SSLSocketFactory

Class Overview

Layered socket factory for TLS/SSL connections.

SSLSocketFactory can be used to validate the identity of the HTTPS server against a list of trusted certificates and to authenticate to the HTTPS server using a private key.

SSLSocketFactory will enable server authentication when supplied with a KeyStore trust-store file containing one or several trusted certificates. The client secure socket will reject the connection during the SSL session handshake if the target HTTPS server attempts to authenticate itself with a non-trusted certificate.

Use JDK keytool utility to import a trusted certificate and generate a trust-store file:

     keytool -import -alias "my server cert" -file server.crt -keystore my.truststore
    

In special cases the standard trust verification process can be bypassed by using a custom TrustStrategy. This interface is primarily intended for allowing self-signed certificates to be accepted as trusted without having to add them to the trust-store file.

The following parameters can be used to customize the behavior of this class:

• CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
• SO_TIMEOUT
• SO_REUSEADDR

SSLSocketFactory will enable client authentication when supplied with a KeyStore key-store file containing a private key/public certificate pair. The client secure socket will use the private key to authenticate itself to the target HTTPS server during the SSL session handshake if requested to do so by the server. The target HTTPS server will in its turn verify the certificate presented by the client in order to establish client's authenticity

Use the following sequence of actions to generate a key-store file

• Use JDK keytool utility to generate a new key

  keytool -genkey -v -alias "my client key" -validity 365 -keystore my.keystore

  For simplicity use the same password for the key as that of the key-store

• Issue a certificate signing request (CSR)

  keytool -certreq -alias "my client key" -file mycertreq.csr -keystore my.keystore

• Send the certificate request to the trusted Certificate Authority for signature. One may choose to act as her own CA and sign the certificate request using a PKI tool, such as OpenSSL.

• Import the trusted CA root certificate

  keytool -import -alias "my trusted ca" -file caroot.crt -keystore my.keystore

• Import the PKCS#7 file containg the complete certificate chain

  keytool -import -alias "my client key" -file mycert.p7 -keystore my.keystore

• Verify the content the resultant keystore file

  keytool -list -v -keystore my.keystore

Summary

[Expand] Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object Object clone() boolean equals(Object arg0) void finalize() final Class<?> getClass() int hashCode() final void notify() final void notifyAll() String toString() final void wait() final void wait(long arg0, int arg1) final void wait(long arg0)
From interface org.apache.http.conn.scheme.LayeredSchemeSocketFactory abstract Socket createLayeredSocket(Socket socket, String target, int port, boolean autoClose) Returns a socket connected to the given host that is layered over an existing socket.
From interface org.apache.http.conn.scheme.LayeredSocketFactory abstract Socket createSocket(Socket socket, String host, int port, boolean autoClose) Returns a socket connected to the given host that is layered over an existing socket.
From interface org.apache.http.conn.scheme.SchemeSocketFactory abstract Socket connectSocket(Socket sock, InetSocketAddress remoteAddress, InetSocketAddress localAddress, HttpParams params) Connects a socket to the target host with the given remote address. abstract Socket createSocket(HttpParams params) Creates a new, unconnected socket. abstract boolean isSecure(Socket sock) Checks whether a socket provides a secure connection.
From interface org.apache.http.conn.scheme.SocketFactory abstract Socket connectSocket(Socket sock, String host, int port, InetAddress localAddress, int localPort, HttpParams params) Connects a socket to the given host. abstract Socket createSocket() Creates a new, unconnected socket. abstract boolean isSecure(Socket sock) Checks whether a socket provides a secure connection.