MongoDb Ticket Registry

MongoDb ticket registry integration is enabled by including the following dependency in the WAR overlay:

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<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apereo.cas</groupId>
    <artifactId>cas-server-support-mongo-ticket-registry</artifactId>
    <version>${cas.version}</version>
</dependency>
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implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-mongo-ticket-registry:${project.'cas.version'}"
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dependencyManagement {
    imports {
        mavenBom "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-bom:${project.'cas.version'}"
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-mongo-ticket-registry"
}
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dependencies {
    /*
        The following platform references are included automatically and are listed for reference only.

        implementation enforcedPlatform("org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-bom:${project.'cas.version'}")
        implementation platform(org.springframework.boot.gradle.plugin.SpringBootPlugin.BOM_COORDINATES)
        
    */
    implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-mongo-ticket-registry"
}

This registry stores tickets in one or more MongoDb instances. Tickets are auto-converted and wrapped into document objects as JSON. Special indices are created to let MongoDb handle the expiration of each document and cleanup tasks. Note that CAS generally tries to create the relevant collections automatically to manage different ticket types.

Each ticket is stored with its identifier as the document _id, so tickets are found through the index MongoDb maintains for every collection. Earlier versions stored the identifier in a separate ticketId field with its own IDX_ID index. At startup, CAS converts such documents in place and, when index updates are enabled, removes the IDX_ID index. The conversion only touches documents in the earlier shape, can safely run again if interrupted, and needs no downtime beyond the upgrade itself; all CAS nodes sharing the registry should be upgraded together, since a node running an earlier version cannot read converted tickets. If an index CAS replaces cannot be rebuilt, CAS logs a warning and puts the previous index back. Principal attributes are stored and indexed for ticket-granting tickets only, and the service index exists only on collections of tickets linked to a service; CAS removes those two indexes from other collections when it updates indexes.

Configuration

The following settings and properties are available from the CAS configuration catalog:

cas.ticket.registry.mongo.client-uriThe connection uri to the mongodb instance.
no default
Required

The connection uri to the mongodb instance. This typically takes on the form of mongodb://user:psw@ds135522.somewhere.com:35522/db. If not specified, will fallback onto other individual settings. If specified, takes over all other settings where applicable.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.encryption.keyThe encryption key.
no default
Required

The encryption key. The encryption key by default and unless specified otherwise must be randomly-generated string whose length is defined by the encryption key size setting.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
EncryptionRandomizedCryptoProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.signing.keyThe signing key is a string whose length is defined by the signing key size setting.
no default
RequiredSpEL

The signing key is a string whose length is defined by the signing key size setting.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
SigningJwtCryptoProperties
Supports
Spring Expression Language
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.database-nameMongoDb database instance name.
no default
Required

MongoDb database instance name.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.hostMongoDb database host for authentication.
localhost
Required

MongoDb database host for authentication. Multiple host addresses may be defined, separated by comma. If more than one host is defined, it is assumed that each host contains the port as well, if any. Otherwise the configuration may fallback onto the port defined.

Type
String
Default
localhost
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.passwordMongoDb database password for authentication.
no default
Required

MongoDb database password for authentication.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.portMongoDb database port.
27017
Required

MongoDb database port.

Type
Integer
Default
27017
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.user-idMongoDb database user for authentication.
no default
Required

MongoDb database user for authentication.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.authentication-database-nameName of the database to use for authentication.
no default

Name of the database to use for authentication.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.algThe signing/encryption algorithm to use.
AES

The signing/encryption algorithm to use.

Type
String
Default
AES
Defined by
EncryptionRandomizedSigningJwtCryptographyProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.enabledWhether crypto operations are enabled.
true

Whether crypto operations are enabled.

Type
Boolean
Default
true
Defined by
EncryptionRandomizedSigningJwtCryptographyProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.encryption.key-sizeEncryption key size.
16

Encryption key size.

Type
Integer
Default
16
Defined by
EncryptionRandomizedCryptoProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.signing-enabledWhether signing encryption operations are enabled.
true

Whether signing encryption operations are enabled.

Type
Boolean
Default
true
Defined by
EncryptionRandomizedSigningJwtCryptographyProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.crypto.signing.key-sizeThe signing key size.
512

The signing key size.

