50th tip on this blog, yaay!

Tech Tip #49 explained how to secure WebSockets using username/password and Servlet Security mechanisms. This Tech Tip will explain how to secure WebSockets using HTTPS/TLS on WildFly.

Lets get started!

1. Create a new keystore:
   
   <strong>keytool -genkey -alias websocket -keyalg RSA -keystore websocket.keystore -validity 10950</strong> Enter keystore password: Re-enter new password: What is your first and last name? [Unknown]: Arun Gupta What is the name of your organizational unit? [Unknown]: JBoss Middleware What is the name of your organization? [Unknown]: Red Hat What is the name of your City or Locality? [Unknown]: San Jose What is the name of your State or Province? [Unknown]: CA What is the two-letter country code for this unit? [Unknown]: US Is CN=Arun Gupta, OU=JBoss Middleware, O=Red Hat, L=San Jose, ST=CA, C=US correct? [no]: yes Enter key password for &lt;websocket&gt; (RETURN if same as keystore password): Re-enter new password:

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   <strong>keytool -genkey -alias websocket -keyalg RSA -keystore websocket.keystore -validity 10950</strong> Enter keystore password: Re-enter new password: What is your first and last name?   [Unknown]:  Arun Gupta What is the name of your organizational unit?   [Unknown]:  JBoss Middleware What is the name of your organization?   [Unknown]:  Red Hat What is the name of your City or Locality?   [Unknown]:  San Jose What is the name of your State or Province?   [Unknown]:  CA What is the two-letter country code for this unit?   [Unknown]:  US Is CN=Arun Gupta, OU=JBoss Middleware, O=Red Hat, L=San Jose, ST=CA, C=US correct?   [no]:  yes   Enter key password for &lt;websocket&gt;     (RETURN if same as keystore password): Re-enter new password:

   Used “websocket” as the convenience password.
2. Download WildFly 8.1, unzip, and copy “websocket.keystore” file in standalone/configuration directory.
3. Start WildFly as
   
   ./bin/standalone.sh

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   ./bin/standalone.sh

4. Connect to it using jboss-cli as:
   
   ./bin/jboss-cli.sh -c

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   ./bin/jboss-cli.sh -c

5. Add a new security realm as:
   
   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /core-service=management/security-realm=WebSocketRealm:add() {"outcome" =&gt; "success"}

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   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /core-service=management/security-realm=WebSocketRealm:add() {"outcome" => "success"}

   And configure it:
   
   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /core-service=management/security-realm=WebSocketRealm/server-identity=ssl:add(keystore-path=websocket.keystore, keystore-relative-to=jboss.server.config.dir, keystore-password=websocket) { "outcome" =&gt; "success", "response-headers" =&gt; { "operation-requires-reload" =&gt; true, "process-state" =&gt; "reload-required" } }

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   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /core-service=management/security-realm=WebSocketRealm/server-identity=ssl:add(keystore-path=websocket.keystore, keystore-relative-to=jboss.server.config.dir, keystore-password=websocket) {     "outcome" => "success",     "response-headers" => {         "operation-requires-reload" => true,         "process-state" => "reload-required"     } }

6. Add a new HTTPS listener as:
   
   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/https-listener=https:add(socket-binding=https, security-realm=WebSocketRealm) { "outcome" =&gt; "success", <span style="font-size: 13px;"> "response-headers" =&gt; {"process-state" =&gt; "reload-required"} }</span>

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   [standalone@localhost:9990 /] /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/https-listener=https:add(socket-binding=https, security-realm=WebSocketRealm) {     "outcome" =&gt; "success", <span style="font-size: 13px;">    "response-headers" =&gt; {"process-state" =&gt; "reload-required"} }</span>

7. A simple sample to show TLS-based security for WebSocket is available at github.com/javaee-samples/javaee7-samples/tree/master/websocket/endpoint-wss. Clone the workspace and change directory to “websocket/endpoint-wss”. The sample’s deployment descriptor has:
   
   &lt;security-constraint&gt; &lt;web-resource-collection&gt; &lt;web-resource-name&gt;Secure WebSocket&lt;/web-resource-name&gt; &lt;url-pattern&gt;/*&lt;/url-pattern&gt; &lt;/web-resource-collection&gt; &lt;user-data-constraint&gt; &lt;transport-guarantee&gt;CONFIDENTIAL&lt;/transport-guarantee&gt; &lt;/user-data-constraint&gt; &lt;/security-constraint&gt;

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   <security-constraint>   <web-resource-collection>     <web-resource-name>Secure WebSocket</web-resource-name>     <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>   </web-resource-collection>   <user-data-constraint>     <transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>   </user-data-constraint> </security-constraint>

   This ensures that any request coming to this application will be auto-directed to an HTTPS URL.
8. Deploy the sample by giving the command:
   
   mvn wildfly:deploy

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   mvn wildfly:deploy

Now accessing http://localhost:8080/endpoint-wss redirects to https://localhost:8080/endpoint-wss. The browsers may complain about self-signed certificate. For example, Chrome shows the following warning:

And Safari shows the following warning:

In either case, click on “Proceed to localhost” or “Continue” to proceed further. And then a secure WebSocket connection is established.

Another relevant point to understand is that a non-secure WebSocket connection cannot be made from an https-protected page. For example the following code in our sample:

will throw the following exception in Chrome Developer Tools:

Enjoy!

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