servlet-security: Using Java EE Declarative Security to Control Access to Servlet 3

Author: Sherif F. Makary, Pedro Igor Level: Intermediate Technologies: Servlet, Security Summary: Demonstrates how to use Java EE declarative security to control access to Servlet 3 Target Product: EAP

What is it?

This example demonstrates the use of Java EE declarative security to control access to Servlets and Security in JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 and JBoss AS7.

When you deploy this example, two users are automatically created for you: user quickstartUser with password quickstartPwd1! and user guest with password guest. This data is located in the src/main/resources/import.sql file.

This quickstart takes the following steps to implement Servlet security:

  1. Define a security domain in the standalone.xml configuration file using the Database JAAS LoginModule.

  2. Add an application user with access rights to the application

    User Name: quickstartUser
Password: quickstartPwd1!
Role: quickstarts

  3. Add another user with no access rights to the application.

    User Name: guest
Password: guestPwd1!
Role: notauthorized

  4. Add a security domain reference to WEB-INF/jboss-web.xml.

  5. Add a security constraint to the WEB-INF/web.xml .

  6. Add a security annotation to the EJB declaration.

Please note the allowed user role quickstarts in the annotation -@RolesAllowed- is the same as the user role defined in step 2.

System requirements

All you need to build this project is Java 6.0 (Java SDK 1.6) or better, Maven 3.0 or better.

The application this project produces is designed to be run on JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 or JBoss AS 7.

Configure Maven

If you have not yet done so, you must Configure Maven before testing the quickstarts.

Add the Application Users

Using the add-user utility script, you must add the following users to the ApplicationRealm:

UserName Realm Password Roles
quickstartUser ApplicationRealm quickstartPwd1! quickstarts
guest ApplicationRealm guestPwd1! notauthorized

The first application user has access rights to the application. The second application user is not authorized.

For an example of how to use the add-user utility, see instructions in the root README file located here: Add User.

Define a Security Domain Using the Database JAAS Login Module

This quickstart authenticates users using a simple database setup. The datasource configuration is located in the /src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/servlet-security-quickstart-ds.xml file. You can configure the security domain using the JBoss CLI or by manually editing the configuration file.

Configure the Security Domain Using the JBoss CLI

  1. Start the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 or JBoss AS 7 Server with the web profile by typing the following: 

    For Linux:  JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh 
For Windows:  JBOSS_HOME\bin\standalone.bat

  2. To start the JBoss CLI tool, open a new command line, navigate to the JBOSS_HOME directory, and type the following:

    For Linux: bin/jboss-cli.sh --connect
For Windows: bin\jboss-cli.bat --connect

  3. At the prompt, type each of the following commands. After each one, you should see a response with the first line "outcome" => "success".

    /subsystem=security/security-domain=servlet-security-quickstart/:add(cache-type=default)

/subsystem=security/security-domain=servlet-security-quickstart/authentication=classic:add(login-modules=[{"code"=>"Database", "flag"=>"required", "module-options"=>[("dsJndiName"=>"java:jboss/datasources/ServletSecurityDS"),("principalsQuery"=>"SELECT PASSWORD FROM USERS WHERE USERNAME = ?"), ("rolesQuery"=>"SELECT R.NAME, 'Roles' FROM USERS_ROLES UR INNER JOIN ROLES R ON R.ID = UR.ROLE_ID INNER JOIN USERS U ON U.ID = UR.USER_ID WHERE U.USERNAME = ?")]}])

/:reload

Configure the Security Domain Manually

  1. If it is running, stop the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 or JBoss AS 7 Server.
  2. Backup the file: JBOSS_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml
  3. Open the JBOSS_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml file in an editor and locate the subsystem urn:jboss:domain:security.

  4. Add the following XML to the :

    <security-domain name="servlet-security-quickstart" cache-type="default">
      <authentication>
        <login-module code="Database" flag="required">
              <module-option name="dsJndiName" value="java:jboss/datasources/ServletSecurityDS"/>
            <module-option name="principalsQuery" value="SELECT PASSWORD FROM USERS WHERE USERNAME = ?"/>
            <module-option name="rolesQuery" value="SELECT R.NAME, 'Roles' FROM USERS_ROLES UR INNER JOIN ROLES R ON R.ID = UR.ROLE_ID INNER JOIN USERS U ON U.ID = UR.USER_ID WHERE U.USERNAME = ?"/>
        </login-module>
    </authentication>
</security-domain>

Please note that the security domain name servlet-security-quickstart must match the one defined in the /src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/jboss-web.xml file.

Start JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 or JBoss AS 7 with the Web Profile

  1. Open a command line and navigate to the root of the JBoss server directory.

  2. The following shows the command line to start the server with the web profile:

    For Linux:   JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh
For Windows: JBOSS_HOME\bin\standalone.bat

Build and Deploy the Quickstart

NOTE: The following build command assumes you have configured your Maven user settings. If you have not, you must include Maven setting arguments on the command line. See Build and Deploy the Quickstarts for complete instructions and additional options.

  1. Make sure you have started the JBoss Server as described above.
  2. Open a command line and navigate to the root directory of this quickstart.

  3. Type this command to build and deploy the archive:

    mvn clean package jboss-as:deploy

  4. This will deploy target/jboss-as-servlet-security.war to the running instance of the server.

Access the Application

The application will be running at the following URL http://localhost:8080/jboss-as-servlet-security/.

When you access the application, you should get a browser login challenge.

Log in using the username quickstartUser and password quickstartPwd1!. The browser will display the following security info:

Successfully called Secured Servlet

Principal : quickstartUser
Remote User : quickstartUser
Authentication Type : BASIC

Now close the browser. Open a new browser and log in with username guest and password guestPwd1!. The browser will display the following error:

    HTTP Status 403 - Access to the requested resource has been denied

    type Status report
    message Access to the requested resource has been denied
    description Access to the specified resource (Access to the requested resource has been denied) has been forbidden.

Undeploy the Archive

  1. Make sure you have started the JBoss Server as described above.
  2. Open a command line and navigate to the root directory of this quickstart.

  3. When you are finished testing, type this command to undeploy the archive:

    mvn jboss-as:undeploy

Run the Quickstart in JBoss Developer Studio or Eclipse

You can also start the server and deploy the quickstarts from Eclipse using JBoss tools. For more information, see Use JBoss Developer Studio or Eclipse to Run the Quickstarts

Debug the Application

If you want to debug the source code or look at the Javadocs of any library in the project, run either of the following commands to pull them into your local repository. The IDE should then detect them.

  mvn dependency:sources
  mvn dependency:resolve -Dclassifier=javadoc