API client) to the JOC Cockpit.
- See the JS7 - Agent HTTPS Connections article for information about securing the connections between Controller instances and Agents.
Prerequisites
- Certificate stores can be managed from the command line and by use of tools that provide a GUI for this purpose:
- the Java
keytool
is available from the Java JRE or JDK, - the Keystore Explorer is an open source utility to graphically manage certificate stores.
- the Java
- Starting from Java 9 the PKCS12 keystore type is default and is not required to be specified with
keytool
. - The following sections assume a PKCS12 keystore/truststore format. For Unix OS the .p12 file extension frequently is used, for Windows OS the .pfx extension is preferably used. Both file extensions indicate the same PKCS12 format and can be used interchangeably.
Certificate Management
Private keys and certificates should be distributed as follows:
Explanation:
- Keystore and truststore shown in orange are required for any connections of JOC Cockpit to a Controller.
- The Controller's private key and certificate for Server Authentication are added to the Controller's keystore. If the certificate is self-signed, then it has to be added to the JOC Cockpit's truststore as well.
- This step can be skipped if a CA-signed certificate is used as the Root Certificate in the JOC Cockpit's truststore is sufficient to verify Controller certificates.
- The keystore and truststore shown in green are required if mutual authentication is in place for certificate based client authentication (default).
- The Controller's truststore shown in green is required should secure connections be used by a Controller to access Agents. It is therefore recommended the Controller's truststore is set up.
- Similar certificate management applies for any additional standby JOC Cockpit instances acting in a cluster.
Secure Connection Setup
In the following, the placeholders JOC_HOME
, JETTY_HOME
and JETTY_BASE
are used to describe the location of three directories. If you install Jetty with the JOC Cockpit installer then:
JOC_HOME
is the installation path that is specified during the JOC Cockpit installation:/opt/sos-berlin.com/js7/joc
(default on Unix)C:\Program Files\sos-berlin.com\js7\joc
(default on Windows)
JETTY_HOME
=JOC_HOME
/jetty
JETTY_BASE
is Jetty's base directory that is specified during the JOC Cockpit installation:/home/<setup-user>/sos-berlin.com/js7/joc
(default on Unix)C:\ProgramData\sos-berlin.com\js7\joc
(default on Windows)
The following placeholders are used for Controller instances:
JS7_CONTROLLER_HOME
points to the Controller instance's installation directory/opt/sos-berlin.com/js7/controller
(default on Unix)C:\Program Files\sos-berlin.com\js7\controller
(default on Windows)
JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR
points to the Controller instance's configuration directory/var/sos-berlin.com/js7/controller/config
(default on Unix)C:\ProgramData\sos-berlin.com\js7\controller\config
(default on Windows)
Secure Connections from JOC Cockpit to Controller
This configuration is applied in order to secure the connection if the JOC Cockpit and Controller are not operated on the same server and network interface.
Secure connections require authentication.
- By default JOC Cockpit and Controller use mutual authentication:
- the JOC Cockpit verifies the Controller certificate for Server Authentication.
- the Controller verifies the JOC Cockpit certificate for Client Authentication.
- For details see the JS7 - Configuration for mutual HTTPS Server Authentication and Client Authentication article.
- If mutual authentication cannot be applied, for example, when wildcard certificates are used:
- Consider using password based authentication.
- For details see JS7 - Configuration for HTTPS Server Authentication with Passwords.
For the complete list of related configuration items see JS7 - Controller Configuration Items.
The following sections assume mutual authentication to be in place.
Step 1: Create Controller Keystore
- On the Controller instance's server create the keystore using the
keytool
from your Java JRE or JDK or a third party utility.- For use with a third party utility create a keystore, e.g.
