>From: "Craig R. McClanahan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > I have set up a JDBCRealm and am using it with form-based login to > > secure/protect my webapp. However, I have a few questions which I > > hope somebody could help me with, > > > > 1. The JDBCRealm is set up with the following in server.xml. > > > > <Realm className="org.apache.catalina.realm.JDBCRealm" debug="99" > > driverName="org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver" > > connectionURL="jdbc:mysql://localhost/authentication" > > userTable="users" userNameCol="user_name" userCredCol="user_pass" > > userRoleTable="user_roles" roleNameCol="role_name"/> > > > > However, I have noticed that this requires the password (stored in > > the user_pass column) to be clear text, which I really don't like >doing. > > Is there any way to have store the passwords as hashes (ie. using >the > > password() function in MySQL) ? > > > >The database password isn't the only sensitive piece of information in >server.xml -- you should ensure that the server.xml file as a whole is not >accessible to any OS user other than the one running Tomcat. In addition, >you can use security manager protections to prevent webapps from being >able to access it directly.
Sorry, I was not very coherent in my explanation. I was worried about storing users' passwords in clear text in the database. Somebody else has kindly pointed out that JDBCRealm supports hashed passwords in the user/password columns. > > 2. I read that "a call to j_security_check will be made by every attempt > > access your secured pages". Since I am protecting every page in my > > webapp, I'm wondering how efficient is "j_security_check" ? > > Does it simply look at the session, or does it make a database call >on > > each and every request ? > > > >If you are using sessions, the user identity is cached the first time, so >the database will only get hit once. Excellent. > > 3. How do you specify a page for authenticated users who do not have > > the correct permissions/roles ? At the moment, I have this in >web.xml, > > > > <login-config> > > <auth-method>FORM</auth-method> > > <form-login-config> > > <form-login-page>login.jsp</form-login-page> > > <form-error-page>login-error.jsp</form-error-page> > > </form-login-config> > > </login-config> > > > > login.jsp is the form that shows when an authenticated user tries to > > access the site. > > login-error.jsp is displayed when an incorrect username/password is > > submitted. > > > > However, when a correct username/password is submitted but the user >does > > not > > possess an adequate role, I see a default "You are not authorized" > > message. > > How can I customize the page that is shown in such circumstances ? > > > >You can use an <error-page> element in your web.xml for the 403 status. Thank you. I was just checking that I hadn't missed something. I had expected an equivalent to <form-error-page> which would allow one to tailor the authorization-failure to the section of the webapp. > > 4. Is there a formal method to logging out, rather than calling > > invalidate() on the session ? > > > >Not in Servlet 2.3. Such things are under consideration for 2.4. For >now, invalidating the session is the right way to do it (if you're using >form based login). > > > 5. If your webapp's authentication works fine on Tomcat, would it then > > work on say BEAWeblogic or IBMWebsphere ? > > > >As long as you are not relying on wierd container-specific behaviors and >using j_security_check the way it was intended to be used. > >Note that the user database itself, and how you set it up, will be >specific for each app server (i.e. JDBCRealm is Tomcat specific). But the >app won't have to change. Thank you for the clarification, Craig. Soefara. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>