Introduction
This component provides an API for authentication and two APIs for authorization.
The authentication API is an implementation of the GSS-API (RFC 2743 and RFC 2744) extended with the functions described in the GSS-API Extensions document.
On the authorization front there is a coarse-grained API, which in addition to authorizing also provides a mapping function, and an API that allows finer grained authorization decisions to be made. The finer grained API follows the subject, object, action paradigm.
Both of the authorization APIs allow different back end implementations through the use of dynamic library loading.
Table of Contents
- Before you begin
- Usage scenarios
- Tutorials
- Architecture and design overview
- APIs
- Protocol Specifications
- GSI Commands
- grid-cert-diagnostics - Print diagnostic information about certificates and keys
- grid-cert-info - Display certificate information
- grid-cert-request - Create a certificate request
- grid-default-ca - Set the default CA to use for certificate requests
- grid-change-pass-phrase - Change the pass phrase on a private key
- grid-proxy-init - Generate a new proxy certificate
- grid-proxy-destroy - Destroy the current proxy certificate (previously created with grid-proxy-init)
- grid-proxy-info - Display information obtained from a proxy certificate
- grid-mapfile-add-entry - Add an entry to a grid map file
- grid-mapfile-check-consistency - Check the internal consistency of a grid map file
- grid-mapfile-delete-entry - Delete an entry from a grid map file
- Configuring Certificates
- Environment variable interface
- Debugging
- Troubleshooting
- Related Documentation
- Glossary
Table of Contents
Features new in GT 4.2.0
- None
Other Supported Features
- Authentication of user using standard X.509 End Entity and Proxy Certificates.
- Delegation using X.509 Proxy Certificates.
- Pluggable authorization based on the client's certificate chain for GridFTP and GRAM2.
- Pluggable authorization for GRAM2 based on the RSL of the job.
Deprecated Features
- None
Protocol changes in GSI C since GT 4.0.x
- None
API changes since GT 4.0.x
- None
Exception changes since GT 4.0.x
- Not applicable
Schema changes since GT 4.0.x
- Not applicable
The GSI C component depends on the following GT components:
- C Common Libraries
The GSI C component depends on the following 3rd party software:
- OpenSSL
During host authorization, the toolkit treats DNs "hostname-*.edu" as equivalent to "hostname.edu". This means that if a service was setup to do host authorization and hence accept the certificate "hostname.edu", it would also accept certificates with DNs "hostname-*.edu".
The feature is in place to allow a multi-homed host folowing a "hostname-interface" naming convention, to have a single host certificate. For example, host "grid.test.edu" would also accept likes of "grid-1.test.edu" or "grid-foo.test.edu".
![[Note]](/docbook-images/note.gif)
Note The wildcard character "*" matches only name of the hostand not domain components. This means that "hostname.edu" will not match "hostname-foo.sub.edu", but will match "host-foo.edu".
Note If a host was set up to accept "hostname-1.edu", it will not accept any of "hostname-*.edu".
A bug has been opened to see if this feature needs to be modfiied.
Table of Contents
As mentioned in the introduction, the GSI C security framework uses the GSSAPI API and extensions to it to abstract security mechanism specific details. Below the GSSAPI layer there exist multiple APIs for dealing with credential management, X.509 certificates in general and proxy certificates in particular as well as security configuration. Each of these APIs is described in more detail below.
The general design principle guiding these APIs is data encapsulation. Data structures (handles and attributes) capture and encapsulate the state of the system. These data structures are then acted upon by various getters and setters, as well as other functions.
The GSS Assist API provides helper functions wrapping the process of security (GSS) context establishment, support for gridmap authorization and various other helper functions that wrap GSSAPI functions and capture common usage.
The GSSAPI implementation provided by the toolkit is based upon SSL/TLS with extensions to the standard path validation mechanism to handle proxy certificates. It relies upon the credential and certificate utility APIs for general certificate acquisition and inspection functionality.
This API provides a callback that can be plugged into the OpenSSL path validation framework. This callback provides the additions to path validation required for dealing with proxy certificates and X.509 extensions. Furthermore, it allows applications to inspect data, e.g. the validated certificate chain, after the validation is done.
The Certificate Utilities API provides helper functions for dealing with X.509 certificates. This API does not use the "handle" concept mentioned in the introduction. Rather, it operates on datatypes provided by the OpenSSL APIs.
The Credential API deals with reading and writing certificates from and to the file system and the OpenSSL I/O abstraction layer. It also provides functions for inspecting and validating the read credentials.
The Proxy APIs provide a implementation of the X.509 Proxy Certificate Extension ASN.1 structure as well as functions for creating new proxies.
This API serves as a abstraction layer for OS specific information needed by the security infrastructure. It provides OS specific functions for discovering certificates from a set of predefined standard locations as well as functions for doing the same for various configuration files.
As described in the introduction the GSI C security framework essentially provides two authorization APIs, the generic Authorization API and the Gridmap API. These APIs differ in various ways:
The Authorization API provides a framework that allows callouts to 3rd party authorization solutions, does not provide a default authorization mechanism and is geared to authorizing the subject-action-object tuple.
The Gridmap API on the other hand, while allowing for custom callouts to be plugged in and override the default behavior, provides a default authorization and mapping mechanism based on the grid map file. Also, it only furnishes the callouts with information about the entity to be authorized, i.e. it does not provide information on the action and the object, so it is somewhat simpler in its approach. Finally, it provides the ability to map authorized entities to local system entities, e.g. UNIX user names. More information on the interface used for Gridmap callouts can be found here.