https-keystore.p12
, in PKCS12 format and import:- Controller private key and certificate for Server Authentication
- Root CA certificate
- Intermediate CA certificate(s)
- For use with
keytool
create the keystore with the private key and certificate for Server Authentication from the command line. The examples below show one possible approach for certificate management - however, there are other ways of achieving similar results.Example for creating a private key and CA-signed certificate with PKCS12 keystore:
Example how to create and add a private key and CA-signed certificate to a PKCS12 keystore# If the Controller's private key and certificate are to 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 Controller's private key to be "controller.example.com" # keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore keypair.jks -srcstoretype JKS -destkeystore keystore.p12 -deststoretype PKCS12 -srcalias controller.example.com # assuming the Controller's private key from a pkcs12 keystore (keystore.p12), store the Controller's private key in a .key file in PEM format (controller-https.key) openssl pkcs12 -in keystore.p12 -nocerts -out controller-https.key # concatenate CA Root certificate and CA Intermediate certificate(s) to a single CA Bundle certificate file (ca-bundle.crt) cat RootCACertificate.crt > ca-bundle.crt cat CACertificate.crt >> ca-bundle.crt # Export the Controller's private key (controller-https.key), Controller's certificate (controller-https.crt) and CA Bundle (ca-bundle.crt) in PEM format to a new keystore (https-keystore.p12) # assuming the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Controller server is "controller.example.com" openssl pkcs12 -export -in controller-https.crt -inkey controller-https.key -chain -CAfile ca-bundle.crt -name controller.example.com -out JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.p12 # IF you require use of a .jks keystore type then convert the pkcs12 keystore, assuming the alias name of the Controller private key being "controller.example.com" # keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore https-keystore.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 -destkeystore JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-keystore.jks -deststoretype JKS -srcalias controller.example.com
Example for creating private key and self-signed certificate with PKCS12 keystore:
Example for creating a private key and self-signed certificate with JKS keystore:
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 Controller, it is recommended using theprivate
sub-folder in theJS7_CONTROLLER_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.
- The
- With the keystore set up, specify the relevant properties with the
JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR
/private/private.conf
configuration file:Example
Example for private.conf file specifying the Controller keystorejs7 { web { # keystore location 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.
- For use with a third party utility create a keystore, e.g.
Step 2: Set up Authentication for Controller
- By default mutual authentication is in place.
- The JOC Cockpit is challenged by the Controller to present its Client Authentication certificate that is then verified by the Controller.
- In addition the Distinguished Name of the JOC Cockpit Client Authentication certificate is checked and a password is used to identify the JOC Cockpit instance.
- Note that any number of clustered JOC Cockpit instances can connect to a Controller.
- If a Controller cluster is used then connections from the partnering Controller instance are authenticated by the Distinguished Name of the instance's Client Authentication certificate.
- The JOC Cockpit is challenged by the Controller to present its Client Authentication certificate that is then verified by the Controller.
The
JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR
/private/private.conf
configuration file should include authentication details such as:Example for private.conf file specifying JOC Cockpit authenticationjs7 { auth { users { # History account (used for releasing events) History { distinguished-names=[ "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=joc_primary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE" ] password="sha512:B793649879D61613FD3F711B68F7FF3DB19F2FE2D2C136E8523ABC87612219D5AECB4A09035AD88D544E227400A0A56F02BC990CF0D4CB348F8413DE00BCBF08" } # JOC account (needs UpdateItem permission for deployment) JOC { distinguished-names=[ "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=joc_primary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE" ] password="sha512:3662FD6BF84C6B8385FC15F66A137AB75C755147A81CC7AE64092BFE8A18723A7C049D459AB35C059B78FD6028BB61DCFC55801AE3894D2B52401643F17A07FE" permissions=[ UpdateItem ] } # Controller ID for connections by primary/secondary controller instance jobscheduler { distinguished-names=[ "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=controller_primary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE", "DNQ=SOS CA, CN=controller_secondary_client, OU=IT, O=SOS, L=Berlin, ST=Berlin, C=DE" ] } } } }
Explanation:- The
History
andJOC
user accounts are used by the JS7 - History Service and by the JS7 - REST Web Service API.- The
distinguished-names
property allows the addition of a number of Distinguished Names as available from the subject of the Client Authentication certificates which are used by JOC Cockpit instances when connecting to the Controller.- Except for whitespace between attributes, the precise sequence and values as available from the certificate's subject has to match this property value.
