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Configuring Keystores

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Dec 09, 2020
6 min read

WSO2 Carbon-based products are shipped with a default keystore named  wso2carbon.jks , which is stored in the  <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security  and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security directories. This keystore comes with a private/public key pair that is used for all purposes, such as encrypting sensitive information, communicating over SSL and for message encryption/signing purposes in WS-Security. You can either use one new keystore for all purposes in your product, or you can create multiple keystores for each purpose.

Let's get started with creating new keystores.

Creating a new keystore

There are two ways to create keystores for a WSO2 product. You can either generate a keystore using an already existing public key certificate (CA-signed), or you can create the public key certificate at the time of generating the keystore. See the instructions given below.

Important!

If you are creating a new keystore for data encryption, be sure to acquire a public key certificate that contains the Data Encipherment key usage as explained in the keystore recommendations. Otherwise, the following error can occur when you attempt data encryption:

Exception in thread "main" org.wso2.ciphertool.CipherToolException: Error initializing Cipher at org.wso2.ciphertool.CipherTool.handleException(CipherTool.java:861) at org.wso2.ciphertool.CipherTool.initCipher(CipherTool.java:202) at org.wso2.ciphertool.CipherTool.main(CipherTool.java:80) Caused by: java.security.InvalidKeyException: Wrong key usage at javax.crypto.Cipher.init(DashoA13..) at javax.crypto.Cipher.init(DashoA13..) at org.wso2.ciphertool.CipherTool.initCipher(CipherTool.java:200) ... 1 more

Creating a keystore using an existing certificate

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol that is used to secure communication between systems. This protocol uses a public key, a private key and a random symmetric key to encrypt data. As SSL is widely used in many systems, certificates may already exist that can be reused. In such situations, you can use an already existing CA-signed certificate to generate your keystore for SSL by using OpenSSL and Java keytool.

  1. First, you must export certificates to the  PKCS12/PFX  format. Give strong passwords whenever required.

    In WSO2 products, it is a must to have the same password for both the keystore and private key.

    Execute the following command to export the entries of a trust chain into a keystore of .pfx format:

    openssl pkcs12 -export -in <certificate file>.crt -inkey <private>.key -name "<alias>" -certfile <additional certificate file> -out <pfx keystore name>.pfx

  2. Convert the PKCS12/PFX formatted keystore to a Java keystore using the following command:

    keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore <pkcs12 file name>.pfx -srcstoretype pkcs12 -destkeystore <JKS name>.jks -deststoretype JKS

    Now you have a keystore with a CA-signed certificate.

Creating a keystore using a new certificate

You can follow the steps in this section to create a new keystore with a private key and a new public key certificate. We will be using the keytool that is available with your JDK installation. Note that the pubic key certificate we generate for the keystore is self-signed. Therefore, if you need a public key certificate that is CA-signed, you need to generate a CA-signed certificate and import it to the keystore as explained in the next section. Alternatively, you can choose the option of generating a new keystore using a CA-signed public certificate as explained previously.

  1. Open a command prompt and go to the <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ directories. All keystores should be stored here.

  2. Create the keystore that includes the private key by executing the following command:

    keytool -genkey -alias newcert -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -keystore newkeystore.jks -dname "CN=<testdomain.org>, OU=Home,O=Home,L=SL,S=WS,C=LK" -storepass mypassword -keypass mypassword

    This command will create a keystore with the following details: 

    • Keystore name: newkeystore.jks
    • Alias of public certificate: newcert
    • Keystore password: mypassword
    • Private key password: mypassword (this is required to be the same as keystore password)

    Note that if you did not specify values for the '-keypass' and the '-storepass' in the above command, you will be asked to give a value for the '-storepass' (password of the keystore). As a best practice, use a password generator to generate a strong password. You will then be asked to enter a value for -keypass. Click Enter because we need the same password for both the keystore and the key. Also, if you did not specify values for -dname, you will be asked to provide those details individually.

  3. Open the <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ directories and check if the new keystore file is created. Make a backup of it and move it to a secure location. This is important as it is the only place with your private key. 

You now have a keystore (.jks file) with a private key and a self-signed public key certificate.

WSO2 Open Banking recommends the following methods to configure the keystone:

  1. Add Self-signed certificates to the keystore for testing purposes. You can use this method when the open banking directory is not accessible.
  2. Add CA-signed certificates to the keystore. 

Add self-signed certificates 

 Click here to see a self-signed certificate is created...

In order to use self-signed certificates as mentioned in the below steps, disable the certificate revocation validation in the <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/conf/deployment.toml and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/conf/deployment.toml files as follows:

[open_banking.cert_mgt.cert_revocation_proxy]
enable = false

  1. A keystore file is used to store the trusted certificates of the TPP in the WSO2 Open Banking solution. Use the commands given below in a command-line interface in order to create a keystore file as a TPP.

    Make sure to update the following placeholders:

    <alias>A preferred alias for the keystore file.
    <filename>A preferred name for the keystore file.
    keytool -genkey -alias <alias> -keyalg RSA -keystore <filename>.jks

    During the command execution, the TPP user requires to;

    1. Set a password for the keystore.
    2. Provide information, acquired when registering with a governing entity.
    3. Set a password for user-defined alias (<alias>).

  2. Convert the keystore from the .jks format to .PKCS12.  Make sure to update the following placeholders:

    <keyStoreName>This is the name of the <filename>, given above.
    <PKCS12FileName>This is the name of the keystore in the .PKCS12 format.
    keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore <keystoreStoreName>.jks -destkeystore <PKCS12FileName>.p12 -deststoretype PKCS12

    During the command execution, the TPP user requires to;

    1. Set a password for the destination keystore.
    2. Enter the source keystore password, as defined in the above step .

  3. Create the application certificate (.pem) file in the PKCS12 format using the keystore. e.g: tpp.p12.

    Make sure to update the following placeholders:

    <PKCS12FileName>This is the name of the keystore in the PKCS12 format, as mentioned above for the <PKCS12FileName>.
    <PEMFileName>This is the name of the application certificate that is created in the .pem format. 
    openssl pkcs12 -in <PKCS12FileName>.p12 -nokeys -out <PEMFileName>.pem

    During the command execution, the TPP user requires to;

    1. Set a password to import the .pem file.
Once you create a self-signed root certificate, upload it to the client trust stores of WSO2 OB APIM and WSO2 OB IAM. 
  • Locate the client trust stores in WSO2 OB APIM and WSO2 OB IAM in the following directory paths:
    • <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/client-truststore.jks
    • <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/client-truststore.jks

  • Use the following command to upload the self-signed certificate:

    keytool -import -alias <alias> -keystore cacerts -file <PEMFileName>.pem

Add Competent Authority (CA)-signed certificates 

Now, let's look at how you can get a CA-signed certificate for your keystores. Note that you do not need to create a new keystore every time you add a CA-signed certificate.

Step 1: Generating a CA-signed certificate

First, you need to generate a certificate signing request (CSR) for your keystore (.jks file). This CSR file can then be certified by a certification authority (CA), which is an entity that issues digital certificates. These certificates certify the ownership of a public key.

  1. Execute the following command to generate the CSR:

    keytool -certreq -alias certalias -file newcertreq.csr -keystore newkeystore.jks

    As mentioned before, use the same alias that you used during the keystore creation process.

    You will be asked to give the keystore password. Once the password is given, the command will output the newcertreq.csr file to the <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ directories. This is the CSR that you must submit to a CA.

  2. You must provide this CSR file to the CA. For testing purposes, try the 90 days trial SSL certificate from Comodo.

    It is preferable to have a wildcard certificate or multiple domain certificates if you wish to have multiple subdomains like gateway.sampledomain.org , publisher.sampledomain.org , identity.sampledomain.org , etc., for the deployment. For such requirements, you must modify the CSR request by adding subject alternative names. Most of the SSL providers give instructions to generate the CSR in such cases.

