If your portal environment makes extensive use of SSL,
you might choose to use cryptographic hardware to offload encryption
and improve performance. WebSphere® Portal Express® tolerates
interfacing through WebSphere Application
Server with
cryptographic hardware for SSL acceleration. However, the tasks involved
in setting up and configuring cryptographic hardware are generally
specific to Web servers or WebSphere Application
Server and do not necessarily
involve configuring WebSphere Portal Express.
The
WebSphere Application
Server Information
Center contains several topics for setting up and configuring password
encryption with cryptographic hardware. Refer to these topics to get
started with password encryption and learn more about available encryption
features.
Most cryptographic hardware requires the PKCS11 support
software for the host machine and internal firmware. To get started
with cryptographic hardware, you should install the required support
software, configure IBM® HTTP
Server,
then install the necessary devices. Refer to Getting started
with the cryptographic hardware for SSL at: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v8r0/topic/com.ibm.websphere.ihs.doc/info/ihs/ihs/tihs_cryptossl.html
You can create a plug point to encrypt
and decrypt all passwords in
WebSphere Application
Server that are currently
encoded or decoded using Base64-encoding. Refer to
Plug point
for custom password encryption at:
Create a custom class to encrypt passwords after you create
your server profile. Refer to
Enabling custom password encryption at:
In stand-alone environments, administrative functions
such as installing
WAR files or adding trace
settings can fail when you meet both of the following conditions:
- Your WebSphere Portal Express server
uses the RSA_token value for security.
- You enable cryptographic off-loading of SSL decryption and encryption
through an implementation of PKCS11.
If your stand-alone environment meets both of the preceding conditions,
complete the following steps:
- Log in to the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console.
- Navigate to
- Select Only use the active application authentication
mechanism.
- Click Apply then OK and
save the changes to the master configuration.
- Log out of the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console.
- Restart the WebSphere_Portal server.