Introduction

• Authentication is required when accessing the JS7 - REST Web Service API and when accessing the JS7 - Browser User Interface, i.e. the JOC Cockpit GUI.
• Authentication is performed by a set of JS7 - Identity Services that support the use of account/password and of certificates.
• Single-factor authentication and two-factor authentication methods are supported.

Authentication Methods

The following authentication methods are supported:

• User Account/Password Authentication
  • for use with the built-in account management of the JOC Cockpit, see the JS7 - JOC Identity Service article and further Identity Services.
  • for use with an LDAP based Directory Service such as, for example, Microsoft Active Directory®, see the JS7 - LDAP Identity Service article.
    
• Mutual Authentication with Certificates
  • X.509 compliant certificates can be used by any client (Browser Client, REST API Client).

Certificate based Authentication

Certificates can be used for mutual authentication:

• The client (Browser Client, REST API Client) challenges the JOC Cockpit server to present its Server Authentication Certificate that is verified by the client.
• The JOC Cockpit server challenges the client to present its Client Authentication Certificate which is then verified by the JOC Cockpit.

With the JOC Cockpit being set up for mutual authentication, certificates can be used to:

• enforce two-factor authentication with clients having to provide a certificate and user account/password,
• allow single-factor authentication using a certificate instead of user account/password.

Details of how to configure clients and JOC Cockpit for use with certificates can be found in the JS7 - Certificate based Authentication article.

Further Resources