1、Blackboard Building Blocks,APIs, Framework and Security,Wednesday, October 10, 2018,Bob Alcorn, Director, Platform Architecture,Overview,API Overview High level review of packages, patternsSecurity Authentication and Authorization JVM security,Audience,Knowledge of Java programming People who want a
2、n overview of the entire range of functionality exposed (without resorting to reading the docs) Thinking of building, dont know what to look at first,Design Goals High Level,Decouple persistence from data objects XML and Database Originally targeted for import/export Database abstraction Iterative f
3、unctionality Start with simple objects, mapped to the legacy schema Managed extensibility System extensions and deployment model,A Little History,Import/Export,Building Blocks Architecture,Core Services,Data Objects,Business Layer (JSP, Servlet, Struts),View Layer (JSP, Servlet, Tag Library),Road Ma
4、p,Data objects and packages What data can I see? Persistence objects and packages How do I get to the data? Service objects and packages How do I log it, authenticate it, etc.? Security,Data Objects,blackboard.dataObject view of the schema Typed to wrap legacy database constructs Type-safe enumerati
5、ons for constrained database columns User.EducationLevel.GRADUATE_SCHOOL Faithful adherence to existing schema has some interesting side effects,Data Objects BbObject,Base object for all data objects Common attributes Primary Key (Id), dates, etc. “Smart” attributes Properties stored in an internal
6、map, instead of member variables Smart load, dirty flag Id attribute helps define lifecycle Id.UNSET_ID default id for new objects,Data Objects Content,blackboard.data.contentContent is the root object that can be used in the “content” areas of a course All other objects are simple subclasses of Con
7、tent that over-ride specific values Custom content types should create and manipulate Content objects; not CourseDocument objects. CourseDocument can be used to manipulate the base “Item” type,Data Objects Content,ContentHandler Ties content to URI-based “handlers” This is really the B2 “glue” for c
8、ustom content IsFolder Can the object contain other objects IsLesson Should the contents be displayed sequentially RenderType Render the object like “Item”, “Folder”, or “Link”,Data Object Content,Data Objects Course,blackboard.data.courseCourse and Organization Organization over-rides course for sp
9、ecific attributes Membership Enrollment, Staff Assignment Enumerated roles Course Subgroup and Membership,Data Objects - Gradebook,Blackboard.data.gradebookLineItem Defines the “columns” in a course gradebook Score Wraps the actual outcome for a given line item,Data Objects Misc.,Announcement Wraps,
10、 well, announcements Can be system or course level Calendar Wrap entries in the calendar Course and System level,Persistence Objects,Intended to be decoupled from data objects Interfaces allow replaceable persistence implementations Currently proprietary to Blackboard BbPersistenceManager Ties toget
11、her different aspects of persistence Loader/Persister broker Container,Persistence Objects Id,Used to encapsulate the unique identifier for each data object Primary key, and more Data type Container (database) GUIDs are not used, so keys can collide,Persistence Objects Loaders,Base interface to get
12、at data Roughly one-to-one correspondence to data objects All type-specific loaders are geared towards known predicates loadById() loadByUserIdandType() Performance. Ad hoc queries can kill the system Schema stability.,Persistence Objects Persisters,Perform any action that manipulates data Again, on
13、e-to-one correspondence with data objects “Smart” update Id object state determines insert vs. update,Accessing Persisters and Loaders,Theyre interfaces, not directly instantiated by callers BbPersistenceManager is the broker Most have a Default object for direct access ContentDbLoader loader = Cont
14、entDbLoader.Default.getInstance(),Putting It Together,Content content = new Content(); content.setTitle();/ . . . Etc.ContentDbPersister contentPersister = ContentDbPersister.Default.getInstance();contentPersister.persist();,Services,Infrastructure for common utility functions Exposed as interfaces
15、(mostly) Lookup via BbServiceManager,Services Context,blackboard.platform.contextCritical entry point that all code must call Context wraps information about current request to get the correct database connection Interact via ContextManager.setContext() and ContextManager.releaseContext(),Services S
16、ession,blackboard.platform.sessionState for the current browser-based client Stores authentication status Cookie-based session management Database persistent to share between Perl and Java processes Some assembly required Not all HTTP-clients (e.g., media plugins for browsers) honor the host browser
17、s cookies,Services Filesystem,blackboard.platform.filesystemFileSystemService - Broker different file system locations Course and content E.g., getContentDirectory(),Services Log,blackboard.platform.logSimple write-only log implementation Supports configurable levels Written before log4j and JDK 1.4
18、,Services - Security,Blackboard.platform.securityAuthentication and Authorization AccessManagerService,Package Base,Mix of utility objects BbList List implementation that can enforce type safety Not really useful externally; since it implements List, and you have to cast anyway, thats what you shoul
19、d use BbEnum base class for all type-safe enumerations NestedRuntimeException/NestedException pre-JDK 1.4 facility for chaining exceptions,Package Base,FormattedText encapsulation of text data entered via standard Text boxes Defines enumeration for Smart, Plain, and HTML text GenericComparator Compa
20、rator implementation that can sort based on arbitrary properties Works with String, Boolean, Dates, and Comparable,Administrative APIs,blackboard.admin.*APIs geared towards data integration Formerly called the “Event” APIs Repackaged to be more consistent with B2 APIs Compatibility layer supported B
21、ase classes used in Snapshot,Administrative APIs,Follows IMS Data Model Person, Course (Group), and Membership Additional objects for Blackboard usage Category Data Source Defines logically related entities that can be managed independently via Snapshot,Portal,blackboard.portal.externalCustomData is
22、 all youll need getModuleData() getModulePersonalizationData() Store name/value Value can be string, or binary object,Beyond APIs UI Integration,Tag Libraries Encapsulate re-usable UI components to capture the Blackboard look and feel Tag Library Descriptors Re-use within individual web applications
23、 .tld files,Beyond APIs - Deployment,Not an API, per se Critical aspect of extension development XML manifest used to generate records in the database that define navigation, content brokering,Anatomy of a System Extension,Package (.war/.zip file),Platform Descriptor,Blackboard Manifest,Web Resource
24、s,Libraries,web.xml (Servlets),Servlets, JSP (Java),.class, .jar files (Java),Tying It All Together,Each JSP or servlet will require touching several different APIs Set context Authorize current User Load content object Access Gradebook data Perform custom calculation Log result Render results (brac
25、keted via tags) Release context,Thoughts,There are a lot of classes to look at Focus on the type of Building Block you need to build Take it methodically, iteratively. Whats your first goal? Second goal? Think of combining functions What can I do using Content with Gradebook?,Security,Security High
26、Level View,Authentication Who is using the system? Authorization Can that user do what theyre trying to do? Privacy Is the users data kept private? Integrity Has the data been tampered with?,Can the code do what it is trying to do?,Topics for B2 Developers,Common Security Tasks Authentication, Autho
27、rization Declaring Permissions Often trial and error iteration add a permission, get stopped by another one,Authentication for Extensions,Simple, let the platform worry about it,BbSessionManagerService sessionService = BbServiceManager.getSessionManagerService();BbSession bbSession = sessionService.
28、getSession( request );AccessManagerService accessManager = (AccessManagerService)BbServiceManager .lookupService( AccessManagerService.class );if (! bbSession.isAuthenticated() ) accessManager.sendLoginRedirect(request,response);return; ,Authentication for Extensions,Access Manager coordinates with
29、authentication providers to do the right thing Default providers RDBMS LDAP Web Server Custom providers,Authorization in Blackboard,Role-based assignment System role attached to user object Course role attached to enrollment record Privileges attached to Roles Editable Check relies on the union of a
30、ll relevant entitlements,Customizing Privileges,It All Comes Back To,Context! You have the user, and thus the system role You have the course, and thus the course role. Access control works against the full entitlements mask,Authorization for Extensions,Authorization Role-based checks Deprecated. En
31、titlement-based checks Not finalized PlugInUtil.authorizeForXXX() authorizeForCourseControlPanel() authorizeForSystemAdminPanel() authorizeForCourse() authorizeForContent(),Code Security Framework,Leverage security inherent in the Java 2 Standard Edition framework Enforce certain API restrictions En
32、force API usage disclosure Manifest must declare required permissions,Basic Class Hierarchy,Permission Class,Permission Abstract base class for all permissions All Permission objects define a name and actions Relationships can be created via implies( Permission ) BasicPermission Concrete base class
33、for most permissions,Classes,Security information available through Class object Object.getClass() ProtectionDomain Encapsulates information about the classes physical source and associated permissions Class.getProtectionDomain(),Classes,PermissionCollection ProtectionDomain.getPermissions() List of
34、 permissions PermissionCollection.implies( Permission ) CodeSource ProtectionDomain.getCodeSource() Physical location of class (URL) Hierarchical: CodeSource.implies( CodeSource ) Certificates,Security Checks,SecurityManager.checkPermission( Permission ) Other checkXXX() methods ultimately delegate
35、to this method This method, in fact, delegates to AccessControlManager For each frame in call stack Get code source Get permissions for code source Requested permission implied by permissions collection? SecurityException thrown if check fails,Checking Permissions,if( _modifyPermission != null ) Sys
36、tem.getSecurityManager() .checkPermission( _modifyPermission ); ,Privileged Blocks,Interrupts stack walk If the current frame has permission, allow access Allows trusted code to perform actions that may not be granted to the caller E.g., un-trusted code may not have network permission, but the datab
37、ase driver does,Examples,System Extensions cannot connect directly to the database Our own code, which may be called by a System Extension, needs to get a database connection Solution: Privileged block Code executing with more privileges can accomplish what it needs to,Example,private class DbConnec
38、tivityPrivilege implements PrivilegedExceptionActionprivate Query _query;private Connection _con;private DbConnectivityPrivilege(Query query, Connection con)_query = query;_con = con;public Object run() throws Exception_query.executeQuery( _con );return null;,Example,try AccessController.doPrivilege
39、d( new DbConnectivityPrivilege(query, con); catch(PrivilegedActionException pae) castException( pae ); ,Example,Initiates Stack Walk,Terminates Stack Walk,Policies,Policies define the Permissions associated with code bases Default implementation uses a policy file Grant/deny permissions to code base
40、s Grant/deny permissions to Subjects New in JDK 1.4 with addition of JAAS,Example Policy File Entries,/ Tomcat gets all permissions grant codeBase “file:$tomcat.home$/lib$/-“ permission java.security.AllPermission; ;grant permission java.util.PropertyPermission “java.version“, “read“;permission java
41、.util.PropertyPermission “java.vendor“, “read“; ,Tomcat.policy,Activating Security,Run-time properties on the command line -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy java.security Configuration file for setting security providers policy.provider Class that is responsible for implementing the pol
42、icy Default is sun.security.provider.PolicyFile,Blackboard Implementation,wrapper.properties/tomcat.sh Points to tomcat.policy service-config.properties code-level-access-control=true Can disable SecurityManager regardless of command line options Custom Policy implementation,Blackboard Implementatio
43、n,SecurityUtil.checkPermission() Hides check for SecurityManager Propagates Security Exceptions BbPolicy Wraps code sources for System Extensions Attempts to prevent “over-riding” You cant just put permissions in the policy file,Blackboard Permissions,blackboard.persist.PersistPermission Name is the
44、 data object, actions are “read,create,modify,delete” Base persister and loader classes check for permission,Blackboard Permissions,blackboard.data.AttributePermission Controls access to attributes on a data object Naming convention allows single attributes or groups to be protected E.g., untrusted
45、code can load a user, but cant get the (hashed) password,Blackboard Permissions,System Extensions,Deployed as a web application with a unique code source Code source is attached to /plugin directory, so it encompasses the /webapp and /config directories Manifest includes a permissions block Some fil
46、tering to restrict certain permissions Manifest is equivalent of policy file,System Extensions,Enabling an extension at startup Read permissions from database Associate with web app code source Register servlet context with Tomcat Registration of servlet context only occurs if extension is “Availabl
47、e” or “Unavailable”. Otherwise, no code may be executed,System Extensions,Permissions block contains 0 or more permission elements Same meaning as “grant” entries in the standard Java policy file No explicit deny Simple mnemonics for common types Runtime, Socket, Persist, Attribute Type attribute ca
48、n be any fully qualified Java classname Must be a Permission sub-class, with two argument constructor (String, String),Example Permissions,Default Permissions,Read/write access to extensions home directory Read access to Blackboard root Read access to data (via APIs) Read access to system properties
49、 Everything else must be explicitly declared,Manifest Limitations,No escape syntax Properties that require user input, or information from local system, cannot be encoded in permission block,Manifest Administrators View,Tips,Read the Javadoc for any third party libraries you are using Many developers dont test their code with a security manager, so they dont know what theyre touching E.g., Axis configuration routines will throw SecurityException if run with a SecurityManager Think security What would you as an administrator want to see disclosed?,