  3. After accepting the request, a signed certificate is provided along with a root certificate and several intermediate certificates (depending on the CA) as a bundle (.zip file).

    Sample certificates provided by the CA (Comodo)

    The Root certificate of the CA: AddTrustExternalCARoot.crt 
    Intermediate certificates:  COMODORSAAddTrustCA.crt , COMODORSADomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt 
    SSL Certificate signed by CA: test_sampleapp_org.crt

Step 2: Importing certificates to the keystore

Follow the steps given below to import the CA-signed certificate to your keystore.

  1. Before importing the CA-signed certificate to the keystore, you must add the root CA certificate and the two (related) intermediate certificates by executing the commands given below. Note that the sample certificates given above are used as examples.

    keytool -import -v -trustcacerts -alias ExternalCARoot -file AddTrustExternalCARoot.crt -keystore newkeystore.jks -storepass mypassword
keytool -import -v -trustcacerts -alias TrustCA -file COMODORSAAddTrustCA.crt -keystore newkeystore.jks -storepass mypassword
keytool -import -v -trustcacerts -alias SecureServerCA -file COMODORSADomainValidationSecureServerCA.crt -keystore newkeystore.jks -storepass mypassword 

    Optionally we can append the -storepass <keystore password> option to avoid having to enter the password when prompted later in the interactive mode.

  2. After you add the root certificate and all other intermediate certificates, add the CA-signed SSL certificate to the keystore by executing the following command:

    keytool -import -v -alias newcert -file <test_sampleapp_org.crt> -keystore newkeystore.jks -keypass mypassword -storepass mypassword

    In this command, use the same alias (i.e., 'newcert') that you used while creating the keystore

Now you have a Java keystore, which includes a CA-signed public key certificate that can be used for SSL in a production environment. Next, you may need to add the same CA-signed public key certificate to the client-truststore.jks file. This will provide security and trust for backend communication/inter-system communication of WSO2 products via SSL.

Step 3: Importing certificates to the truststore

In SSL handshake, the client needs to verify the certificate presented by the server. For this purpose, the client usually stores the certificates it trusts, in a trust store. To enable secure and trusted backend communication, all WSO2 products are shipped with a trust store named client-truststore.jks.
Follow the steps given below to import the same CA-signed public key certificate (which you obtained in the previous step) into your WSO2 product's default truststore (client-truststore.jks).
  1. Get a copy of the client-truststore.jks file from WSO2 OB IAM and WSO2 OB APIM components. 
    1. <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/client-truststore.jks
    2. <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/client-truststore.jks

  2. Export the public key from your .jks file using the following command.

    keytool -export -alias certalias -keystore newkeystore.jks -file <public key name>.pem

  3. Import the public key you extracted in the previous step to the client-truststore.jks file using the following command.

    keytool -import -alias certalias -file <public key name>.pem -keystore client-truststore.jks -storepass wso2carbon

    Note that 'wso2carbon' is the keystore password of the default client-truststore.jks file.

    Now, you have an SSL certificate stored in a Java keystore and a public key added to the client-truststore.jks file. Note that both these files should be in the <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/ and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/

    directories. You can now replace the default wso2carbon.jks keystore in your product with the newly created keystore by updating the relevant configuration files in your product.

In addition to adding certificates to the keystore, you need to update the keystore. Follow the instructions given below to update the keystore:

Updating keystore:

If you are using the default keystores available in the solution, update them by removing any unnecessary or expired Root CA Certificates.

  • The keystores are available in <WSO2_OB_IAM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/wso2carbon.jks and <WSO2_OB_APIM_HOME>/repository/resources/security/wso2carbon.jks.

  • List and identify problematic certificates:

    keytool -list -v -keystore wso2carbon.jks

  • Remove the certificates using the alias: 

    keytool -delete -alias <alias_to_remove> -keystore wso2carbon.jks
  • For Open Banking UK and Open Banking Berlin: