Overview

To keep the database username and password secure, PhixFlow is configured to use a keystore file. The database account credentials are encrypted and stored here, along with aliases.

When PhixFlow is running, it provides the account credentials to its database as follows:

1. phixflow-datasource.xml stores alias credentials for the database. It requests actual credentials from phixflow-secret.xml.
2. phixflow-secret.xml asks the keystore for the actual credentials.
   • This file stores the location of the keystore file and optionally its password (2a in the diagram below).
   • Alternatively, the keystore password is configured as an environment variable (2b in the diagram below)
3. The keystore file returns the actual account credentials to phixflow-secret,
4. which, in turn, passes the actual credentials to phixflow-datasource.xml.
5. phixflow-datasource.xml then uses the actual credentials to log into the database, so that PhixFlow can update it.

This is shown in the diagram below.

Figure 1: How PhixFlow authenticates to its database

How to Configure a Keystore

The examples in the instructions below use the following names, passwords or variables.

Step 1  Create the keystore

1.1.  At the command line, use the Java keytool command -importpass to create a keystore. At the same time, you will add the alias for the database username.

Keytool Syntax

<keytool> -importpass -alias <keyAlias> -keystore <pathToKeystoreFile> -storetype <keytype>

where:

• <keytool> is:
  • for Windows "%JAVA_HOME%\bin\keytool"
  • for Windows PowerShell  &"$env:JAVA_HOME\bin\keytool.exe"
  • for Linux $JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool 
• <keyAlias> is the alias for the username, for example pdbdev. 
• <pathToKeystoreFile> is the full path to the keystore file, for example C:\secure\hidden.jks.
• <keytype> is either PKCS12 or JCEKS.

Examples

Windows:

"%JAVA_HOME%\bin\keytool" -importpass -alias pdbdev -keystore C:\secure\hidden.jks -storetype PKCS12

Linux:

$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -importpass -alias pdbdev -keystore /opt/secure/hidden.jks -storetype PKCS12

1.2.  The keytool prompts you to set a password for the keystore file and confirm it. Enter the password, eg. storepw and re-enter to confirm.

1.3.  The keytool prompts you to enter a password which is the actual username to be stored. Enter the username for the PhixFlow database, for example PhixFlow-DB-Dev.

Step 2  Add the database password and alias to the keystore file

2.1.  Repeat the commands, using <keyAlias> to add the alias for the password. For example, run the Linux command:

$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -importpass -alias 123xyz -keystore C:\secure\hidden.jks -storetype PKCS12

2.2  The keytool prompts you to enter the password for the keystore, for example, storepw.

2.3  When the keytool prompts you to enter the actual password to be stored, enter the password for the PhixFlow database, for example, P*56word.

Step 3  Configure phixflow-datasource.xml

Edit phixflow-datasource.xml to add the aliases for the PhixFlow database username and password. For example:

<property name="username">
	<value>pdbdev</value>
</property>
<property name="password">
	<value>123xyz</value>
</property>

Step 4  Set the Environment Variable

Optionally, create an environment variable: <variable-name> <keystore-password>, where:

• <variable-name>:
  • in Windows, is any name you choose, for example KEY_PASS
  • in Linux, is the EnvironmentFile directive in the systemd service definition.
    Ensure that only root can read/write EnvironmentFile.
• <keystore-password> is the password for the keystore. For example storepw.

If you do not set an environment variable, you must include the keystore password in phixflow-secret.xml.

For information about how to set environment variables in Linux, see:

• How to set environment variables in the systemd service 
• the systemd.exec man page.

Step 5  Configure phixflow-secret.xml

Copy phixflow-secret.xml.example to phixflow-secret.xml and edit it to set the values as follows: