Generic service client overview
The purpose of the generic service client is to send requests to any service that uses an HTTP, JMS, WebSphere® MQ, or Microsoft™ .NET transport. The generic service client also displays the response returned by the service.
The generic service client is useful for debugging or testing a service when you do not have access to a dedicated client to send the request. You can set up a large variety of transport and security configurations for the service, edit the parameters of the request and send attachments.
When a request is successfully invoked, its message return is added to the Request History. You can use this feature to look back at results that were produced at different times.
If you are using IBM® Rational® Performance Tester or IBM® Rational® Service Tester for SOA Quality, you can select requests in the Request History and click Generate Test to generate a test that will replay all the selected requests. You can edit the test to replace recorded test values with variable test data, or add dynamic data correlation to the test. You can also set verification points on the contents of the XML documents in the service response.
Supported services
- HTTP
- Java™ Message Service (JMS), including JBoss and WebSphere® implementations
- WebSphere® MQ
- Microsoft™ .NET Framework Windows™ Communication Foundation (WCF).
Encryption and security
The Java™ Runtime Environment (JRE) that the product uses must support the level of encryption required by the digital certificate that you select. For example, you cannot use a digital certificate that requires 256-bit encryption with a JRE that supports only 128-bit encryption. By default, the product is configured with restricted or limited strength ciphers. To use less restricted encryption algorithms, you must download and apply the unlimited jurisdiction policy files (local_policy.jar and US_export_policy.jar).
For Oracle Java, download the files from this site:http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jce8-download-2133166.html.
Before installing these policy files, back up the existing policy files in case you want to restore the original files later. Then overwrite the files in /jre/lib/security/ directory with the unlimited jurisdiction policy files.
SSL Authentication
Simple authentication (server authentication): In this case, the test client needs to determine whether the service can be trusted. You do not need to setup a key store. If you select the Always trust option, you do not need to provide a server certificat key store.
If you want to really authenticate the service, you can configure an certificate trust store, which contains the certificates of trusted services. In this case, the test will expect to receive a valid certificate.
Double authentication (client and server authentication): In this case, the service needs to authenticate the test client according to its root authority. You must provide the client certificate keystore that needs to be produced to authenticate the test as a certified client.
When recording a service test through a proxy, the recording proxy sits between the service and the client. In this case, you must configure the SSL settings of the recording proxy to authenticate itself as the actual service to the client (for simple authentication), and as the client to the service (for double authentication). This means that you must supply the recording proxy with the adequate certificates.
When using stub services, you can also configure the SSL settings of the stub service to authenticate itself as the actual server. This means that you must supply the service stub with the adequate certificate.
NTLM and Kerberos Authentication
The product supports Microsoft™ NT LAN Manager (NTLMv1 and NTLMv2) and Kerberos authentication. The authentication information is recorded as part of the test during the recording phase.
To enable NTLMv2 support, you must add a third party library to the workbench. For more information, see Configuring the workbench for NTLMv2 authentication.
Digital certificates
You can test services with digital certificates for both SSL and SOAP security protocol. Digital certificates must be contained in Java™ Key Store (JKS) keystore resources that are accessible in the workspace. When dealing with keystore files, you must set the password required to access the keys both in the security editor and the test editor. For SOAP security you might have to provide an explicit name for the key and provide a password to access the private keys in the keystore.
Limitations
Arrays are not supported.
Because of a lack of specification, attachments are not supported with the Java™ Message Service (JMS) transport. The envelope is directly sent using UTF-8 encoding.
All security algorithms are not always available for every Java™ Runtime Environment (JRE) implementation. If a particular security implementation is not available, add the required libraries to the class path of the JRE that this product uses.
The Microsoft™ .NET transport protocol does not support transactions, scopes, or duplex mode requests such as callbacks or two-way services based on the MS-MQ transport.