Java Security, 2nd Edition

Javakey

Administratively, key management in 1.1 is accomplished using javakey , which operates on a file that contains public and private keys. Entities in this file that hold private keys are called signers (since they hold the information necessary to create a digital signature); those that contain only a public key are called identities.

The file used by javakey is called identitydb.obj and is held in the $JAVAHOME directory. The location of this file can be changed by setting the property identity.database in the java.security file, but it cannot be changed on the javakey command line.

Creating Identities and Signers

The first step in operating with javakey is to create entries in the javakey database. You must create entries before assigning them keys or certificates. When you create an entry, you can specify whether or not you trust the entry; the appletviewer’s security manager allows entries that are marked as trusted to access all resources on the machine.

The options to create entities in the javakey database are:

-c name [true|false]

Create a new identity (an entry that can hold a public key certificate) with the given name. If you want to trust this identity, specify true; otherwise, specify false (the default).

-cs name [true|false]

Create a new signer (an entry that can hold a private key and a public key certificate) with the given name. If you want to trust this signer, specify true; otherwise, specify false (the default).

Here’s how we create an entry that will eventually ...