Documentation for the APIs in this component can be found here:
- gaa_core [no frames]
- gaa_gss_generic [no frames]
- gaa_plugin [no frames]
- globus_authz [no frames]
- globus_authz_callout_error [no frames]
- globus_gridmap_callout_error [no frames]
- globus_gsi_callback [no frames]
- globus_gsi_cert_utils [no frames]
- globus_gsi_credential [no frames]
- globus_gsi_openssl_error [no frames]
- globus_gsi_proxy_core [no frames]
- globus_gsi_proxy_ssl [no frames]
- globus_gsi_sysconfig [no frames]
- globus_gss_assist [no frames]
- globus_gssapi_gsi [no frames]
- globus_openssl_module [no frames]
- gssapi_error [no frames]
For information on the internationalization API, see the CCommon Libraries Public Interface.
Table of Contents
The GSSAPI implementation contained in this component produces security tokens that follow an extended version of the SSL/TLS protocol. More information about the protocol can be found here.
Table of Contents
- grid-cert-diagnostics - Print diagnostic information about certificates and keys
- grid-cert-info - Display certificate information
- grid-cert-request - Create a certificate request
- grid-default-ca - Set the default CA to use for certificate requests
- grid-change-pass-phrase - Change the pass phrase on a private key
- grid-proxy-init - Generate a new proxy certificate
- grid-proxy-destroy - Destroy the current proxy certificate (previously created with grid-proxy-init)
- grid-proxy-info - Display information obtained from a proxy certificate
- grid-mapfile-add-entry - Add an entry to a grid map file
- grid-mapfile-check-consistency - Check the internal consistency of a grid map file
- grid-mapfile-delete-entry - Delete an entry from a grid map file
Name
grid-cert-diagnostics — Print diagnostic information about certificates and keys
Synopsis
grid-cert-diagnostics [-h] [-p]
Description
The grid-cert-diagnostics command displays information about the current user's security environment, including information about security-related environment variables, security directory search path, personal key and certificates, and trusted certificates. It is intended to provide information to help diagnose problems using GSI security.
The full set of command-line options to grid-cert-diagnostics consists of:
| -h | Display a help message and exit |
| -p | Display information about the personal certificate and key that is the current user's default credential. |
Examples
In this example, we see the default mode of checking the default security
environment for the system, without processing the user's key and certificate.
Note the user receives a warning about a cog.properties
and about an expired CA certificate.
%grid-cert-diagnosticsChecking Environment Variables ============================== Checking if X509_CERT_DIR is set... no Checking if X509_USER_CERT is set... no Checking if X509_USER_KEY is set... no Checking if X509_USER_PROXY is set... no Checking Security Directories ======================= Determining trusted cert path... /etc/grid-security/certificates Checking for cog.properties... found WARNING: If the cog.properties file contains security properties, Java apps will ignore the security paths described in the GSI documentation Checking trusted certificates... ================================ Getting trusted certificate list... Checking CA file /etc/grid-security/certificates/1c4f4c48.0... ok Verifying certificate chain for "/etc/grid-security/certificates/1c3f2ca8.0"... ok Checking CA file /etc/grid-security/certificates/9d8788eb.0... ok Verifying certificate chain for "/etc/grid-security/certificates/9d8753eb.0"... failed globus_credential: Error verifying credential: Failed to verify credential globus_gsi_callback_module: Could not verify credential globus_gsi_callback_module: The certificate has expired: Credential with subject: /DC=org/DC=example/OU=grid/CN=CA has expired.
In this example, we show a user with a mismatched private key and certificate:
%grid-cert-diagnostics-pChecking Environment Variables ============================== Checking if X509_CERT_DIR is set... no Checking if X509_USER_CERT is set... no Checking if X509_USER_KEY is set... no Checking if X509_USER_PROXY is set... no Checking Security Directories ======================= Determining trusted cert path... /etc/grid-security/certificates Checking for cog.properties... not found Checking Default Credentials ============================== Determining certificate and key file names... ok Certificate Path: "/home/juser/.globus/usercert.pem" Key Path: "/home/juser/.globus/userkey.pem" Reading certificate... ok Reading private key... ok Checking Certificate Subject... "/O=Grid/OU=Example/OU=User/CN=Joe User" Checking cert... ok Checking key... ok Checking that certificate contains an RSA key... ok Checking that private key is an RSA key... ok Checking that public and private keys have the same modulus... failed Private key modulus: D294849E37F048C3B5ACEEF2CCDF97D88B679C361E29D5CB5 219C3E948F3E530CFC609489759E1D751F0ACFF0515A614276A0F4C11A57D92D7165B8 FA64E3140155DE448D45C182F4657DA13EDA288423F5B9D169DFF3822EFD81EB2E6403 CE3CB4CCF96B65284D92592BB1673A18354DA241B9AFD7F494E54F63A93E15DCAE2 Public key modulus : C002C7B329B13BFA87BAF214EACE3DC3D490165ACEB791790 600708C544175D9193C9BAC5AED03B7CB49BB6AE6D29B7E635FAC751E9A6D1CEA98022 6F1B63002902D6623A319E4682E7BFB0968DCE962CF218AAD95FAAD6A0BA5C42AA9AAF 7FDD32B37C6E2B2FF0E311310AA55FFB9EAFDF5B995C7D9EEAD8D5D81F3531E0AE5 Certificate and and private key don't match
Name
grid-cert-info — Display certificate information
Synopsis
grid-cert-info [-help] [-version]
[-file CERTIFICATE-FILENAME]
[-all] [-subject] [-issuer] [-issuerhash] [-startdate] [-enddate]
Description
The grid-cert-info displays information from a
user's credential, or from any X.509 certificate if the -file
CERTIFICATE-FILENAME is used. By default, a text
representation of the entire certificate is displayed. If more than one
display option is present on the command line, the output is generated
in the order the options occur on the command line.
