1/*
2 * Copyright (c) 2003, 2007, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
4 *
5 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
6 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
7 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
8 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
20 *
21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
22 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
23 * questions.
24 */
25
26package javax.management.remote;
27
28import java.security.Principal;
29import javax.security.auth.Subject;
30
31/**
32 * <p>Interface to define how remote credentials are converted into a
33 * JAAS Subject.  This interface is used by the RMI Connector Server,
34 * and can be used by other connector servers.</p>
35 *
36 * <p>The user-defined authenticator instance is passed to the
37 * connector server in the environment map as the value of the
38 * attribute {@link JMXConnectorServer#AUTHENTICATOR}.  For connector
39 * servers that use only this authentication system, if this attribute
40 * is not present or its value is <code>null</code> then no user
41 * authentication will be performed and full access to the methods
42 * exported by the <code>MBeanServerConnection</code> object will be
43 * allowed.</p>
44 *
45 * <p>If authentication is successful then an authenticated
46 * {@link Subject subject} filled in with its associated
47 * {@link Principal principals} is returned. Authorization checks
48 * will be then performed based on the given set of principals.</p>
49 *
50 * @since 1.5
51 */
52public interface JMXAuthenticator {
53
54    /**
55     * <p>Authenticates the <code>MBeanServerConnection</code> client
56     * with the given client credentials.</p>
57     *
58     * @param credentials the user-defined credentials to be passed
59     * into the server in order to authenticate the user before
60     * creating the <code>MBeanServerConnection</code>.  The actual
61     * type of this parameter, and whether it can be null, depends on
62     * the connector.
63     *
64     * @return the authenticated subject containing its associated principals.
65     *
66     * @exception SecurityException if the server cannot authenticate the user
67     * with the provided credentials.
68     */
69    public Subject authenticate(Object credentials);
70}
71