- The
password
is used for authentication of theHistory
andJOC
service accounts with the Controller. Both accounts are typically running in the same JOC Cockpit instance.- If HTTP connections are used then the password is the only means for authentication. If HTTPS connections with mutual authentication are used then the password is not relevant as certificate based authentication is in place.
- The symmetric password is specified with the section joc of the JS7 - Settings page of the JOC Cockpit and in the
private.conf
file.- User Input to the Settings page of the JOC Cockpit can look like this:
Input to the GUI simply accepts the password and does not require to use the prefixessha512:
orplain:.
- User Input to the Settings page of the JOC Cockpit can look like this:
- In the
private.conf
file a hashed value or a plain text value can be specified like this:password="sha512:B793649879D6..."
password="plain:JS7-History"
- If the password is modified in the
private.conf
file then it has to be modified in the JOC Cockpit settings as well, so that the passwords match. - The password setting cannot be omitted. However, an empty password can be specified, for example, with mutual authentication HTTPS connections such as:
password="plain:"
- From the
private.conf
file that ships by default the plain text value and the hashed values are:- History:
- Plain Text:
JS7-History
- Hash:
sha512:B793649879D61613FD3F711B68F7FF3DB19F2FE2D2C136E8523ABC87612219D5AECB4A09035AD88D544E227400A0A56F02BC990CF0D4CB348F8413DE00BCBF08
- Plain Text:
- JOC:
- Plain Text:
JS7-JOC
- Hash:
sha512:3662FD6BF84C6B8385FC15F66A137AB75C755147A81CC7AE64092BFE8A18723A7C049D459AB35C059B78FD6028BB61DCFC55801AE3894D2B52401643F17A07FE
- Plain Text:
- History:
- The
- The
jobscheduler
user account is an example of a Controller ID that is used by a partnering Controller instance.- This setting is not required if a Standalone Controller is used.
- For a Controller Cluster the Controller ID is specified during installation.
- The
Step 3: Set up the Controller Instance Start Script for HTTPS
To make a Controller use HTTPS the respective port setting has to be specified with the Controller's Instance Start Script.
For Unix the Instance Start Script is available from
JS7_CONTROLLER_HOME/
bin/controller_instance.sh
:Example for HTTP and HTTPS port settings with Controller Instance Start Script for Unix# Sets the http port for the JS7 Controller. # Without this setting the default port 4444 is used. # If just a port is specified then the JS7 Controller 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 Controller should listen to. # The command line option --http-port beats the environment # variable JS7_CONTROLLER_HTTP_PORT. JS7_CONTROLLER_HTTP_PORT=localhost:4444 # In addition to the http port an https port for the # JS7 Controller can be specified. If just a port is specified # then the JS7 Controller 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 Controller should listen to. # The command line option --https-port beats the environment # variable JS7_CONTROLLER_HTTPS_PORT. JS7_CONTROLLER_HTTPS_PORT=controller.example.com:4444
For Windows the Instance Start Script is available from
JS7_CONTROLLER_HOME\
bin\controller_instance.cmd
:
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.
- The HTTP port is required but is limited to the localhost network interface with the
Step 4: Configure the JOC Cockpit Truststore
The JOC Cockpit truststore is added the Root CA certificate. If self-signed certificates are used then each certificate is added to the JOC Cockpit's truststore.
- On the JOC Cockpit server create the truststore using the
keytool
from your Java JRE or JDK or a third party utility.- For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g.
https-truststore.p12,
in PKCS12 format and import:- Root CA certificate
- For use with
keytool
create the truststore in PKCS12 or JKS format with the Root CA certificate. The examples below show one possible approach for certificate management - however, there are other ways how to achieve similar results.Example showing the import a Root CA certificate to a PKCS12 truststore:
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 -importcert -alias "root-ca" -file "RootCACertificate.crt" -keystore "JETTY_BASE/resources/joc/https-truststore.p12" -storetype PKCS12
Example showing the use of a self-signed Controller certificate with a PKCS12 truststore:
Example showing the use of a self-signed Controller certificate with a JKS truststore:
- For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g.