The following search order is used to locate the default certificate:
$X509_USER_CERT$HOME/.globus/usercert.pem$HOME/.globus/usercred.p12
If the certificate is encoded in pkcs12, grid-cert-info
will prompt for the password used to protect the .p12
file.
The full set of command-line options to grid-cert-info is:
-help | Print help information and exit |
-version | Print version information and exit |
-file
| Read credential from
CERTIFICATE-FILENAME instead of
the default location. The file must have a
.pem or .p12
extension. |
-all | Print all information from the certificate. This is the default unless any of the following options are given. |
-subject | Print the subject name of the certificate. |
-issuer | Print the subject name of the issuer of the certificate. This is the subject name of the Certificate Authority which signed the certificate. |
-issuerhash | Print the hash of the name of the issuer of the certificate. This is the hash of the Certificate Authority which signed the certificate. |
-startdate | Print the date and time from which the certificate is valid |
-enddate | Print the date and time when the certificate expires. |
Name
grid-cert-request — Create a certificate request
Synopsis
grid-cert-request [-help] [-version] [-verbose] [-force]
[-commonname NAME] [-service SERVICE] [-host FQDN] [-interactive]
[-dir DIRECTORY] [-prefix PREFIX] [-ca [HASH]] [-nopw]
Description
grid-cert-request generates a public/private key pair an X.509 certificate request containing the public key and a subject name. By default, it generates a request for a user certificate for the invoking user. grid-cert-request can also be used to create host or service certificates based on command-line options. At least one Certificate Authority must be configured to use with the Globus Toolkit in order for this command to succeed.
Complete set of options to grid-cert-request is:
-help | Print help information and exit |
-version | Print version information and exit |
-verbose | Don't clear screen after running OpenSSL |
-force | Overwrite an existing certificate request if present. |
-commonname | Construct a subject name with
NAME as the final name
component. By default, the subject name is inferred from
the output of the finger program. If that
fails, grid-cert-request will prompt
of a name. |
-service | Construct a subject name with the common name
constructed from the SERVICE
name and the hostname joined by the /
character. The -service requires that the
-host option also be used. The private
key created for a service certificate request is not
encrypted. |
-host | Construct a subject name with
FQDN as the name of the host.
This must be a fully-qualified name in dotted string
notation (e.g. grid.example.org). If
no service is specified by the -service
option, the subject name will be
host/FQDN.The
private key created for a host certificate request is not
encrypted. By default the host certificate request and key
are created in /etc/grid-security.
|
-interactive | Interactively prompt for the components of the certificate subject name. |
-dir | Write the certificate request and key to
DIRECTORY, creating it if the
directory does not exist. By default, the certificate
request and key are placed in |
-prefix | Prepend the string PREFIX
to the certificate, key, and request filenames. The default
prefix is user for user certificates and
host for host certificates. |
-ca | Choose a non-default Certificate Authority
configuration to construct the certificate request. If
HASH is present on the command
line, then grid-cert-request will use
that certificate authority's configuration. Otherwise, it
will prompt the user for a CA to choose from the list of
configured CAs. |
-nopw | Create a private key without a password. This may be a security risk if the file permissions of the private key are not carefully maintained. |
Examples
Request a user certificate:
%grid-cert-requestA certificate request and private key is being created. You will be asked to enter a PEM pass phrase. This pass phrase is akin to your account password, and is used to protect your key file. If you forget your pass phrase, you will need to obtain a new certificate. Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key .....................++++++ ........++++++ writing new private key to '/home/juser/.globus/userkey.pem' Enter PEM pass phrase: A private key and a certificate request has been generated with the subject: /O=Grid/OU=Example/OU=User/CN=Joe User If the CN=Joe User is not appropriate, rerun this script with the -force -cn "Common Name" options. Your private key is stored in /home/juser/.globus/userkey.pem Your request is stored in /home/juser/.globus/usercert_request.pem Please e-mail the request to the Globus Certificate Service ca@grid.example.org You may use a command similar to the following: cat /home/juser/.globus/usercert_request.pem | mail ca@grid.example.org Only use the above if this machine can send AND receive e-mail. if not, please mail using some other method. Your certificate will be mailed to you within two working days. If you receive no response, contact Globus Certificate Service at ca@grid.example.org
Request a host certificate, putting the request and key files in the
$HOME/.globus/host
%grid-cert-request-host grid.example.org-dir $HOME/.globus/hostA private host key and a certificate request has been generated with the subject: /O=Grid/OU=Example/OU=User/CN=host/grid.example.org ---------------------------------------------------------- The private key is stored in /tmp/examplegrid/hostkey.pem The request is stored in /tmp/examplegrid/hostcert_request.pem Please e-mail the request to the Globus Certificate Service ca@grid.example.org You may use a command similar to the following: cat /tmp/examplegrid/hostcert_request.pem | mail ca@grid.example.org Only use the above if this machine can send AND receive e-mail. if not, please mail using some other method. Your certificate will be mailed to you within two working days. If you receive no response, contact Globus Certificate Service at ca@grid.example.org
Name
grid-default-ca — Set the default CA to use for certificate requests
Synopsis
grid-default-ca [-help] [-list] [-ca CA-HASH] [-dir SECURITY-DIRECTORY]
Description
The grid-default-ca program sets the default CA used by grid-cert-request. Based on the default CA choice, grid-cert-request will create a certificate request that matches the CA's naming policies.
If the -ca option is not provided on the command-line,
grid-default-ca will display a list of available
Certificate Authorities and prompt the user to choose one.