Type
Integer
Default
512
Defined by
SigningJwtCryptoProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.drop-collectionWhether collections should be dropped on startup and re-created.
false

Whether collections should be dropped on startup and re-created.

Type
Boolean
Default
false
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.drop-indexesWhen updating/creating indexes, decide if existing indexes should all be dropped once prior to creating/updating indexes.
false

When updating/creating indexes, decide if existing indexes should all be dropped once prior to creating/updating indexes. This may be useful to avoid conflicts between old and new indexes, in scenarios where CAS may be unable to locate the proper difference in index options or names during upgrades..

Type
Boolean
Default
false
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.indexesIndex names to create.
no default
Index names to create. By default, all indexes are created. Supported indexes are:
  • IDX_ID: no longer created; ticket identifiers are stored as the document id, and an existing index by this name is removed when indexes are updated.
  • IDX_PRINCIPAL: index created for principal attached to the ticket.
  • IDX_EXPIRATION: index created for ticket expiration date.
  • IDX_SERVICE: index created for service attached to the ticket, only on collections that hold tickets linked to a service.
  • IDX_ATTRIBUTES: wildcard index created for ticket attributes, only on the ticket-granting ticket collection, the only one that stores attributes.
When indexes are updated, IDX_SERVICE and IDX_ATTRIBUTES are removed from collections where they do not apply.
Type
List<String>
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.pool.idle-timeThe maximum idle time of a pooled connection.
PT5M
Duration

The maximum idle time of a pooled connection. A zero value indicates no limit to the idle time. A pooled connection that has exceeded its idle time will be closed and replaced when necessary by a new connection. Keep this below any idle timeout enforced by firewalls or load balancers between CAS and MongoDb.

Type
String
Default
PT5M
Defined by
MongoDbConnectionPoolProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.pool.life-timeThe maximum time a pooled connection can live for.
PT30M
Duration

The maximum time a pooled connection can live for. A zero value indicates no limit to the life time. A pooled connection that has exceeded its life time will be closed and replaced when necessary by a new connection. Every replacement repeats the TLS handshake and authentication, so a short life time adds latency under load; a finite value still lets connections move to new servers after topology or DNS changes.

Type
String
Default
PT30M
Defined by
MongoDbConnectionPoolProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.pool.max-sizeMaximum number of connections to keep around.
100

Maximum number of connections to keep around. Connections are opened on demand up to this limit, and a single login makes several requests to the ticket registry.

Type
Integer
Default
100
Defined by
MongoDbConnectionPoolProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.pool.max-wait-timeThe maximum time that a thread may wait for a connection to become available.
PT10S
Duration

The maximum time that a thread may wait for a connection to become available. When the pool is exhausted, the request fails once this time passes rather than holding the thread.

Type
String
Default
PT10S
Defined by
MongoDbConnectionPoolProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.pool.min-sizeMinimum number of connections to keep around.
1

Minimum number of connections to keep around.

Type
Integer
Default
1
Defined by
MongoDbConnectionPoolProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.read-concernRead concern.
AVAILABLE
Read concern. Accepted values are:
  • LOCAL
  • MAJORITY
  • LINEARIZABLE
  • SNAPSHOT
  • AVAILABLE
Type
String
Default
AVAILABLE
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.read-preferenceRead preference.
PRIMARY
Read preference. Accepted values are:
  • PRIMARY
  • SECONDARY
  • SECONDARY_PREFERRED
  • PRIMARY_PREFERRED
  • NEAREST
Type
String
Default
PRIMARY
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.replica-setA replica set in MongoDB is a group of mongod processes that maintain the same data set.
no default

A replica set in MongoDB is a group of mongod processes that maintain the same data set. Replica sets provide redundancy and high availability, and are the basis for all production deployments.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.retry-writesSets whether writes should be retried if they fail due to a network error.
false

Sets whether writes should be retried if they fail due to a network error.

Type
Boolean
Default
false
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.ssl-enabledWhether connections require SSL.
false

Whether connections require SSL.

Type
Boolean
Default
false
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.timeoutMongoDb database connection timeout.
PT5S
Duration

MongoDb database connection timeout.

Type
String
Default
PT5S
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.update-indexesWhether CAS should attempt to create/update indexes automatically and figure out the differences between existing keys and new keys.
true

Whether CAS should attempt to create/update indexes automatically and figure out the differences between existing keys and new keys.

Type
Boolean
Default
true
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties
cas.ticket.registry.mongo.write-concernWrite concern describes the level of acknowledgement requested from MongoDB for write operations to a standalone mongo db or to replica sets or to sharded clusters.
ACKNOWLEDGED

Write concern describes the level of acknowledgement requested from MongoDB for write operations to a standalone mongo db or to replica sets or to sharded clusters. In sharded clusters, mongo db instances will pass the write concern on to the shards.

Type
String
Default
ACKNOWLEDGED
Defined by
MongoDbTicketRegistryProperties

Required settings may be needed to activate or affect the feature; review them even when they have a default. Optional settings only need to be set to change a default or to turn on the behavior they control. Third party settings belong to libraries such as Spring Boot that CAS builds on; their own documentation may have more detail.

Signing & encryption

This CAS feature is able to accept signing and encryption crypto keys. In most scenarios if keys are not provided, CAS will auto-generate them. The following instructions apply if you wish to manually and beforehand create the signing and encryption keys.

Note that if you are asked to create a JWK of a certain size for the key, you are to use the following set of commands to generate the token:

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wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apereo/cas/master/etc/jwk-gen.jar
java -jar jwk-gen.jar -t oct -s [size]

The outcome would be similar to:

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{
  "kty": "oct",
  "kid": "...",
  "k": "..."
}

The generated value for k needs to be assigned to the relevant CAS settings. Note that keys generated via the above algorithm are processed by CAS using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm which is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.


Notes on configuration

Configuration Metadata

The collection of configuration properties listed in this section are automatically generated from the CAS source and components that contain the actual field definitions, types, descriptions, modules, etc. This metadata may not always be 100% accurate, or could be lacking details and sufficient explanations.

Be Selective

This section is meant as a guide only. Do NOT copy/paste the entire collection of settings into your CAS configuration; rather pick only the properties that you need. Do NOT enable settings unless you are certain of their purpose and do NOT copy settings into your configuration only to keep them as reference. All these ideas lead to upgrade headaches, maintenance nightmares and premature aging.

YAGNI

Note that for nearly ALL use cases, declaring and configuring properties listed here is sufficient. You should NOT have to explicitly massage a CAS XML/Java/etc configuration file to design an authentication handler, create attribute release policies, etc. CAS at runtime will auto-configure all required changes for you. If you are unsure about the meaning of a given CAS setting, do NOT turn it on without hesitation. Review the codebase or better yet, ask questions to clarify the intended behavior.

Naming Convention

Property names can be specified in very relaxed terms. For instance cas.someProperty, cas.some-property, cas.some_property are all valid names. While all forms are accepted by CAS, there are certain components (in CAS and other frameworks used) whose activation at runtime is conditional on a property value, where this property is required to have been specified in CAS configuration using kebab case. This is both true for properties that are owned by CAS as well as those that might be presented to the system via an external library or framework such as Spring Boot, etc.

:information_source: Note

When possible, properties should be stored in lower-case kebab format, such as cas.property-name=value. The only possible exception to this rule is when naming actuator endpoints; The name of the actuator endpoints (i.e. ssoSessions) MUST remain in camelCase mode.

Settings and properties that are controlled by the CAS platform directly always begin with the prefix cas. All other settings are controlled and provided to CAS via other underlying frameworks and may have their own schemas and syntax. BE CAREFUL with the distinction. Unrecognized properties are rejected by CAS and/or frameworks upon which CAS depends. This means if you somehow misspell a property definition or fail to adhere to the dot-notation syntax and such, your setting is entirely refused by CAS and likely the feature it controls will never be activated in the way you intend.

Validation

Configuration properties are automatically validated on CAS startup to report issues with configuration binding, especially if defined CAS settings cannot be recognized or validated by the configuration schema. Additional validation processes are also handled via Configuration Metadata and property migrations applied automatically on startup by Spring Boot and family.

Indexed Settings

CAS settings able to accept multiple values are typically documented with an index, such as cas.some.setting[0]=value. The index [0] is meant to be incremented by the adopter to allow for distinct multiple configuration blocks.

Troubleshooting

To enable additional logging, configure the log4j configuration file to add the following levels:

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...
<Logger name="com.mongo" level="debug" additivity="false">
    <AppenderRef ref="casConsole"/>
    <AppenderRef ref="casFile"/>
</Logger>
...