How Extensible Security Works

Extensible security works by allowing you to write your own authentication and permissions modules, which run in a Java virtual machine (JVM) in the EMS server. The modules connect to the server using the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) for authentication modules, and the Java Access Control Interface (JACI) for permissions modules.

If the extensible security features are enabled when the EMS server starts, the server checks each user as it connects for authentication, and checks user permissions when they attempt to perform actions that require authorization.

Permission results are cached in the server for specified timeouts, and the permissions module is re-invoked when a cached permission expires. The server then replaces the old permission data with new data.

Extensible authentication and extensible permissions are enabled in the tibemsd.conf configuration file. Extensible security modules can connect to external security services, such as single sign on (SSO) servers or LDAP directories, which operate outside of the TIBCO Enterprise Message Service framework. Extensible security modules can work in tandem with the EMS acl.conf configuration file. The following figure shows the different security methods available in the server.