Configuring the connector

Connectors have two types of configuration properties: standard configuration properties and connector-specific configuration properties. You must set the values of these properties using Connector Configurator before running the connector. For further information, see Appendix B, Connector Configurator.

A connector obtains its configuration values at startup. During a run time session, you may want to change the values of one or more connector properties. Changes to some connector configuration properties, such as AgentTraceLevel, take effect immediately. Changes to other connector properties require connector component restart or system restart. To determine whether a property is dynamic (taking effect immediately) or static (requiring either connector component restart or system restart), refer to the Update Method column in the Connector Properties window of the System Manager.

Standard connector properties

Standard connector configuration properties provide information that all connectors use. See Appendix A, Standard configuration properties for connectors for documentation of these properties.

Note that although the following properties are listed in Appendix A, Standard configuration properties for connectors, the connector for EJB does not use these properties:

Also, note issues with the following properties:

Connector-specific properties

Connector-specific configuration properties provide information needed by the connector at run time. These properties also provide a way for you to change static information or logic within the connector without having to recode and rebuild it.

To configure connector-specific properties, use Connector Configurator. Click the Application Config Properties tab to add or modify configuration properties. For more information, see Appendix B, Connector Configurator.

Table 2 lists the connector-specific configuration properties, along with their descriptions and possible values. Note that these properties are all non-hierarchical Strings. See the sections that follow for details about the properties, including an image of the properties in Figure 2.

Table 2. Connector-specific configuration properties

Name Possible values Default value
InitialContextFactory The class name of the initial context factory. com.ibmwebsphere.naming.WsnInitialContextFactory
ProviderURL The URL of the JNDI service provider. The service provider is a driver, on the application server, that provides access to the directories in which the enterprise beans are stored on the server. corbaloc:iiop:localhost:2809
DataHandlerConfigMO The data handler meta-object. Used to support a data handler, if you have defined one for the connector. MO_DataHandler_Default
LoginConfiguration The name of the LoginModule class for JAAS security. The default value is determined by your application server. For WebSphere Application Server, the class is WSLogin.

This property can only be used if your application server provides JAAS support, and you choose to implement secure access beans.

CallBackHandlerClass The user-implemented CallBackHandler interface used for JAAS security. For WebSphere Application Server, the class is com.ibm.websphere.security.auth.callback. WSCallbackHandlerImpl

This property can only be used if your application server provides JAAS support and you choose to implement secure access beans.

JAASUserName The JAAS security user name. None

Configure this property only if your application server provides JAAS support and you choose to implement secure access beans.

JAASPassword The JAAS security password. None

Configure this property only if your application server provides JAAS support and you choose to implement secure access beans.

JAASRealm The JAAS security realm name. None

Configure this property only if your application server provides JAAS support and you choose to implement secure access beans.

Figure 2 illustrates the hierarchical relationship of the connector-specific properties.



Figure 2. Hierarchy of connector-specific properties

InitialContextFactory

The class name of the initial context factory. InitialContext, a JNDI interface required for initiating the connection to the enterprise application server and locating the enterprise bean's home interface, is the starting point of any client lookup of an enterprise bean. The connector uses the InitialContextFactory property, along with the ProviderURL property, to obtain the JNDI initial context.

ProviderURL

The URL of the JNDI provider. JNDI enables the connector to access the enterprise beans by name.The connector uses this URL to connect remotely to the JNDI server running within the EJB server. After connecting to the EJB server, the connector can locate the home interface of the enterprise bean.

DataHandlerConfigMO

The name of the top-level data handler meta-object. If you have designed a data handler into your connector architecture, the connector requires access to any data handler classes needed to convert business object values to enterprise bean parameters (as specified in the EJB ASI). An enterprise bean method can take an XML, EDI or other WBI data handler-supported document as an argument to a remote EJB method. If the connector finds a method business object with a data handler-supported document as a parameter, then the connector calls the data handler to convert the business object to the corresponding document, and then invokes a remote enterprise bean method by passing the document generated by the data handler as an argument to the method.

If this property is not filled in, the connector cannot find the meta-object, which it needs to invoke the appropriate data handler. For information about using a data handler with the connector, see Data handler processing.

LoginConfiguration

The class that implements the LoginModule interface of the authentication technology provider. The authentication technology provider implements the LoginModule to provide a particular kind of authentication via a pleadable module, without requiring any modifications to the application itself. Typically, the LoginConfiguration and LoginModule implementation are provided in the application server's login class. If your application server supports secure access beans using JAAS, and you choose to implement this service for EJB security, set this property to the name of the LoginModule class of your application server.

For JAAS-compliant application servers, the connector enables the authentication process by instantiating a LoginContext object, which specifies the LoginModules that will handle JAAS authentication. During authentication of the client, the LoginModule prompts for and verifies the username and password, defined in the JAASUserName and JAASPassword properties.

Although JAAS is not a requirement of the connector, if you specify a value in the LoginConfiguration property, the connector assumes you are implementing bean security, in which case the CallBackHandlerClass, JAASUserName, JAASPassword, and JAASRealm properties are all required.

For details about configuring security, see Configuring security and Security for the adapter for EJB.

CallBackHandlerClass

A JAAS interface, determined by the application server, that enables a client to pass authentication data to the application server. This interface implements a CallBack handler that is passed to the underlying security services so that they can interact with the application to retrieve from the client (in this case, the connector) certain authentication data, such as username and password. The LoginModule uses the CallBack handler to communicate with the client to obtain the requested authentication data. Username and password for the connector are defined in the JAASUserName and JAASPassword properties.

If your application server supports secure access beans using JAAS, and you choose to implement this service for EJB security, set this value to the user-implemented CallBackHandler interface.

Although JAAS is not a requirement of the connector, if you specify a value in the LoginConfiguration property, the connector assumes you are implementing bean security, in which case the CallBackHandlerClass, JAASUserName, JAASPassword, and JAASRealm properties are all required.

For details about configuring security, see Configuring security and Security for the adapter for EJB.

JAASUserName

If your application server supports secure access beans using JAAS, and you choose to implement this service for EJB security, set this value to the JAAS security user name configured on your application server.

Although, JAAS is not a requirement of the connector, to properly configure security using JAAS, you must specify values in the JAASUserName, LoginConfiguration, CallBackHandlerClass, JAASPassword, and JAASRealm properties.

For details about configuring security, see Configuring security and Security for the adapter for EJB.

JAASPassword

If your application server supports secure access beans using JAAS, and you choose to implement this service for EJB security, set this value to the JAAS security password configured on your application server.

Although, JAAS is not a requirement of the connector, to properly configure security using JAAS, you must specify values in the JAASPassword, LoginConfiguration, CallBackHandlerClass, JAASUserName, and JAASRealm properties.

For details about configuring security, see Configuring security and Security for the adapter for EJB.

JAASRealm

If your application server supports secure access beans using JAAS, and you choose to implement this service for EJB security, set this value to the JAAS security realm name. A realm is a JAAS mapping of one or more User Groups to a set of privileges or permissions.

Although, JAAS is not a requirement of the connector, to properly configure security using JAAS, you must specify values in the JAASRealm, LoginConfiguration, CallBackHandlerClass, JAASUserName, and JAASPassword properties.

For details about configuring security, see Configuring security and Security for the adapter for EJB.

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