The full set of command-line options to grid-default-ca are:
| -help | Display a help message and exit |
| -list | List the available CAs but do not alter the default |
-ca CA-HASH | Select the default CA whose subject name hash
matches CA-HASH.
|
-dir SECURITY-DIRECTORY | Search
SECURITY-DIRECTORY for
additional CA certificates. |
Examples
Show what certificate authorities are in the trusted cert directory:
%grid-default-ca-listThe available CA configurations installed on this host are: Directory: /etc/grid-security/certificates 1) 1c3f2ca8 - /DC=org/DC=DOEGrids/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=DOEGrids CA 1 2) 3d8e6ce8 - /O=Grid/CN=Example CA 3) 6349a761 - /O=DOE Science Grid/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=Certificate Manager 4) b38b4d8c - /C=US/O=Globus Alliance/CN=Globus Certificate Service The default CA is: /C=US/O=Globus Alliance/CN=Globus Certificate Service Location: /etc/grid-security/certificates/b38b4d8c.0
Change the default CA to be DOEGrids CA 1:
%grid-default-caThe available CA configurations installed on this host are: Directory: /etc/grid-security/certificates 1) 1c3f2ca8 - /DC=org/DC=DOEGrids/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=DOEGrids CA 1 2) 3d8e6ce8 - /O=Grid/CN=Example CA 3) 6349a761 - /O=DOE Science Grid/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=Certificate Manager 4) b38b4d8c - /C=US/O=Globus Alliance/CN=Globus Certificate Service The default CA is: /C=US/O=Globus Alliance/CN=Globus Certificate Service Location: /etc/grid-security/certificates/b38b4d8c.0Enter the index number of the CA to set as the default [q to quit]:1setting the default CA to: /DC=org/DC=DOEGrids/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=DOEGrids CA 1 linking /etc/grid-security/certificates/grid-security.conf.1c3f2ca8 to /etc/grid-security/grid-security.conf linking /etc/grid-security/certificates/globus-host-ssl.conf.1c3f2ca8 to /etc/grid-security/globus-host-ssl.conf linking /etc/grid-security/certificates/globus-user-ssl.conf.1c3f2ca8 to /etc/grid-security/globus-user-ssl.conf ...done.
Name
grid-change-pass-phrase — Change the pass phrase on a private key
Synopsis
grid-change-pass-phrase
Tool description
grid-change-pass-phrase allows one to change the passphrase that protects the private key.
Command syntax
grid-change-pass-phrase [-help] [-version] [-file private_key_file]
Changes the passphrase that protects the private key. Note that this command will work even if the original key is not password protected. If the -file argument is not given, the default location of the file containing the private key is assumed:
- The location pointed to by X509_USER_KEY
- If X509_USER_KEY not set, $HOME/.globus/userkey.pem
Name
grid-proxy-init — Generate a new proxy certificate
Synopsis
grid-proxy-init
Tool description
grid-proxy-init generates X.509 proxy certificates.
By default, this command generates RFC 3820 Proxy Certificates.
There are also options available for generating other types of proxy certificates, including limited, independent and legacy. For more information about proxy certificate types and their compatibility in GT, see http://dev.globus.org/wiki/Security/ProxyCertTypes.
Options
Table 2. Command line options
| -help, -usage | Displays usage. |
| -version | Displays version. |
| -debug | Enables extra debug output. |
| -q | Quiet mode, minimal output. |
| -verify | Verifies the certificate to make the proxy for. |
| -pwstdin | Allows passphrase from stdin. |
| -limited | Creates a limited globus proxy. |
| -independent | Creates an independent globus proxy. |
| -draft | Creates a draft (GSI-3) proxy. |
| -old | Creates a legacy globus proxy. |
| -valid <h:m> | Proxy is valid for h hours and m minutes (default:12:00). |
| -hours <hours> | Deprecated support of hours option. |
| -bits <bits> | Number of bits in key {512|1024|2048|4096}. |
| -policy <policyfile> | File containing the policy to store in the ProxyCertInfo extension. |
| -pl <oid>, -policy-language <oid> | OID string for the policy language used in the policy file. |
| -path-length <l> | Allows a chain of at most 1 proxies to be generated from this one. |
| -cert <certfile> | Non-standard location of user certificate. |
| -key <keyfile> | Non-standard location of user key. |
| -certdir <certdir> | Non-standard location of trusted cert directory. |
| -out <proxyfile> | Non-standard location of new proxy cert. |
Creating a Proxy Certificate
Proxies are certificates signed by the user, or by another proxy, that do not require a password to submit a job. They are intended for short-term use, when the user is submitting many jobs and cannot be troubled to repeat his password for every job.
The subject of a proxy certificate is the same as the subject of the certificate that signed it, with /CN=proxy added to the name. The gatekeeper will accept any job requests submitted by the user, as well as any proxies he has created.
Proxies provide a convenient alternative to constantly entering passwords, but are also less secure than the user's normal security credential. Therefore, they should always be user-readable only, and should be deleted after they are no longer needed (or after they expire).