The location of the truststore is added to the
JETTY_BASE/resources/joc/joc.properties
configuration file like this:Example for a PKCS12 truststore
Example how to specify a PKCS12 truststore location with the joc.properties file### Location of the truststore that contains the certificates of all ### Controllers used for HTTPS connections. The path can be absolute or ### relative to joc.properties truststore_path = https-truststore.p12 truststore_type = PKCS12 truststore_password = jobscheduler
Example for a JKS truststore
Hostname verification by default is in place with the
JETTY_BASE/resources/joc/joc.properties
configuration file.Example how to specify hostname verification with the joc.properties file################################################################################ ### Specifies if hostname verification should be carried out for HTTPS connections. ### Default true https_with_hostname_verification = true
Mutual Authentication for JOC Cockpit and Controller
This configuration is applied in order to enable mutual authentication:
- from JOC Cockpit to the Controller:
- the JOC Cockpit verifies the Controller's certificate for Server Authentication
- the Controller verifies the JOC Cockpit's certificate for Client Authentication
- from pairing Controller instances.
Step 1: Create/Update JOC Cockpit Client Keystore
For mutual authentication JOC Cockpit has to hold a Client Authentication private key and certificate in its keystore.
- This can be simplified by the use of a private key/certificate pair that is created for both extended key usages Server Authentication and Client Authentication. In this case a single private key and certificate is stored with the JOC Cockpit's keystore as described in the JS7 - JOC Cockpit HTTPS Connections article.
- If separate private key/certificate pairs are be used for Server Authentication and Client Authentication purposes then use of separate certificate stores for the JOC Cockpit is recommended:
- The keystore holds the private key/certificate for Server Authentication. The location of the keystore is configured with
JETTY_BASE/start.ini
. - The client keystore holds the private key/certificate for Client Authentication. The location of the client keystore is configured with
JETTY_BASE/resources/joc/joc.properties
.
- The keystore holds the private key/certificate for Server Authentication. The location of the keystore is configured with
The following steps are applied if a separate client keystore is used with the JOC Cockpit.
- On the JOC Cockpit server create the client keystore using the
keytool
from your Java JRE or JDK or 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 JOC Cockpit private key and certificate for Client Authentication
- the Root CA certificate
- Intermediate CA certificate(s)
- For use with
keytool
create the client keystore in PKCS12 or JKS format according to the steps indicated with JS7 - JOC Cockpit HTTPS Connections: Step 2: Create JOC Cockpit Keystore chapter.- Apply the steps indicated to the client keystore and use the private key/certificate pair for Client Authentication.
- For use with a third party utility create a client keystore, e.g.
The location of the client keystore is added to the
JETTY_BASE/resources/joc/joc.properties
configuration file like this:Example for a PKCS12 client keystore:
Example how to specify the PKCS12 client keystore location with joc.properties file### Location of the client keystore that contains the private key and ### certificate for JOC Cockpit client authentication relative to ### joc.properties keystore_path = https-client-keystore.p12 keystore_type = PKCS12 keystore_password = jobscheduler
Example for a JKS client keystore:
Step 2: Create Controller Truststore
- On the Controller server create the truststore using the
keytool
from your Java JRE or JDK or a third party utility.- For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g.
https-truststore.p12,
in PKCS12 format and import:- Root CA certificate
- For use with
keytool
create the truststore in PKCS12 or JKS format with the Root CA certificate. The below examples suggest one possible approach for certificate management, however, there are other ways how to achieve similar results.Example for import of a Root CA certificate to a PKCS12 truststore:
Example how to import a CA-signed certificate into a PKCS12 truststore# on Controller server: import Root CA certificate in PEM format to a PKCS12 truststore (https-truststore.p12) keytool -importcert -alias "root-ca" -file "RootCACertificate.crt" -keystore "JS7_CONTROLLER_CONFIG_DIR/private/https-truststore.p12" -storetype PKCS12
Example for export/import of self-signed Client Authentication certificate to a PKCS12 keystore:
Example for export/import of self-signed Client Authentication certificate to a JKS keystore:
- For use with a third party utility create a truststore, e.g.
Notes
- A restart of the relevant component is required to apply modifications to the
JS7_CONFIG_DIR/private/private.conf
file of the Controller or to configuration files of the JOC Cockpit .