SetPassword in RACF

Sets the password in an RACF target system.

A set-password workflow propagates a password from DirX Identity to the accounts of one connected system. It is triggered when a user or an administrator changes a password in the Identity Store, or when the password synchronization workflows distribute a password change. The workflow reads the password over the setPassword channel of the Identity Store port and writes it through the target system port; it does not synchronize any other account attribute.

Because a set-password workflow carries credentials, its ports decrypt the password attribute explicitly through the decrypt.attribute parameter, and failures are reported by a dedicated password notification connector instead of the regular notification connector.

SetPassword in RACF sets passwords in connected systems of type RACF. You use it when a password change stored in the Identity Store must be applied to the RACF target system identified by tsresource RACF-domain in cluster RACF-cluster. The sample configuration keeps the password request routing prefix at dxm.setPasswordRequest..

The workflows in this reference are delivered as factory data and are loaded into the Connectivity configuration database during the initial configuration. They are samples: use the Identity Manager to copy a workflow into your own scenario and adapt the copy. Do not change the delivered objects, because a product update can replace them.

At a Glance

Name

SetPassword in RACF

Category

Target Realtime / RACF

Technology

Java-based real-time workflow

LDAP object class

dxmIDMWorkflowDefinition

Workflow type

ProvisionTS

Connected system / controller type

RACF

Configuration wizard

wf-Provisioning-SetPassword.xml

Active in the factory data

FALSE

Factory data version

8.0

Factory data path

Workflows/Default/Target Realtime/RACF/SetPassword in RACF

Prerequisites

  • A connected directory of type RACF, with the bind profile Admin set to credentials that may change passwords for the RACF accounts that this workflow manages.

  • A target system of type RACF in the Identity Store that is linked to that connected directory and contains the accounts whose passwords you want to update.

  • The Java-based Server that runs the workflow must be able to reach both the RACF system and the Identity Store.

Workflow and Activities

Activity Type Component description Description Ports

error

error

provisioningActivity

Error Activity

Message

SetPassword

ProvisionTS

provisioningActivity

setPassword activitity to update passwords in an RACF target system

IdentityDomain, notify, ts

Ports

Activity Port Component description Connector Connected directory Bind profile SSL

error

Message

errorPort

ErrorNotifyMailConnector

-

-

not set

SetPassword

IdentityDomain

provisioningPort

LdapConnector

Identity Store

Domain_Admin

not set

SetPassword

notify

notificationPort

NotifyMailPwdConnector

-

-

not set

SetPassword

TS

provisioningPort

RacfConnector

RACF_NEW

Admin

not set

Channels

Table 1. Channels of port IdentityDomain (activity SetPassword)
Channel Description Reference type Delta type

accounts

Channel for accounts

OneToOne

SearchAttributes

groups

Channel for groups

OneToOne

SearchAttributes

members

Channel for members

OneToOne

SearchAttributes
Table 2. Channels of port TS (activity SetPassword)
Channel Description Reference type Delta type

accounts

Channel for accounts

OneToOne

ExpertFilter

groups

Channel for groups

OneToOne

ExpertFilter

members

Channel for members

OneToOne

ExpertFilter

setPassword

Channel for setting a password

OneToOne

SearchAttributes

Filters

Port Filter Description Sequence

TS

CryptFilter

decryption

1

Configuration Parameters

Table 3. Workflow parameters of SetPassword in RACF
Parameter Default value

timeout

P0Y0M4DT0H0M0S

topicprefix

dxm.setPasswordRequest.

tscluster

RACF-cluster

tsresource

RACF-domain
Table 4. Parameters of activity error
Parameter Default value

resourcefamily

Mail

retrylimit

3

timeout

P0Y0M1DT0H0M0S

waitbeforeretry

P0Y0M0DT2H0M0S
Table 5. Parameters of port Message (activity error)
Parameter Default value

decrypt.attribute

dxmPassword
Table 6. Parameters of activity SetPassword
Parameter Default value

resourcefamily

RACF

retrylimit

3

timeout

P0Y0M1DT0H0M0S

waitbeforeretry

P0Y0M0DT0H30M0S
Table 7. Parameters of port IdentityDomain (activity SetPassword)
Parameter Default value

decrypt.attribute

userPassword
Table 8. Parameters of port notify (activity SetPassword)
Parameter Default value

decrypt.attribute

userPassword
Table 9. Parameters of port TS (activity SetPassword)
Parameter Default value

decrypt.attribute

userPassword

A Java-based real-time workflow runs as a permanently loaded configuration in the Java-based Server (IdS-J). It is triggered by a request or an event rather than by a schedule. Each workflow consists of activities; an activity opens one port per system it talks to, and each port uses a connector to reach that system.

Most provisioning workflows contain a join activity that performs the actual work and an error activity that receives requests which still fail after all retries and sends a notification about them. The retrylimit, waitbeforeretry and timeout parameters of an activity control how often and how long a failed request is retried before it is handed to the error activity.

The event port publishes change events over JMS, and the notify port sends e-mail notifications. Neither port is bound to a connected directory.

The SetPassword activity handles the password update. Its IdentityDomain port reads the affected account from the Identity Store, and its TS port writes the new password to RACF on the setPassword channel. CryptFilter decrypts the protected password value before the request is handed to the RACF connector.

A request that fails is retried up to 3 times (retrylimit) with 30 minutes between the attempts (waitbeforeretry). If it still fails, the error activity takes it over and sends a notification through the Message port; the workflow parameter timeout gives a request 4 days before it is discarded.

Operation

  1. A password change request marks the affected RACF account in the RACF-domain target system subtree of cluster RACF-cluster in the Identity Store.

  2. The Java-based Server passes the request to the SetPassword activity of this workflow.

  3. The IdentityDomain port reads the affected entry from the Identity Store.

  4. The TS port writes the new password to RACF on the setPassword channel.

  5. The result is written back into the Identity Store so that the request state reflects what happened in RACF.

  6. The notify port sends the configured password notification.

  7. Requests that fail permanently are handed to the error activity, which reports them by e-mail.

The workflow is delivered inactive (dxmActive is FALSE). Copy it into your own scenario, connect the copy to your connected directory and activate the copy.