To create a proxy with the default expiration (12 hours), run the grid-proxy-init program. For example:
% grid-proxy-init
The grid-proxy-init program can also take arguments to specify the expiration and proxy key length. For example:
% grid-proxy-init -hours 8 -bits 512
Name
grid-proxy-destroy — Destroy the current proxy certificate (previously created with grid-proxy-init)
Synopsis
grid-proxy-destroy
Options
Table 3. Command line options
| -help, -usage | Displays usage. |
| -version | Displays version. |
| -debug | Displays debugging information. |
| -dryrun | Prints what files would have been destroyed. |
| -default | Destroys file at default proxy location. |
| -all | Destroys any user (default) and delegated proxies that are found. |
| -- | Ends processing of options. |
| file1 file2 ... | Destroys the files listed. |
Name
grid-proxy-info — Display information obtained from a proxy certificate
Synopsis
grid-proxy-info
Options
Table 4. Command line options
| -help, -usage | Displays usage. |
| -version | Displays version. |
| -debug | Displays debugging output. |
| -file <proxyfile> (-f) | Non-standard location of proxy. |
| [printoptions] | |
| -exists [options] (-e) |
Determine whether a valid proxy exists. |
Table 5. Print options
| -subject (-s) | Distinguished name (DN) of the subject. |
| -issuer (-i) | DN of the issuer (certificate signer). |
| -identity | DN of the identity represented by the proxy. |
| -type | Type of proxy (full or limited). |
| -timeleft | Time (in seconds) until proxy expires. |
| -strength | Key size (in bits). |
| -all | All above options in a human readable format. |
| -text | All of the certificate. |
| -path | Pathname of the proxy file. |
Name
grid-mapfile-add-entry — Add an entry to a grid map file
Synopsis
grid-mapfile-add-entry
Command syntax
grid-mapfile-add-entry -dn DN -ln LN [-help] [-d] [-f mapfile FILE]
Options:
Table 7. Command line options
| -help, -usage | Displays help. |
| -version | Displays version. |
| -dn DN | Distinguished Name (DN) to add. Remember to quote the DN if it contains spaces. |
| -ln LN1 [LN2...] | Local login name(s) to which the DN is mapped. |
| -dryrun, -d | Shows what would be done but will not add the entry. |
| -mapfile FILE, -f FILE | Path of the grid map file to be used. |
Name
grid-mapfile-check-consistency — Check the internal consistency of a grid map file
Synopsis
grid-mapfile-check-consistency
Tool description
grid-mapfile-check-consistency checks that the given grid mapfile conforms to the expected format as well as checking for common subject name problems.
Name
grid-mapfile-delete-entry — Delete an entry from a grid map file
Synopsis
grid-mapfile-delete-entry
Options:
Table 9. Command line options
| -help, -usage | Displays help. |
| -version | Displays version. |
| -dn <DN> | Distinguished Name (DN) to delete. |
| -ln <local name> | Local Login Name (LN) to delete. |
| -dryrun, -d | Shows what would be done but will not delete the entry. |
| -mapfile file, -f file | Path of the grid map file to be used. |
Table of Contents
This section describes the configuration steps required to:
- determine whether or not to trust certificates issued by a particular Certificate Authority (CA),
- provide appropriate default values for use by the grid-cert-request command, which is used to generate certificates,
- request service certificates, used by services to authenticate themselves to users, and
- specify identity mapping information.
In general, Globus tools will look for a configuration file in a user-specific location first, and in a system-wide location if no user-specific file was found. The configuration commands described here may be run by administrators to create system-wide defaults and by individuals to override those defaults.
The Globus tools will trust certificates issued by a CA if (and only if) it can find information about the CA in the trusted certificates directory.
The trusted certificates directory is located as described below and exists either on a per-machine or on a per-installation basis.
X509_CERT_DIR is the environment variable used to specify the path to the
trusted certificates directory. This directory contains information about which CAs are
trusted (including the CA certificates
themselves) and, in some cases, configuration information used by grid-cert-request to formulate
certificate requests. The location of the trusted certificates directory is looked for in
the following order:
- value of the
X509_CERT_DIRenvironment variable $HOME/.globus/certificates/etc/grid-security/certificatesexists$GLOBUS_LOCATION/share/certificates
The following two files must exist in the directory for each trusted CA:
Table 1. CA files
| The trusted CA Certificate. |
| A configuration file defining the distinguished names of certificates signed by the CA. |
Non-WS Globus components will honor a certificate only if:
- its CA certificate exists (with the appropriate name) in the TRUSTED_CA directory, and
- the certificate's distinguished name matches the pattern described in the signing policy file.
The cert_hash that appears in the file names above is the hash of the CA certificate, which can be found by running the command:
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/bin/openssl x509 -hash -noout < ca_certificateSome CAs provide tools to install their CA certificates and signing policy files into the trusted certificates directory. You can, however, create a signing policy file by hand; the signing policy file has the following format:
access_id_CA X509 'CA Distinguished Name' pos_rights globus CA:sign cond_subjects globus '"Distinguished Name Pattern"'
In the above, the CA Distinguished Name is the subject name of the CA certificate, and the Distinguished Name Pattern is a string used to match the distinguished names of certificates granted by the CA.
Some very simple wildcard matching is done: if the Distinguished Name Pattern ends with a '*', then any distinguished name that matches the part of the CA subject name before the '*' is considered a match.
Note: the cond_subjects line may contain a space-separated list of distinguished name patterns.
A repository of CA certificates that are widely used in academic and research settings can be found here.
The grid-cert-request command, which is used to create certificates, uses the following configuration files:
Table 2. Certificate request configuration files
globus-user-ssl.conf | Defines the distinguished name to use for a user's certificate request. The format is described here. |
globus-host-ssl.conf | Defines the distinguished name for a host (or service) certificate request. The format is described here. |
grid-security.conf | A base configuration file that contains the name and email address for the CA. |
directions | An optional file that may contain directions on using the CA. |
Many CAs provide tools to install configuration files with the following names in the Trusted Certificates directory:
globus-user-ssl.conf.cert_hashglobus-host-ssl.conf.cert_hashgrid_security.conf.cert_hashdirections.cert_hash
The command:
grid-cert-request -ca cert_hashwill create a certificate request based on the specified CA's configuration files.
The command:
grid-cert-request -ca
will list the available CAs and let the user choose which one to create a request for.
The default CA is the CA that will be used for certificate requests if grid-cert-request is invoked without the -ca flag.
You can specify a default CA by invoking the grid-default-ca command (follow the link for examples of using the command).
The directions file may contain specific directions on how to use
the CA. There are three types of printed messages:
- REQUEST HEADER, printed to a certificate request file,
- USER INSTRUCTIONS, printed on the screen when one requests a user certificate,
- NONUSER INSTRUCTIONS, printed on the screen when one requests a certificate for a service.
