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Version: v2.5.x LTS

ZAAS Client

ZAAS Client

The ZAAS client is a plain Java library that provides authentication through a simple unified interface without the need for detailed knowledge of the REST API calls presented in this section. The Client function has only a few dependencies including Apache HTTP Client, Lombok, and their associated dependencies. The client contains methods to perform the following actions:

  • To obtain a JWT token
  • To validate and get details from a JWT token
  • To invalidate the JWT token
  • To obtain a PassTicket

This article contains the following topics:

Pre-requisites​

  • Java SDK version 1.8.
  • An active instance of the API ML Gateway Service.
  • A property file which defines the keystore or truststore certificates.

API Documentation​

The plain java library provides the ZaasClient interface with following public methods:

public interface ZaasClient {
String login(String userId, String password) throws ZaasClientException;
String login(String authorizationHeader) throws ZaasClientException;
ZaasToken query(String token) throws ZaasClientException;
ZaasToken query(HttpServletRequest request) throws ZaasClientException;
String passTicket(String jwtToken, String applicationId) throws ZaasClientException, ZaasConfigurationException;
void logout(String token) throws ZaasClientException, ZaasConfigurationException;
}

This Java code enables your application to add the following functions:

  • Obtain a JWT token (login)
  • Validate and get details from the token (query)
  • Invalidate a JWT token (logout)
  • Obtain a PassTicket (passTicket)

Obtain a JWT token (login)​

To integrate login, call one of the following methods for login in the ZaasClient interface:

  • If the user provides credentials in the request body, call the following method from your API:

    String login(String userId, String password) throws ZaasClientException;
  • If the user provides credentials as Basic Auth, use the following method:

    String login(String authorizationHeader) throws ZaasClientException;

These methods return the JWT token as a String. This token can then be used to authenticate the user in subsequent APIs.

Note: Both methods automatically use the truststore file to add a security layer, which requires configuration in the ConfigProperties class.

Validate and get details from the token (query)​

Use the query method to get the details embedded in the token. These details include creation time of the token, expiration time of the token, and the user who the token is issued to.

Call the query method from your API in the following format:

ZaasToken query(String token) throws ZaasClientException;

In return, you receive the ZaasToken Object in JSON format.

This method automatically uses the truststore file to add a security layer, which you configured in the ConfigProperties class.

The query method is overloaded, so you can provide the HttpServletRequest object that contains the token in the apimlAuthenticationToken cookie or in an Authorization header. You then receive the ZaasToken Object in JSON format.

ZaasToken query(HttpServletRequest request) throws ZaasClientException;

Invalidate a JWT token (logout)​

The logout method is used to invalidate the JWT token. The token must be provided in the Cookie header and must follow the format accepted by the API ML.

Call the logout method from your API in the following format:

void logout(String token) throws ZaasClientException, ZaasConfigurationException;   

If the token is successfully invalidated, you receive a 204 HTTP status code in return.

Obtain a PassTicket (passTicket)​

The passTicket method has an added layer of protection. To use this method, call the method of the interface, and provide a valid APPLID of the application and JWT token as input.

The APPLID is the name of the application (up to 8 characters) that is used by security products to differentiate certain security operations (like PassTickets) between applications.

This method has an added layer of security, whereby you do not have to provide an input to the method since you already initialized the ConfigProperties class. As such, this method automatically fetches the truststore and keystore files as an input.

In return, this method provides a valid pass ticket as a String to the authorized user.

Tip: For additional information about PassTickets in API ML see Enabling PassTicket creation for API Services that Accept PassTickets.

Getting Started (Step by Step Instructions)​

To use this library, use the procedure described in this section.

Follow these steps:

  1. Add zaas-client as a dependency in your project.
    You will need to specify the version of the zaas-client you want. zaas-client versioning following the semantic versioning format of major.minor.patch. For example, 1.22.0.

    Gradle:

    1. Create a `gradle.properties` file in the root of your project if one does not already exist.

    2. In the `gradle.properties` file, set the URL of the specific Artifactory containing the _SpringEnabler_ artifact.

    ```
    # Repository URL for getting the enabler-java artifact
    artifactoryMavenRepo=https://zowe.jfrog.io/zowe/libs-release/
    ```

    3. Add the following _Gradle_ code block to the `repositories` section of your `build.gradle` file:

    ```gradle
    repositories {
    ...

    maven {
    url artifactoryMavenRepo
    }
    }
    ```

    4. Add the following _Gradle_ dependency:

    ```groovy
    dependencies {
    compile 'org.zowe.apiml.sdk:zaas-client:{{version}}'
    }
    ```

    Maven:

    1. Add the following _XML_ tags within the newly created `pom.xml` file:

    ```xml
    <repositories>
    <repository>
    <id>libs-release</id>
    <name>libs-release</name>
    <url>https://zowe.jfrog.io/zowe/libs-release/</url>
    <snapshots>
    <enabled>false</enabled>
    </snapshots>
    </repository>
    </repositories>
    ```

    **Tip:** If you want to use snapshot version, replace libs-release with libs-snapshot in the repository url and change snapshots->enabled to true.

    2. Then add the following _Maven_ dependency:

    ```xml
    <dependency>
    <groupId>org.zowe.apiml.sdk</groupId>
    <artifactId>zaas-client</artifactId>
    <version>{{version}}</version>
    </dependency>
    ```
  2. In your application, create your Java class which will be used to create an instance of ZaasClient, which enables you to use its method to login, query, and to issue a PassTicket.

  3. To use zaas-client, provide a property file for configuration.

    Tip: Check org.zowe.apiml.zaasclient.config.ConfigProperites to see which properties are required in the property file.

    Configuration Properties:

    public class ConfigProperties {
    private String apimlHost;
    private String apimlPort;
    private String apimlBaseUrl;
    private String keyStoreType;
    private String keyStorePath;
    private String keyStorePassword;
    private String trustStoreType;
    private String trustStorePath;
    private String trustStorePassword;
    private boolean httpOnly;
    }

    Note: If httpOnly property is set to true, the ZAAS Client will access the API ML via HTTP protocol without TLS. This meant for z/OS configuration with AT-TLS that will ensure that TLS and the required client certificates are used.

  4. Create an instance of ZaasClient in your class and provide the configProperties object.

    Example:

    ZaasClient zaasClient = new ZaasClientImpl(getConfigProperties());

You can now use any method from ZaasClient in your class.

Example:

For login, use the following code snippet:

   String zaasClientToken = zaasClient.login("user", "user");

The following codeblock is an example of a SampleZaasClientImplementation.

Example:

import org.zowe.apiml.zaasclient.config.ConfigProperties;
import org.zowe.apiml.zaasclient.exception.ZaasClientException;
import org.zowe.apiml.zaasclient.exception.ZaasConfigurationException;
import org.zowe.apiml.zaasclient.service.ZaasClient;

public class SampleZaasClientImplementation {

/**
* This method is used to fetch token from zaasClient
* @param username
* @param password
* @return valid JWT token returned from the authentication service
*/
public String login(String username, String password) {
try {
ZaasClient zaasClient = new ZaasClientImpl(getConfigProperties());
String zaasClientToken = zaasClient.login(username, password);
//Use this token in subsequent calls
return zaasClientToken;
} catch (ZaasClientException | ZaasConfigurationException exception) {
exception.printStackTrace();
}
}

private ConfigProperties getConfigProperties() {
// Load the values for configuration properties
}
}