JobScheduler Universal Agent - HTTPS Agent and Master Authentication

Scope

• The connection to JobScheduler Universal Agent can be secured by HTTPS.
• This article describes the steps required to set up secure HTTPS communication without the need of using a reverse proxy (for this use case see JobScheduler Universal Agent - connecting via HTTPS through a proxy).

Prerequisites

The only prerequisite is to have the Java keytools installed with your Java JRE.

Set up a secure connection to the Agent 

Step 1: Create the Java Keystore

• Create the Java Keystore using the Keytools from your Java JRE.
  • Generate the Java Keystore with the private key and certificate for the Agent and export the certificate to a second Keystore that is later on used by the Master or use the attached script keygen.sh to perform this task.
  • If not otherwise configured then JobScheduler Agent and Master by default use the password jobscheduler for the respective Keystore.
  • if you choose an individual password for the Agent Keystore then adjust the following properties in the <agent_data>/config/private/private.conf configuration file:
    • Explanations
      • jobscheduler.agent.webserver.https.keystore.file is used for the path to the Keystore
      • jobscheduler.agent.webserver.https.keystore.password is used for the Keystore password
      • jobscheduler.agent.webserver.https.keystore.key-password is used for the password of your private HTTPS certificate

    • Example

      Sample private.conf file

      jobscheduler.agent.webserver.https.keystore {
        file = "C:/ProgramData/sos-berlin.com/jobscheduler/agent110/config/private/private-https.jks"
        # Backslashes are written twice (as in JSON notation):
        # file = "\\\\other-computer\\share\\my-keystore.jks"
        password = "secret"
        key-password = "secret"
      }

  • For the Master the Keystore that contains the Agents' public trusted certificate is expected with the password jobscheduler.
• For the Agent store the Keystore with the private key in the directory <agent_data>/config/private
  • File name: private-https.jks
• For the Master store the Keystore with the trusted certificate of the Agent in the directory <master_data>/config
  • File name: agent-https.jks

Step 2: Set up authentication between Master and Agent

• Configure the Master password in a file on the Master in the <master_data>/config/private directory:
  • File name: private.conf

  • The file should contain the following entry that specifies a plain text password myjobscheduler4444 that is used by the Master to authenticate against Agents:

    jobscheduler.master.credentials.password = "myjobscheduler4444"

• Specify the Master password in a file on the respective Agent in the directory <agent_data>/config/private
  • File name: private.conf

  • Specify the Master that will authenticate with the Agent by its JobScheduler ID and password. For example, for two Masters with JobScheduler ID scheduler_4444 and scheduler_5555 this file would look like this assuming that the Master password is myjobscheduler4444:

    jobscheduler.agent.auth.users {
      scheduler_4444 = "plain:myjobscheduler4444"
      scheduler_5555 = "sha512:9184ddcaa87eb2f95c32f12741035c1e55cef93f7834905f926c4bc419fbc5613e2e141d39fb05d0ec7c66c9bd9e4c8b95b74598e0107f863b7f2bd942a9aea0"
    }

  • For each entry the JobScheduler ID is used as key, the value (in double quotes) includes the hash algorithm followed by a colon and the hashed password.
    • Using plain for the hash alogrithm requires a plain text password to be specified. Use of plain text passwords is not recommended as they could be visible to jobs running on that Agent.
    • Using sha512 for the hash alogithm requires a password that is hashed with the respective algorithm. A number of command line utilitiies to create a sha512 hash from a plain text password can easily be found.

Step 3: Start the Agent for HTTPS

• Start the Agent with the corresponding parameters: 
  • Example (using port 44445 for HTTPS): <agent_data>/bin/jobscheduler_agent -https-port=44445
• The HTTP port will always be used, even if the Agent is started for communicating over HTTPS. If no HTTP port is indicated when starting the Agent, then the default port (4445) will be used. The reason for this behavior is the requirement that the Agent can be locally controlled by its start script without further need for authentication.
• HTTPS has to be indicated when starting an Agent by use of the parameter -https-port.
• The Agent requires a data directory for configuration files and temporary files The data directory has to be indicated when starting the Agent by using the parameter -data-directory.
• The above mentioned parameters can be specified as environment variables with the Agent instance script, see Installation & Operation.

Step 4: Create a Process Class assignment for Agents using HTTPS 

• Create a Process Class for a job chain or a job.
• Add the Agent URL to the process class using the HTTPS protocol.
• Assign the process class to the job chain or job.
• Example:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <process_class max_processes="30" remote_scheduler="https://my_agent:44445"/>

Caveat

• For releases before  FEATURE AVAILABILITY STARTING FROM RELEASE 1.10.7  the problem JS-1675 - Getting issue details... STATUS  occurs. Consider to apply the workaround as specified from the issue.

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