WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

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1 Chapter 10 of WebSphere Application Server V7 Administration and Configuration Guide, SG WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere The J2EE Connector architecture (JCA) defines a standard architecture for connecting the J2EE platform to heterogeneous Enterprise Information Systems (EIS), for example, ERP, mainframe transaction processing, database systems, and existing applications not written in the Java programming language. By defining a set of scalable, secure, and transactional mechanisms, the JCA enables the integration of EISs with application servers and enterprise applications. WebSphere Application Server V7.0 provides a complete implementation of the JCA 1.5 specification, including the features of the JCA 1.0 Specification. In this chapter, we discuss the various considerations for accessing EIS applications from WebSphere. We cover the following topics: JCA resource adapters on page 2 Resource adapters on page 4 Configuring J2C connection factories on page 9 Resource authentication on page 13 Copyright IBM Corp All rights reserved. 1

2 JCA resource adapters The JCA Resource Adapter is a system-level software driver supplied by EIS vendors or other third-party vendors. It provides the following functionality: Provides connectivity between J2EE components, such as an application server or an application client and an EIS. Plugs into an application server. Collaborates with the application server to provide important services, such as connection pooling, transaction, and security services. JCA defines the following set of system-level contracts between an application server and EIS: A connection management contract lets an application server pool connect to an underlying EIS, and lets application components connect to an EIS. This leads to a scalable application environment that can support a large number of clients requiring access to EISs. A transaction management contract between the transaction manager and an EIS supports transactional access to EIS resource managers. This contract lets an application server use a transaction manager to manage transactions across multiple resource managers. This contract also supports transactions that are managed internally to an EIS resource manager without the necessity of involving an external transaction manager. A security contract enables a secure access to an EIS. This contract provides support for a secure application environment, reducing security threats to the EIS and protecting valuable information resources managed by the EIS. The resource adapter implements the EIS-side of these system-level contracts. Implements the Common Client Interface (CCI) for EIS access. The CCI defines a standard client API through which a J2EE component accesses the EIS. This simplifies writing code to connect to an EIS data store. The resource adapter provides connectivity between the EIS, the application server, and the enterprise application via the CCI. Implements the standard Service Provider Interface (SPI). The SPI integrates the transaction, security, and connection management facilities of an application server (JCA Connection Manager) with those of a transactional resource manager. 2 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

3 Multiple resource adapters (one resource adapter per type of EIS) are pluggable into an application server. This capability enables application components deployed on the application server to access the underlying EISs. This is shown in Figure 1. J2EE Server Runtime J2EE Component Resource Adapter for the EIS CICS EIS (CICS) J2EE Component Common Client Interface API Resource Adapter for the EIS Oracle EIS (Oracle) J2EE Component Included with J2EE Resource Adapter for the EIS IMS EIS (IMS) Provided by EIS vendor or Third Party vendor Figure 1 Common Client Interface API WebSphere Application Server JCA support In WebSphere Application Server, two types of objects are configured for JCA support: Resource adapters Connection factories The role of the WebSphere administrator is to: Install and define the resource adapter. Define one or more connection factories associated with the resource adapter. From the application point of view, the application using the resource adapter requests a connection from the connection factory through a JNDI lookup. The connection factory connects the application to the resource adapter. WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 3

4 Resource adapters A WebSphere resource adapter administrative object represents the library that supplies implementation code for connecting applications to a specific EIS, such as CICS or SAP. Resource adapters are stored in a Resource Adapter Archive (RAR) file, which is a Java archive (JAR) file used to package a resource adapter for the connector architecture. The file has a standard file extension of.rar. A RAR file can contain the following elements: EIS-supplied resource adapter implementation code in the form of JAR files or other executables, such as DLLs Utility classes Static documents, such as HTML files for developer documentation, not used for runtime J2C common client interfaces, such as cci.jar A mandatory deployment descriptor (ra.xml): This deployment descriptor instructs the application server about how to use the resource adapter in an application server environment. The deployment descriptor contains information about the resource adapter, including security and transactional capabilities, and the ManagedConnectionFactory class name. The RAR file or JCA resource adapter is provided by your EIS vendor. New in V7: Registering the resource adapter with the high availability manager specifies that the high availability (HA) manager will manage the lifecycle of a JCA 1.5 resource adapter in a cluster. This ensures that applications using resource adapters for inbound communication remain highly available. To that end, appropriate use of the HA capability options enable you to set up an environment that will be able to implement failover for inbound activity when a server goes down. WebSphere provides two JCA resource adapters: The WebSphere Relational Resource Adapter, used to connect to relational databases using JDBC The SIB JMS Resource Adapter, used to connect to the default messaging provider 4 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

5 Connection factory The WebSphere connection factory administrative object represents the configuration of a specific connection to the EIS supported by the resource adapter. The connection factory can be thought of as a holder of a list of connection configuration properties. Application components, such as CMP enterprise beans, have cmpconnectionfactory descriptors that refer to a specific connection factory, not to the resource adapter. Installing and configuring resource adapters To use a resource adapter, you need to install the resource adapter code and create connection factories that use the adapter. The resource adapter configuration is stored in the resources.xml file There are two ways to make a resource adapter (.rar file) available to applications. One way is to install the adapter into WebSphere Application Server. The other way is to install the adapter in the application (embedded adapter). For example, Rational Application Developer embeds resource adapters when you create a J2C application. This chapter describes installing the adapter into WebSphere Application Server. To install an adapter, do the following steps: 1. From the administrative console, expand Resources from the navigation tree and click Resource Adapters and select a scope (Figure 2). Note that you can see all the WebSphere built-in resources by selecting the Show built-in resources preference. WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 5

6 Figure 2 JCA resource adapters 2. Click Install RAR to install a new resource adapter. 6 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

7 3. Enter the path to the RAR file supplied by your EIS vendor. It can reside locally, on the same machine as the browser, or on any of the nodes in your cell. See Figure 3. Figure 3 RAR file location Select the node where you want to install the RAR file. You have to install the file on each node separately. Click Next. WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 7

8 4. The Configuration page for the resource adapter selected is displayed. This is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 JCA resource adapter properties In this example, you do not have to configure any properties. The defaults combined with the information supplied in the RAR file provide all the information needed. However, you have the option of configuring the following properties: Name: Create an administrative name for the resource adapter. 8 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

9 Description: Create an optional description of the resource adapter, for your administrative records. Archive path: This field is the path where the RAR file is installed. If this property is not specified, the archive will be extracted to the absolute path represented by the ${CONNECTOR_INSTALL_ROOT} variable. The default is profile_root/installedconnectors/adapter_name.rar. Class path: A list of paths or JAR file names that together form the location for the resource adapter classes. The resource adapter code base itself, the RAR file, is automatically added to the classpath. Native path: This is a list of paths that together form the location for the resource adapter native libraries (.dll, and.so files). 5. Click OK. 6. Save the configuration and synchronize the nodes. Configuring J2C connection factories Note: The terms J2C and JCA both refer to J2EE Connector Architecture and they are used here interchangeably. A J2C connection factory represents a set of connection configuration values. Application components such as EJBs have <resource-ref> descriptors that refer to the connection factory, not the resource adapter. The connection factory is just a holder of a list of connection configuration properties. In addition to the arbitrary set of configuration properties defined by the vendor of the resource adapter, there are several standard configuration properties that apply to the connection factory. These standard properties are used by the connection pool manager in the application server runtime and are not used by the vendor supplied resource adapter code. To create a J2C connection factory, do the following steps: 1. Select Resources Resource Adapters J2C connection factories. You will see a list of J2C connection factories at the selected scope. WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 9

10 2. Click New to create a new connection factory, or select an existing one to modify the connection factory properties. 10 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

11 The J2C Connection Factory Configuration page is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 J2C connection factory properties WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 11

12 The general properties are: Name: Type an administrative name for the J2C connection factory. JNDI name: This field is the connection factory name to be registered in the application server s name space, including any naming sub context. When installing an application that contains modules with J2C resource references, the resources defined by the deployment descriptor of the module need to be bound to the JNDI name of the resource. As a convention, use the value of the Name property prefixed with eis/, for example, eis/<connectionfactoryname> Description: This is an optional description of the J2C connection factory, for your administrative records. Connection factory interface: This field is the name of the connection factory interfaces supported by the resource adapter. Category: Specify a category that you can use to classify or group the connection factory. Security settings: You have multiple options when securing access to the J2C resource. While component-managed might be faster in some instances, it is not the best solution for security. Container-managed authentication is the preferred method. For more information, see Resource authentication on page Click Apply. The links under the Additional Properties section for connection pool, advanced connection factory, and custom properties become active. The connection pool properties can affect performance of your application. You should monitor and adjust these settings to maximize performance. 12 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

13 The advanced connection factory properties are shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 Advanced connection factory properties The J2EE programming model indicates that connections should always have a transaction context. However, some applications do not have a context associated with them. The Log missing transaction context option tells the container to log the fact that there is a missing transaction context in the activity log when the connection is obtained. Resource authentication Resources often require you to perform authentication and authorization before an application can access them. You can configure the settings to determine how this is done in a number of ways. This section discusses the configuration settings and how to use them. However, before implementing any security, you should review the information in WebSphere Application Server V7 Security Handbook, SG The party responsible for the authentication and authorization is determined by the res-auth setting found in the Web and EJB deployment descriptors. There are two possible settings: res-auth=container: WebSphere is responsible. The authentication data is supplied by the application server. res-auth=application: The application, or component, is responsible. The authentication data is taken from the following elements, in order: The user ID and password that are passed to the getconnection method. (This is not recommended for obvious reasons. This implies that the user ID and password are coded in the application). The component-managed authentication alias in the connection factory or the data source The custom properties user name and password in the data source WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 13

14 Table 1 Authentication settings These settings can be configured during application assembly using Rational Application Developer in the EJB or Web deployment descriptor. They can also be set or overridden during application installation. See Table 1. Authentication type WebSphere managed: res-auth=container Application (component) managed: res-auth=application Setting at assembly Authorization type Container Per_Connection_Factory Setting during installation Resource authorization Container Per application Container-managed authentication Container-managed authentication removes the requirement that the component programmatically supply the credentials for accessing the resource. Instead of calling the getconnection() method with a ConnectionSpec object, getconnection() is called with no arguments. The authentication credentials are then supplied by the Web container, application container, or the EJB container, depending on from where the resource is accessed. WebSphere Application Server supports the JAAS specification, so the credentials can be mapped from any of the configured JAAS authentication login modules, including any custom JAAS authentication login module. The default selection for the JAAS application login module (in the mapping-configuration-alias field of the J2C connection factory), DefaultPrincipleMapping, maps the user ID and password using a pre-configured J2C authentication alias. Container-managed authentication is the preferred method. Component-managed authentication In the case of component-managed authentication, the application component accessing the resource or adapter is responsible for programmatically supplying the credentials. WebSphere can also supply a default component-managed authentication alias if available. After obtaining the connection factory for the resource from JNDI, the application component creates a connection to the resource using the create method on the connection factory supplying the credentials. If no credentials are supplied when creating a connection and a component-managed authentication alias has been specified on the J2C connection factory, the credentials from the authentication alias will be used. 14 WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere

15 Assuming that the credentials are valid, future requests using the same connection will use the same credentials. The application follows these basic steps: 1. Get the initial JNDI context. 2. Look up the connection factory for the resource adapter. 3. Create a ConnectionSpec object holding credentials. 4. Obtain a connection object from the connection factory by supplying the ConnectionSpec object. WebSphere Application Server V7: Accessing EIS Applications from WebSphere 15

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