ace00002.gif WebID Features


The following WebID features are supported in ACE/Agent for Netscape Servers v1.1:

ace00001.gifGraphical, remote administration

ace00001.gifExtensive online documentation

ace00001.gifWebID cookies

ace00001.gifWebID domain cookies

ace00001.gifSecure Sockets Layer support

ace00001.gifSupport for http and https URLs

ace00001.gifAdded protection against replay attacks

ace00001.gifCustomizable, dynamically generated HTML authentication forms


Graphical administration

ACE/Agent for Netscape Servers provides quick and easy graphical administration of protected resources and their global settings through the ACE/Agent Administration applet. This platform-independent Java applet allows you to administer te ACE/Agent either locally or remotely from a Java-enabled Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator v 3.0.


Remote administration

To use the ACE/Agent Administration applet from a remote machine, you must authenticate using your SecurID token to obtain a valid WebID cookie. If you have expiration controls enabled on your cookies, you will be prompted to reauthenticate when the cookie expires.

Security Dynamics also recommends that you perform all remote ACE/Agent administration over a secure connection (https).


WebID cookies

After a user has been authenticated, the ACE/Agent generates an encrypted ticket mechanism called a WebID cookie and stores it in the user’s browser. The WebID cookie allows the user to access other SecurID-protected resources on the server during the same browsing session without having to reauthenticate. This is done by passing the WebID cookie to the server in a special environment variable contained in each HTTP request.

Cookie expiration times can be controlled from the ACE/Agent Administration applet.

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Tip: In addition to WebID cookies, you can use environment variables to pass user login names and the authentication method from the Web server your CGI programs. This allows you to personalize the user's browsing environment (a custom database view, for example) and tailor access to protected CGI programs.


Domain cookies

By default, the ACE/Agent distributes WebID cookies that are valid only on the Web server from which they were issued. However, you can issue cookies that are valid on multiple servers within a DNS domain by enabling the WebID “Domain Cookies” feature.

Read Domain Cookies for more information about enabling and configuring the WebID Domain Cookies feature.


Secure Sockets Layer support

Security Dynamics strongly recommends that the Web server machine have a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate installed to ensure that transmission of critical information is not compromised.

If you install an SSL certificate and configure the ACE/Agent to require secure connections, you must tell users to access protected resources through https URLs. An https URL is composed exactly as an http URL, except that transmissions between the client and the Web server are encrypted.

For more information about how to obtain an SSL certificate from a Certificate Authority, visit the VeriSign Corporation's Web site.


Support for http and https URLs

ACE/Agent for Netscape Servers protects only http and https URLs.

The following other protocols are not supported by ACE/Agent for Netscape Servers v1.1: