WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services
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WS-ReliableMessaging: supported specifications and standards

WebSphere Application Server provides support for two levels of the WS-ReliableMessaging specification. This enables backward compatibility with vendors that provide WS-ReliableMessaging support at the February 2005 level, as well as meeting the requirements of the current OASIS specification. This implementation of WS-ReliableMessaging also composes with many other Web services standards.

Details of the supported WS-ReliableMessaging specifications are available at the following Web addresses:

The Reliable Asynchronous Messaging Profile (RAMP) Version 1.0 uses WS-ReliableMessaging to ensure the reliable delivery of messages.

Following on from the RAMP Version 1.0 specification, the Web Services Interoperability organisation (WS-I) has established a working group to standardize the Reliable Secure Profile. This profile is similar to RAMP Version 1.0, except that it is updated to use WS-ReliableMessaging Version 1.1 with the OASIS WS-SecureConversation specification Version 1.3.

The extent to which WS-ReliableMessaging composes with other Web services standards is described in the following sections:

WS-Addressing

The WS-ReliableMessaging specification uses WS-Addressing and the implementation fully supports the asynchronous request and reply model proposed in the WS-Addressing specification.

WS-Security

WS-ReliableMessaging composes with WS-Security. The WS-ReliableMessaging headers appended to application messages are signed if required. The WS-ReliableMessaging protocol messages are signed and encrypted if required.

Security processing is done close to the transport: after WS-ReliableMessaging processing at the Web service requester and before WS-ReliableMessaging processing at the Web service provider. This means the messages held in the WS-ReliableMessaging store are not signed and encrypted, so the emphasis is on the administrator to secure the store, if the store being used is the messaging engine in a service integration bus.

Note: If possible, use WS-SecureConversation rather than WS-Security because the WS-SecureConversation protocol is less susceptible to security attacks.

WS-SecureConversation

WS-ReliableMessaging is designed to work with WS-SecureConversation. A secure conversation context is established and this is used to secure the application messages and the WS-ReliableMessaging protocol messages.

To use WS-SecureConversation, create or apply a policy set that includes both WS-ReliableMessaging and WS-SecureConversation. For example, the RAMP policy set.

WS-Notification

The WS-Notification support in WebSphere Application Server is not integrated with the Feature Pack for Web Services, so WS-Notification cannot take advantage of WS-ReliableMessaging in this release.

WS-AtomicTransactions

WS-ReliableMessaging transactions do not use the WS-AtomicTransactions protocol. The relationship between these two protocols is as follows:
  • WS-AtomicTransactions and WS-ReliableMessaging are mutually exclusive when WS-ReliableMessaging is being used, with a managed store, to provide transactional recoverable messaging.
  • If WS-ReliableMessaging is configured to use an in-memory store, then there are cases where a WS-AtomicTransaction can be flowed between the reliable messaging source and the reliable messaging destination for two-way invocations. In this situation, WS-ReliableMessaging only protects against network failures, not against server failure.

For more information about WS-AtomicTransactions, see Transaction support in WebSphere Application Server. For more information about using WS-ReliableMessaging transactions, see Providing transactional recoverable messaging through WS-ReliableMessaging.

WS-ResourceSpecification

This specification is a way of referencing a particular resource owned by a Web service. The specification gives two ways in which the resource can be referenced:
  • Extend the wsa:To address field to include the resource name. This is referred to in the specification as WS-Addressing Embodiment using Address. This approach causes reliable messaging to use a different sequence for each particular resource, because a reliable messaging sequence is targeted at an endpoint address, and consequently you cannot maintain strict ordering of messages across the resources.
  • Include the resource name as a property of the wsa:To endpoint reference. This is referred to in the specification as WS-Addressing Embodiment using Reference Properties. This approach is fully compatible with WS-ReliableMessaging, because the endpoint address is the same for both resources.



Related tasks
Building a reliable Web service application
Detecting and fixing problems with WS-ReliableMessaging
Learning about WS-ReliableMessaging
Reference topic    

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Last updated: Nov 25, 2008 2:35:59 AM CST
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