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Release 2 or higher or Oracle9iAS Release 2 or higher, you can synchronize the user information in your Workflow directory service with Oracle Internet Directory (OID) using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). This integration is recommended because it enables you to manage and publish user information in a central location which various systems can reference.

Synchronization with OID enables Oracle Workflow to do the following:

You need to perform this step only once.

Oracle Internet Directory

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LDAP is a standard, extensible directory access protocol. It is a common language that LDAP clients and servers use to communicate. LDAP was conceived as an internet-ready, lightweight implementation of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) X.500 standard for directory services. It requires a minimal amount of networking software on the client side, which makes it particularly attractive for internet-based, thin client applications.

The advantages of OID include:

Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On uses Oracle Internet Directory to store user entries. It maps users for any partner application to user entries in OID entries, and authenticates them by using LDAP mechanisms.

See Also

Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On

AS Single Sign-On is a component of Oracle9i Application Server that provides a framework for secure single sign-on, allowing users to log in to multiple Web-based applications by entering a user name and password only once.

Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On provides the following benefits:

AS Single Sign-On technology is the Login Server. The Login Server authenticates users and passes their identities to the partner applications that are integrated with it.

Partner applications support a single sign-on mechanism that enables them to accept a user's username and password as validated by the Login Server. A partner application delegates its authentication to the Login Server. If a partner application is registered with the Login Server, users can log into it using the single sign-on mechanism.

With mod_osso, an Oracle module that enables single sign-on, Oracle HTTP Server becomes a partner application of the Login Server. Oracle Workflow uses Oracle HTTP Server as its Web server. If you implement Oracle Internet Directory/Single Sign-On integration, Oracle Workflow participates in single sign-on by using mod_osso to authenticate access to its secured web pages.

When a user first tries to access a secured Workflow web page, the Workflow security package WFA_SEC checks the CGI environment variable REMOTE_USER for user information. If the user is not already logged in to Oracle Workflow or another Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On participating application, the user will be prompted to log in before the page appears.

Note: The WFA_SEC package must be loaded as a post-install step if you choose to implement Oracle Internet Directory/Single Sign-On integration. For more information, see your installation documentation.

To set the variable REMOTE_USER, Oracle HTTP Server internally calls to mod_osso. Acting as an Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On partner application, mod_osso transparently redirects the user to the Login Server to obtain authentication credentials, if no application cookie is present.

The Login Server performs the following steps:

Oracle HTTP Server with mod_osso then performs the following steps:

If, during the same session, the user again seeks access to the same or to a different partner application, the Login Server does not prompt the user for a username and password. Instead, the Login Server obtains the information from the login cookie that is already on the client browser. The login cookie provides the Login Server with the user's identity and indicates that authentication has already been performed. If there is no login cookie, the Login Server presents the user with a login page.

To guard against eavesdropping, the Login Server can send the login cookie to the client browser over an encrypted SSL channel.

The login cookie expires with the session, either at the end of a time interval specified by the administrator, or when the user exits the browser. The login cookie is never written to disk.

Note: To log out of a partner application and log in as another user, the user must also log out of the Login Server session. Otherwise, the authentication request returns the partner application to the logged in state of the previous user.

See Also

Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On Application Developer's Guide

Oracle Internet Directory Synchronization

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Note: OID integration includes only individual users, not user groups. Workflow roles are not maintained through OID.

   To Synchronize Workflow Directory Services with OID

• 1. Ensure that the following PL/SQL packages required for LDAP synchronization are loaded in your database:

• For the standalone version of Oracle Workflow, installation of these packages is completed as part of the post-installation steps after you install the Oracle Workflow server.

• 2. For single sign-on integration, ensure that the Database Access Descriptor for Oracle Workflow is protected in the mod_osso configuration file. For the standalone version of Oracle Workflow, mod_osso configuration is completed as part of the post-installation steps after you install the Oracle Workflow server.

• 3. Ensure that the following global Workflow preferences are set to the appropriate information for your OID installation. See: To Set Global User Preferences.

• 4. Run the wfdircsv.sql script to map your directory service views only to the WF_LOCAL tables. See: Integrating Oracle Workflow Directory Services with Local Workflow Users.

• 5. Enable the predefined subscription to the oracle.apps.wf.public.user.change event with the rule function WF_SSO.user_change. See: User Entry Has Changed Event and To Update or Delete an Event Subscription.

• 6. To begin the synchronization, run the WF_LDAP.Synch_all( ) API. This function retrieves all the existing user information from OID, based on the LDAP directory information specified in the Global Workflow Preferences, and raises the oracle.apps.wf.public.user.change event. The predefined subscription to this event that you enabled loads the user information into the WF_LOCAL_USERS table.

• Because Synch_all( ) retrieves information for all users stored in OID, you should use this function only once during setup. If necessary, however, you can also run Synch_all( ) as required for recovery or cleanup.

• Use the following commands to run Synch_all( ):

 declare

      res boolean := FALSE;

    begin

      wf_log_pkg.WF_DEBUG_FLAG := TRUE;



      res := wf_ldap.synch_all();

      if (res) then

        dbms_output.put_line('succeeded');

      else

        dbms_output.put_line('failed ');

      end if;

    end;

    /

• 7. Subsequently, you must maintain the synchronization between your Workflow directory service and OID by retrieving and loading only changed OID user information. It is recommended that you update the user information every ten minutes.

• You can use either WF_LDAP.Synch_changes( ) or WF_LDAP.Schedule_changes( ) to retrieve changed user information from OID. WF_LDAP.Synch_changes( ) identifies LDAP user changes in OID, including creation, modification, and deletion, by querying the LDAP change log records. The function connects to OID based on the LDAP directory information specified in the Global Workflow Preferences. If there is a change, the function retrieves the user information from OID and raises the oracle.apps.wf.public.user.change event. The predefined subscription to this event that you enabled loads the changed user information into the WF_LOCAL_USERS table. You can use WF_LDAP.Synch_changes( ) to perform a single update.

• To continue updating user information periodically, use WF_LDAP.Schedule_changes( ). This procedure submits a database job using the DBMS_JOB utility to run WF_LDAP.Synch_changes( ) repeatedly at an interval that you specify. The default interval, which is also the recommended frequency to check for updates, is ten minutes.

• You can create a script to run WF_LDAP.Schedule_changes( ). For example, to run the API at an interval of ten minutes, create a SQL file with the following commands:

 declare

        begin

          wf_log_pkg.WF_DEBUG_FLAG := TRUE;

          wf_ldap.schedule_changes(0,0,10);

        end;

        /

• Then run SQL*Plus and load your new script to the database.

Note: You must terminate the running of any WF_LDAP APIs before changing your LDAP setup, such as by migrating to a different LDAP server.

Attention: If you implement OID integration, you must maintain your users only through OID. You must not create ad hoc users in the WF_LOCAL_USERS table, because you risk discrepancies in your user information and unpredictable results if you use any tool other than OID to maintain users after integrating with OID. Consequently, if you implement OID integration, you must not use the CreateAdHocUser( ), SetAdHocUserStatus( ), SetAdHocUserExpiration( ), or SetAdHocUserAttr( ) APIs in the WF_DIRECTORY package.

You can still use ad hoc roles, however, since Workflow roles are not maintained through OID.

See Also

Workflow LDAP APIs

User Entry Has Changed Event

Managing Job Queues, Oracle Administrator's Guide

Workflow Directory Service APIs

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