Question

I know how to secure Web Services using certificates. that’s my client code:

  SSLContext ssl = SSLContext.getInstance("SSLv3");
  KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
  KeyStore store = KeyStore.getInstance(KeyStore.getDefaultType());
  String password = Configuration.getConfig("keyStorePassword");
  store.load(new FileInputStream(new File(Configuration.getConfig("keyStore"))), password.toCharArray());
  kmf.init(store, password.toCharArray());
  KeyManager[] keyManagers = new KeyManager[1];
  keyManagers = kmf.getKeyManagers();
  TrustManagerFactory tmf = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
  tmf.init(store);
  TrustManager[] trustManagers = tmf.getTrustManagers();
  ssl.init(keyManagers, trustManagers, new SecureRandom());

  HttpsConfigurator configurator = new HttpsConfigurator(ssl);
  Integer port = Integer.parseInt(Configuration.getConfig("port"));
  HttpsServer httpsServer = HttpsServer.create(new InetSocketAddress(Configuration.getConfig("host"), port), 0);
  httpsServer.setHttpsConfigurator(configurator);

  Implementor implementor = new Implementor(); // class with @WebService etc.
  HttpContext context = (HttpContext) httpsServer.createContext("/EventWebService");
  Endpoint endpoint = Endpoint.create( implementor );
  endpoint.publish(context);

Now, how to make ‘simple SSL’ ? How to make SSL connection without storing certificate on the client side. (Like connecting thru HTTPS in browser)

Answer 1

Java Runtime Environment does come with a lots (most widely used) Certificate Authorities in cacerts file. If the certificate you used to secure your service is signed by one of those root CAs, then you need not worry about sharing any certificate with clients.

However if you used self-signed certificate, and you don’t want to pass/import certificate in truststore then you can implement custom X509TrustManager and create custom SSLContext for your connections. More details in this blog.

Self-signed certificate are useful for development and test environments but you really should consider getting your server certificate signed from a recognized Certificate Authority like Verisign, Thwate etc.