Troubleshooting OpenSSO with Firefox Add-Ons: Part 1, Introduction

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[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

OpenSSO deployments can be complex and can involve many different components that must be configured correctly in order to function. This article shows how to analyze and troubleshoot OpenSSO deployments with the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser.

For convenience, the article is divided into Part 1, the introduction and configuration description you are reading now, and succeeding parts with examples of OpenSSO deployments, listed in the Exploring Examples section.

This article assumes that you have already configured an OpenSSO deployment, and that you have used the default OpenSSO configuration. The article also assumes that you have configured a policy agent on a web server to demonstrate the way it interacts with the OpenSSO server. The configuration values are listed below. See the References section for more information about OpenSSO and Policy Agent Host.

OpenSSO Server
Host Name: osso.customer.com
OpenSSO Software: OpenSSO Enterprise 8.0
Web Container: Glassfish v2 u2
OpenSSO URL: http://osso.customer.com:8080/opensso

Policy Agent Host
Host Name: agent.customer.com
OpenSSO Software: Policy Agent 3 for SJS Web Server 7
Web Container: SJS Web Server 7
URL: http://agent.customer.com/

This article demonstrates two popular Firefox browser add-ons that facilitate troubleshooting of a typical OpenSSO deployment. Specifically:

• The Live HTTP Headers add-on – To inspect the HTTP Request and Response activity.
• The HackBar add-on – To further analyze data from the HTTP Request and Response as revealed by the Live HTTP Headers add-on.

You can download the Firefox browser from the Mozilla website. The Firefox browser, the two add-ons for the examples, and the configuration and verification of the add-ons are discussed in this section. See the References section for summary links to the Firefox browser and the add-ons.

The examples for this article were developed with Firefox 3.0.6. Firefox 2.x works similarly.

To work through the examples, you need to download and install the following two Firefox add-ons:

• Live HTTP Headers
• HackBar

Note to Mac OS X users: The current release of HackBar contains a bug that was fixed in the 1.4.1 version of HackBar. Download and install HackBar 1.4.1.

Configure the Live HTTP Headers add-on before you use it for the first time, and verify the HackBar installation.

To configure Live HTTP Headers:

1. In the Firefox menu bar, choose Tools > Live HTTP Headers. The Live HTTP Headers window opens.
2. Click the Config tab and set configuration options as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Setting Configuration Options

To verify the HackBar installation:

• In the Firefox menu bar, choose Tools > Show/hide hackbar. If the add-on is installed correctly, the HackBar pane opens in the browser, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Verifying HackBar Installation

When it comes to web single sign-on, more happens than meets the eye. Many interactions occur among the user's browser, the policy agent, and the OpenSSO server. These interactions happen so fast that the user never really perceives them. However, understanding these interactions and the content they exchange is critical to troubleshooting a typical SSO deployment. Using the Live HTTP Headers and HackBar Firefox add-ons, you can gain insight into these interactions and better understand how the system works.

With software installed and configured, you are ready to explore examples. Examples will be added to the series as they become available.

• Part 2, Single Sign-On and Policy Protection
• Part 3, Cross-Domain Single Sign-On
• Part 4, Service Provider Initiated Fedlet Single Sign-On
• Part 5, Identity Provider Initiated Fedlet Single Sign-On

• OpenSSO
• OpenSSO Project
• OpenSSO server installation on GlassFish
• Installation and Configuration Guide
• Support: Sun OpenSSO Express
• Project OpenSSO Resource Center

• Policy Agent Host
• Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 Update 4 Installation and Migration Guide
• How Web Agents Work
• Models of the User Session and Single Sign-On Processes - Details on how the SSO process works.
• Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 Update 4
• Sun OpenSSO Enterprise Policy Agent 3.0 for Sun Java System Web Server 7.0

• Firefox Browser
• Mozilla website
• Live HTTP Headers
• HackBar
• HackBar 1.4.1 - for Mac OS X users

• Sun developer services
• Support
• Training and certification