Each message is delimited from others with lines ----- BEGIN message type TEXT
----- and ----- END message type TEXT -----. For example,
the directions file would contain the following lines:
----- BEGIN REQUEST HEADER TEXT -----
This is a Certificate Request file
It should be mailed to ${GSI_CA_EMAIL_ADDR}
----- END REQUEST HEADER TEXT -----If this file does not exist, the default messages are printed.
Different CAs use different mechanisms for issuing end-user certificates; some use mechanisms that are entirely web-based, while others require you to generate a certificate request and send it to the CA. If you need to create a certificate request for a service certificate, you can do so by running:
grid-cert-request -host hostname -service service_name
where hostname is the fully-qualified name of the host on which the service will be running, and service_name is the name of the service. This will create the following three files:
Table 3. Certificate request files
| An empty file. When you receive your actual service certificate from your CA, you should place it in this file. |
| The certificate request, which you should send to your CA. |
| The private key associated with your certificate request, encrypted with the pass phrase that you entered when prompted by grid-cert-request. |
The grid-cert-request command recognizes several other useful options; you can list these with:
grid-cert-request -help
Several Globus services map certificates to local unix usernames to be used with unix services. The default implementation uses a gridmap file to map the distinguished name of the identity of the client's certificate to a local login name. Administrators can modify the contents of the gridmap file to control what certificate identities are allowed to access Globus services, as well as configure, via an environment variable, what gridmap file a particular service uses.
In addition to the identity-based mapping done via the gridmap file, administrators can configure Globus services to to use arbitrary mapping functions. These may use other criteria, such as SAML assertions, to map a certificate to a local account, or may map certificates to temporary accounts. Administrators can install different mapping implementations and configure services to use them by creating appropriate configuration files and setting environment variables.
Gridmap files contain a database of entries mapping distinguished names to local user names. These may be manipulated by using the following tools.
To add an entry to the gridmap file, run:
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/sbin/grid-mapfile-add-entry \
-dn "Distinguished Name" \
-ln local_nameTo delete an entry from the gridmap file, run:
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/sbin/grid-mapfile-delete-entry \
-dn "Distinguished Name" \
-ln local_nameTo check the consistency of the gridmap file, run
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/sbin/grid-mapfile-check-consistency
To configure a service to use a particular gridmap file, set the
GRIDMAP variable in the service's environment to the path of the gridmap
file. In this way, you can grant different access rights to different certificate
identities on a per-service basis by setting the GRIDMAP variable in
different service environments.
You can use tools described above to operate on different gridmap files by either
setting the GRIDMAP environment variable prior to invoking them, or by
using the -mapfile command-line option.
For reference, the GSI C code looks for the gridmap in these locations:
A gridmap line of the form:
"Distinguished Name"local_name
maps the distinguished name Distinguished Name to the local
name local_name.
A gridmap line of the form:
"Distinguished Name"local_name1,local_name2
maps Distinguished Name to both
local_name1 and local_name2; any
number of local user names may occur in the comma-separated local name list.
For more detailed information about the gridmap file see the file description and grammars on dev.globus.org.
To use an alternative credential mapping, you create a gsi-authz.conf file containing information about how the mapping functions are
called from the authorization library.
To configure a per-service authorization configuration file, set the
GSI_AUTHZ_CONF variable to the path to the configuration file in the
environment of the service.
For reference, the GSI C code looks for the authorization configuration file in these locations (in the given order):
Table 5. Authorization Configuration File Locations
| Location |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The authorization file defines a set of callouts, one per line. Each callout is defined by an abstract type, library, and symbol separated by whitespace. Comments begin with the # character and continue to the end of line.
Table 6. Authorization Configuration File Locations
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
|
Type of the callout: globus_mapping is used for credential mapping callouts |
|
|
Path to the shared object containing the callout implementation. The library name may be a literal filename, or a partial filename to which the compilation flavor of the service is appended to the filename before its extension. |
|
|
The exported symbol containing the entry point to the callout implementation. |
Here is a sample gsi-authz.conf file that configures a
globus_mapping callout to use the
globus_gridmap_callout function in the /usr/local/globus/lib/libglobus_gridmap_callout_gcc32dbg shared object:
# abstract-type library symbol globus_mapping /opt/globus/lib/libglobus_gridmap_callout_gcc32dbg globus_gridmap_callout
End Entity Certificate (User, Host and Service) Certificates and the GSI Authorization Callout Configuration File:
- May not be executable
- May not be writable by group and other
- Must be either regular files or soft links
Private Keys and Proxy Credentials:
- Must be owned by the current (effective) user
- May not be executable
- May not be readable by group and other
- May not be writable by group and other
- Must be either regular files or soft links
CA Certificates, CA Signing Policy Files, the Grid Map File and the GAA Configuration File:
- Must be either regular files or soft links
GSI Authorization callout configuration files
- Must exist
- Should be world readable
- Should not be writable by group and other
- Should be either a regular file or a soft link
GSI GAA configuration files
- Must exist
- Should be world readable
- Should not be writable by group and other
- Should be either a regular file or a soft link
Table of Contents
Credentials are looked for in the following order:
service credential
host credential
proxy credential
user credential
X509_USER_PROXY specifies the path to the
proxy credential. If X509_USER_PROXY is not set, the
proxy credential is created (by grid-proxy-init) and searched for (by
client programs) in an operating-system-dependent local temporary file.
X509_USER_CERT and X509_USER_KEY specify the path to the end
entity (user, service, or host) certificate and corresponding private key. The paths to the certificate and key files are determined as follows:
For service credentials:
- If
X509_USER_CERTandX509_USER_KEYexist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used. - Otherwise, if the files
/etc/grid-security/andservice/servicecert/etc/grid-security/exist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used.service/servicekey - Otherwise, if the files
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/grid-security/andservice/servicecert$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/grid-security/exist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used.service/servicekey - Otherwise, if the files
service/servicecertservice/servicekey.globusdirectory exist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used.
For host credentials:
- If
X509_USER_CERTandX509_USER_KEYexist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used. - Otherwise, if the files
/etc/grid-security/hostcert.pemand/etc/grid-security/hostkey.pemexist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used. - Otherwise, if the files
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/grid-security/hostcert.pemand$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/grid-security/hostkey.pemexist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used. - Otherwise, if the files
hostcert.pemandhostkey.pemin the user's.globusdirectory, exist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used.
For user credentials:
- If
X509_USER_CERTandX509_USER_KEYexist and contain a valid certificate and key, those files are used. - Otherwise, if the files
usercert.pemanduserkey.pemexist in the user's.globusdirectory, those files are used. - Otherwise, if a PKCS-12 file called
usercred.p12exists in the user's.globusdirectory, the certificate and key are read from that file.
GRIDMAP specifies the path to the grid map file,
which is used to map distinguished names (found in certificates) to local names (such as login
accounts). The location of the grid map file is determined as follows:
- If the
GRIDMAPenvironment variable is set, the grid map file location is the value of that environment variable. Otherwise:
- If the user is root (uid 0), then the grid map file is
/etc/grid-security/grid-mapfile. - Otherwise, the grid map file is
$HOME/.gridmap.
- If the user is root (uid 0), then the grid map file is
X509_CERT_DIR is used to specify the path to the trusted certificates
directory. This directory contains information about which CAs are trusted (including the
CA certificates themselves) and, in some
cases, configuration information used by grid-cert-request to formulate
certificate requests. The location of the trusted certificates directory is determined as
follows:
- If the
X509_CERT_DIRenvironment variable is set, the trusted certificates directory is the value of that environment variable. - Otherwise, if
$HOME/.globus/certificatesexists, that directory is the trusted certificates directory. - Otherwise, if
/etc/grid-security/certificatesexists, that directory is the trusted certificates directory. - Finally, if
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/share/certificatesexists, then it is the trusted certificates directory.
GSI_AUTHZ_CONF is used to specify the path to the
GSI authorization callout configuration file. This file is used to configure
authorization callouts used by both the gridmap and the authorization API. The location of the
GSI authorization callout configuration file is determined as follows:
- If the
GSI_AUTHZ_CONFenvironment variable is set, the authorization callout configuration file location is the value of this environment variable. - Otherwise, if
/etc/grid-security/gsi-authz.confexists, then this file is used. - Otherwise, if
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/gsi-authz.confexists, then this file is used. - Finally, if
$HOME/.gsi-authz.confexists, then this file is used.
GSI_GAA_CONF is used to specify the path to the GSI GAA (Generic Authorization and Access control)
configuration file. This file is used to configure policy language specific
plugins to the GAA-API. The location of the GSI GAA configuration file is determined as
follows:
- If the
GSI_GAA_CONFenvironment variable is set, the GAA configuration file location is the value of this environment variable. - Otherwise, if
/etc/grid-security/gsi-gaa.confexists, then this file is used. - Otherwise, if
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc/gsi-gaa.confexists, then this file is used. - Finally, if
$HOME/.gsi-gaa.confexists, then this file is used.
GRID_SECURITY_DIR specifies a path to a directory containing configuration
files that specify default values to be placed in certificate requests. This environment
variable is used only by the grid-cert-request and grid-default-ca commands.
The location of the grid security directory is determined as follows:
- If the
GRID_SECURITY_DIRenvironment variable is set, the grid security directory is the value of that environment variable. - If the configuration files exist in
/etc/grid-security, the grid security directory is that directory. - if the configuration files exist in
$GLOBUS_LOCATION/etc, the grid security directory is that directory.
For information about system administrator logs, see Debugging in the GSI C Admin Guide.
Table of Contents
For a list of common errors in GT, see Error Codes.
The following are some common problems that may cause clients or servers to report that credentials are invalid:
For a list of common errors in GT, see Error Codes.
Table 1. Credential Errors
| Error Code | Definition | Possible Solutions |
|---|---|---|
Your proxy credential may have expired | Your proxy credential may have expired. | Use grid-proxy-info to check whether the proxy credential has actually expired. If it has, generate a new proxy with grid-proxy-init. |
The system clock on either the local or remote system
is wrong. | This may cause the server or client to conclude that a credential has expired. | Check the system clocks on the local and remote system. |
Your end-user certificate may have
expired | Your end-user certificate may have expired | Use grid-cert-info to check your certificate's expiration date. If it has expired, follow your CA's procedures to get a new one. |
The permissions may be wrong on your proxy
file | If the permissions on your proxy file are too lax (for example, if others can read your proxy file), Globus Toolkit clients will not use that file to authenticate. | You can "fix" this problem by changing the permissions on
the file or by destroying it (with grid-proxy-destroy) and
creating a new one (with grid-proxy-init).
