Introduction

• Identity Services implement Authentication Methods and access to Identity Providers, for example, credentials such as user account/password are used as an Authentication Method to access an LDAP Directory Service acting as the Identity Provider, see JS7 - Identity and Access Management.
• JOC Cockpit implements a flexible architecture that allows to add external Identity Service products with future JS7 releases.
• By default JS7 ships with two built-in Identity Services:
  • The JS7 - JOC Identity Service includes to manage user accounts with JOC Cockpit and to use the JS7 database for persistence.
  • The JS7 - LDAP Identity Service includes to authenticate users with an LDAP Directory Service.
  • FEATURE AVAILABILITY STARTING FROM RELEASE 2.2.0
• For compatibility reasons early releases of JS7 include the Shiro Identity Service, see  JOC-1145 - Getting issue details... STATUS
  • FEATURE AVAILABILITY ENDING WITH RELEASE 2.3.0

Matrix of Identity Services

Identity Services can be used in a number of flavors depending on the fact 

• which application manages user accounts/passwords:
  • the Identity Provider that is specific to an Identity Service,
  • JOC Cockpit that propagates user accounts/passwords to the Identity Service but does not store such credentials with the JS7 database.
• where assignments of roles to user accounts are stored:
  • with the Identity Provider of the Identity Service,
  • with the JS7 database.
    
    

Management of Identity Services

The operation to manage Identity Services is available from the user menu of an administrative user account in the right upper corner of any JOC Cockpit page:

This operation brings forward the list of available Identity Services.

• By default the built-in JOC Identity Service is available.
• The Shiro Identity Service is available for migration purposes up to release 2.3.0.
  
  

Add Identity Service

To add an Identity Service use the button Add Identity Service from the above list of Identity Services:

The remaining input fields for the popup window look like this:

Explanation:

• The Identity Service Name can be freely chosen.
• The Identity Service Type can be selected as available from the above matrix.
• The Ordering specifies the sequence in which a login is performed with available Identity Services.
• The Required attribute specifies if login with the respective Identity Service is required to be successful, for example if a number of Identity Services are triggered on login of a user account.
• The Identity Service Authentication Scheme allows to select
  • single-factor authentication: a single factor is sufficient for login with the Identity Service that can be configured to make use of
    • optional user account and password 
    • optional Client Authentication Certificate,  see JS7 - Certificate based Authentication
  • two-factor authentication: two factors are required for login with the Identity Service using
    • user account and password and
    • Client Authentication Certificate.

Manage User Accounts and Roles

• See JS7 - Management of User Accounts, Roles and Permissions
• See JS7 - Default Roles and Permissions

Manage Settings

Settings are available at a global level and per Identity Service.

Global Settings

Global settings are applied to all Identity Services.

Explanation:

• Session Idle Timeout (Default: 900 seconds)
  • If users are inactive for the given number of seconds then the user session expires and is terminated. Users can specify credentials and login to create a new user session.
  • Should the lifetime of an access token provided by an external Identity Service be different from the maximum idle-timeout then JOC Cockpit will try to renew the access token with the Identity Service. Renewal of an access token does not require the user to repeatedly specify credentials for login.
  • Identity Services can restrict the lifetime of access tokens (time to live) and they can limit renewal of access tokens (maximum time to live). If an access token cannot be renewed then the user session is terminated and the user is required to perform a login.
• Initial Password (Default: initial)
  • If an administrator adds user accounts with JOC Cockpit and does not specify a password then the Initial Password will be used. As a general rule JOC Cockpit does not allow to use empty passwords but populates them from the Initial Password if no password is specified by the user that adds or modifies an account.
  • In addition, the operation to reset a user account's password is available that replaces an existing password with the Initial Password.
  • If the Initial Password is assigned then a flag is set with the user account to change the password with the next login. This behavior ensures that users cannot use the Initial Password except for initial login.
• Minimum Password Length (Default 0)
  • For any passwords specified - including the Initial Password - a minimum length is specified.
  • Consider that the number characters and arbitrariness of character selection are key factors for secure passwords. Password complexity requiring e.g. digits and special characters to be used do not substantially add to password security except in case of short passwords.

Settings specific for Identity Services

Such settings are explained with the individual Identity Service:

• JS7 - JOC Identity Service
• JS7 - LDAP Identity Service
• JS7 - HashiCorp® Vault Identity Service.
• The Shiro Identity Service and JOC Identity Service do not require any settings.

Processing of Identity Services

A number of Identity Services can be processed for login of a user:

• Required Identity Services: user login is performed with all required Identity Services.
  • No Optional Identity Services are considered.
  • If more than one Required Identity Service is configured then a user cannot log in if the login fails with any of the Required Identity Services.
  • Permissions are applied from roles assigned by the Identity Services that is the last one in the sequence of enabled Identity Services to authenticate a user account.
• Optional Identity Services: with the first successful login to an Identity Service the user is considered being logged in.
  • No further optional Identity Services are consulted if a user login is successful with one of the Optional Identity Services.
  • For example, if two Optional Identity Services JOC and LDAP are configured in this sequence then the login to the JOC Identity Service can fail and still the user might successfully login with the LDAP Identity Service.
  • Permissions from the successful login to an Optional Identity Service are used.
• Disabled Identity Services are not considered for user login.

Identity Services are ordered to specify the sequence of preferred use for authentication.

Consider that a number of Identity Providers, for example LDAP being used for Active Directory access, might not accept repeatedly failed login attempts and might block the respective user account.

Further Resources

• JS7 - Authentication
  • JS7 - Certificate based Authentication
• JS7 - Authorization
  • JS7 - Default Roles and Permissions
  • JS7 - Management of User Accounts, Roles and Permissions