Harris, Jeffrey E. wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: André Warnier [mailto:a...@ice-sa.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 3:47 AM
To: Tomcat Users List
Subject: Re: Need to Specify keystorePass on Command Line
Harris, Jeffrey E. wrote:
All,
I understand that there is no good, secure solution. However, my
hands are tied on this matter, and I would appreciate if you would
focus on providing technical assistance in implementing a solution
within the constraints I have been given.
Jeffrey,
We all understand that you have been given rules, and are supposed to
follow them.
But if these rules themselves make no logical sense, nothing in this
Universe is going to help you overcome that.
What is the concern really, about the password remaining somewhere on
that server when the system is shut down ?
Is it that the server, in its shut down state, could be subrepticiously
broken apart, its disk stolen and then inspected by foreign spooks to
discover that password, which could then be used to further nefarious
ends, or what /exactly/ ?
What is wrong with the following scenario :
- a physical Windows server with a console and a keyboard
- boot Windows and login as a "tomcat" user (created beforehand)
- open a command window
- start Tomcat as an application (not a Service) in that command window
- tomcat will ask for the passphrase of the keystore. Type it in. (*)
- when Tomcat is running, enter CTRL-ALT-DEL and freeze the console (do
not logout from
Windows)
- walk away
(*) having made sure beforehand that there is no trojen on that machine
which records your
keystrokes and writes them to the disk
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Andre,
Tomcat will host a web-app that will connect as a proxy to another organization's system
to retrieve data that we will use in our applications. It is the other organization that
is mandating the "no password" requirement, and there is no other option than
to use their data. Our customer requires that the Tomcat server be up 24/7 (with minor
outages), hence the need to design a solution that satisfies the requirements of both our
customer, and the other organization. Obviously, if we cannot create a way to automate
the process, we may have to do something akin to what you do above.
However, when I run Tomcat from the console, I am never prompted for the
password. Instead, Tomcat just fails to start the listener on the specified
SSL port.
Ah, ok. I must confess that I never tried this with Tomcat.
Apache httpd prompts, in similar circumstances.
I suppose that this prompt/not prompt is really a feature of the underlying SSL stack, not
of Tomcat itself. So depending on whether you use the Java SSL stack or the OpenSSL
stack, the behaviour may be different.
That, or else I can imagine another way : instead of connecting to the other system
directly from your Tomcat webapp, you could set up your own intermediate Apache httpd
proxy between Tomcat and that other system. The communication between your webapp and this
httpd proxy could be in clear (if the Apache httpd is on the same host). Then it would be
that Apache httpd which would run the SSL conversation with the other system, and /it/
would prompt.
A bit more complicated, but if that makes it work to everyone's satisfaction..
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