Important: However, it is still possible that someone else has made a copy of that file during the time that the permissions were wrong. In that case, they will be able to impersonate you until the proxy file expires or your permissions or end-user certificate are revoked, whichever happens first. |
The permissions may be wrong on your private key
file | If the permissions on your end user certificate private key file are too lax (for example, if others can read the file), grid-proxy-init will refuse to create a proxy certificate. | You can "fix" this by changing the permissions on the
private key file. Important: However, you will still have a much more serious problem: it is possible that someone has made a copy of your private key file. Although this file is encrypted, it is possible that someone will be able to decrypt the private key, at which point they will be able to impersonate you as long as your end user certificate is valid. You should contact your CA to have your end-user certificate revoked and get a new one. |
The remote system may not trust your
CA | The remote system may not trust your CA | Verify that the remote system is configured to trust the CA that issued your end-entity certificate. See Installing GT 4.2.0 for details. |
You may not trust the remote system's
CA | You may not trust the remote system's CA | Verify that your system is configured to trust the remote CA (or that your environment is set up to trust the remote CA). See Installing GT 4.2.0 for details. |
There may be something wrong with the remote
service's credentials | There may be something wrong with the remote service's credentials | It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between errors reported by the remote service regarding your credentials and errors reported by the client interface regarding the remote service's credentials. If you cannot find anything wrong with your credentials, check for the same conditions on the remote system (or ask a remote administrator to do so) . |
The grid-cert-diagnostics program checks prints diagnostics about the user's certificates, and host security environment.
%grid-cert-diagnostics-p
openssl verify -CApath /etc/grid-security/certificates -purpose sslclient ~/.globus/usercert.pem
openssl s_client -ssl3 -cert ~/.globus/usercert.pem -key
~/.globus/userkey.pem -CApath /etc/grid-security/certificates
-connect <host:port>Here <host:port> denotes the
server and port you connect to.
If it prints an error and puts you back at the command prompt, then it typically means that the server has closed the connection, i.e. that the server was not happy with the client's certificate and verification. Check the SSL log on the server.
If the command "hangs" then it has actually opened a telnet style (but secure) socket, and you can "talk" to the server.
You should be able to scroll up and see the subject names of the server's verification chain:
depth=2 /DC=net/DC=ES/O=ESnet/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=ESnet Root CA 1
verify return:1
depth=1 /DC=org/DC=DOEGrids/OU=Certificate Authorities/CN=DOEGrids CA 1
verify return:1
depth=0 /DC=org/DC=doegrids/OU=Services/CN=wiggum.mcs.anl.gov
verify return:1
In this case, there were no errors. Errors would give you an extra line next to the subject name of the certificate that caused the error.
The following are some common problems that may cause clients or servers to report that user are not authorized:
For a list of common errors in GT, see Error Codes.
Table 2. Gridmap Errors
| Error Code | Definition | Possible Solutions |
|---|---|---|
The content of the grid map file does not conform to the expected format | The content of the grid map file does not conform to the expected format | Run grid-mapfile-check-consistency to make sure that your gridmap file conforms to the expected format. |
The grid map file does not contain a entry for your DN | The grid map file does not contain a entry for your DN | Use grid-mapfile-add-entry to add the relevant entry. |
- RFC 3820 Proxy Certificates
- RFC 2744 GSSAPI: C-bindings
- RFC 2743 GSSAPI
- GSSAPI Extensions
- RFC 2246 TLS
- Grid Security Infrastructure Message Specification
C
- Certificate Authority ( CA )
An entity that issues certificates. [fixme - flesh out]
- CA Certificate
The CA's certificate. This certificate is used to verify signature on certificates issued by the CA. GSI typically stores a given CA certificate in
/etc/grid-security/certificates/, where <hash> is the hash code of the CA identity.<hash>.0- CA Signing Policy
The CA signing policy is used to place constraints on the information you trust a given CA to bind to public keys. Specifically it constrains the identities a CA is trusted to assert in a certificate. In GSI the signing policy for a given CA can typically be found in
/etc/grid-security/certificates/, where <hash> is the hash code of the CA identity.<hash>.signing_policy
E
G
- GAA configuration file
A file that configures the Generic Authorization and Access control GAA libraries. When using GSI, this file is typically found in
/etc/grid-security/gsi-gaa.conf.- grid map file
A file containing entries mapping certificate subjects to local user names. This file can also serve as a access control list for GSI enabled services and is typically found in
/etc/grid-security/grid-mapfile. For more information see the Gridmap section here.- grid security directory
The directory containing GSI configuration files such as the GSI authorization callout configuration and GAA configuration files. Typically this directory is
/etc/grid-security. For more information see this.- GSI authorization callout configuration file
A file that configures authorization callouts to be used for mapping and authorization in GSI enabled services. When using GSI this file is typically found in
/etc/grid-security/gsi-authz.conf.
H
- host certificate
An EEC belonging to a host. When using GSI this certificate is typically stored in
/etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem. For more information on possible host certificate locations see the GSI C Developer's Guide.- host credentials
The combination of a host certificate and its corresponding private key.
P
- private key
The private part of a key pair. Depending on the type of certificate the key corresponds to it may typically be found in
$HOME/.globus/userkey.pem(for user certificates),/etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem(for host certificates) or/etc/grid-security/(for service certificates).<service>/<service>key.pemFor more information on possible private key locations see this.
- proxy certificate
A short lived certificate issued using a EEC. A proxy certificate typically has the same effective subject as the EEC that issued it and can thus be used in its place. GSI uses proxy certificates for single sign on and delegation of rights to other entities.
For more information about types of proxy certificates and their compatibility in different versions of GT, see http://dev.globus.org/wiki/Security/ProxyCertTypes.
- proxy credentials
The combination of a proxy certificate and its corresponding private key. GSI typically stores proxy credentials in
/tmp/x509up_u, where <uid> is the user id of the proxy owner.<uid>
S
- service certificate
A EEC for a specific service (e.g. FTP or LDAP). When using GSI this certificate is typically stored in
/etc/grid-security/. For more information on possible service certificate locations, see this.<service>/<service>cert.pem- service credentials
The combination of a service certificate and its corresponding private key.
U
- user certificate
A EEC belonging to a user. When using GSI, this certificate is typically stored in
$HOME/.globus/usercert.pem. For more information on possible user certificate locations, see this.- user credentials
The combination of a user certificate and its corresponding private key.