SharePlex 9.2.6 - Administration Guide

Host Authentication

SharePlex provides host authorization security that verifies whether or not SharePlex processes on specific remote systems are authorized to connect to the local system for service and command requests. To implement host authorization, you create an ASCII text file named auth_hosts in the data sub-directory of the SharePlex variable-data directory and then populate it with the names of systems being granted connection permission.

Requirements

• If used, the auth_hosts file must contain valid entries. If this file exists but is empty or contains invalid entries, SharePlex sends an error message similar to the following example to the Event Log: unauthorized connection attempt.
• If an auth_hosts file does not exist on a system, SharePlex accepts all requests from all systems that attempt to connect to sp_cop.
• The name of the local system must be the first non-commented line of this file, or host authorization will not function.
• All entries, including comments, must end with a return.

To configure the auth_hosts file

Note: Begin comment lines with a pound character (#).

1. Run an ASCII text editor such as vi (Unix and Linux), NotePad (Windows), or WordPad (Windows) to open a blank file. If you are using a Unix and Linux text editor, change directories to the data sub-directory of the SharePlex variable-data directory before you run the editor.
2. On the first non-commented line, enter the full machine name of the local system, for example:Localhost.mycorp.com.

3. On the next non-commented line, enter one of the following:

   Value	Description
   all	Grants connection authorization to processes on all remote systems.
   hostname	Grants connection authorization to the specified host. Enter the fully qualified machine name, for example remotehost.mycorp.com. Specify as many host names as needed, each on its own line.

4. Save the file as auth_hosts in the data sub-directory of the SharePlex variable-data directory. If running multiple instances of sp_cop, make certain to save the file to the correct variable-data directory.

Example

Note the name of the local host is on the first non-commented line.

Secure data with SSH

SharePlex uses the SSH® Secure ShellTM utility to provide encryption for network services such as secure remote login and other services over an insecure network.

Requirements

• Purchase and install the SSH software. SSH is not included with SharePlex.
• Using SSH with SharePlex requires the use of local port forwarding (also known as tunneling) within the SSH configuration. Port forwarding allows you to establish a secure SSH session and then tunnel TCP connections through it.
• SharePlex can be configured to work with SSH software between a source system and one target system. If a source replicates to multiple targets, only one of the routes can be configured with SSH.
• This feature is supported on Unix and Linux.

To set up SharePlex to use SSH

1. On the source and target systems, choose an available local port to be used as the tunnel port. For peer-to-peer and high availability replication, the port must be the same number on both systems. For other replication strategies, choose a different port on each system.

2. On the source system, issue the following command from the command prompt. This command connects to the target system to set up the tunnel.

   $ ssh -L source_port:target_host:target_port userid@target_host -N -f

   where:

   • -L specifies that the specified port on the local host (acting as the client) is to be forwarded to the remote host and port.
   • source_port is the port number on the source system.
   • target_host is the name of the target system.
   • target_port is the port on the target system.
   • userid is your Unix and Linux user ID. You will be prompted for the password.
   • -N specifies not to execute a remote command. This is used just to forward a port (protocol version 2 only).
   • -f forces the SSH shell to work in the background just before command execution. If this argument is omitted, the terminal window you are using must be kept open. SSH cannot be started with nohup.

   Refer to your SSH documentation for more information about these commands.

3. (If using multiple SharePlex instances) On the source system, export the correct variable-data directory for the instance of sp_cop for which you are setting up SSH.

   ksh shell:

   export SP_SYS_VARDIR=/full_path_of_variable-data_directory

   csh shell:

   setenv SP_SYS_VARDIR=/full_path_of_variable-data_directory

4. On the source system, start sp_cop.
5. On the source system, run sp_ctrl from the bin subdirectory of the product directory.

6. In sp_ctrl, set the SP_XPT_USE_LOCALHOST parameter in one of the following ways.

   • If there is only one target system, set the parameter with the following syntax:

     sp_ctrl> set param SP_XPT_USE_LOCALHOST 1

   • If there are multiple targets, use the following command to set up a tunnel to the target that will use SSH. Replication to the other target systems will connect directly in the normal fashion.

     sp_ctrl> set param SP_XPT_USE_LOCALHOST to host 1

   where: host is the name of the target system that will use the tunnel.

7. In sp_ctrl, use the list param command with the modified option to verify the parameter setting. If the setting is correct, you can activate a configuration at this point.

   sp_ctrl> list param modified

8. If there is an active configuration, stop and then start sp_cop to make the new parameter setting active.

   To stop sp_cop:

   sp_ctrl> shutdown /productdir/bin/sp_cop &

   To start sp_cop:

   $ /productdir/bin/sp_cop &

Encrypt data between Export and Import

If you do not want to use SSL/TLS but still want to encrypt data between Export and Import, you might do so using this feature.

SharePlex can be configured to encrypt replicated data across the network. SharePlex uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.

Encryption guidelines

Encryption must be enabled on the source and target systems. You enable encryption and set the size of the key through the Export process. You configure the Import process to ensure that encryption is enabled on the source, so that no data is sent across the network unless it is encrypted.

When configuring encryption, follow these guidelines:

• Use one encryption key for all Export processes in the SharePlex instance.
• To use encryption, SharePlex must be version 9.1 or later.

Encryption procedure

On the source system

1. Set the Export parameter SP_XPT_ENABLE_AES to 1. This enables encryption.

   sp_ctrl> set param sp_xpt_enable_aes 1

2. Run the create encryption key command to create the key.

   sp_ctrl> create encryption key

   The following is an example key:
   E5F5D4CBA329D2C86B5D7ABA096C18600595490129F55A1422AAB0248B28D0E4

3. (Optional) Set the SP_XPT_AES_KEY_LENGTH parameter to increase the key size.

   The create encryption key command returns a randomly generated, 256-bit AES key. By default, SharePlex uses 128 bits of that length to encrypt the data.

   To increase the key length that SharePlex uses, set the SP_XPT_AES_KEY_LENGTH parameter to 192 or 256 bits. When you increase the length, the key is harder to hack but requires more CPU power.

   sp_ctrl> set param sp_xpt_aes_key_length {192 | 256}

   Example: set param sp_xpt_aes_key_length 256

4. Run the set encryption key command. This adds the key to the Export configuration.

   sp_ctrl> set encryption key key_value

   Example: set encryption key E5F5D4CBA329D2C86B5D7ABA096C18600595490129F55A1422AAB0248B28D0E4

5. Restart Export to activate the settings.

   sp_ctrl> stop export

   sp_ctrl> start export

On the target system

1. Set the SP_IMP_ENABLE_AES parameter to 1. This prevents SharePlex on the target from accepting data that is not encrypted.

2. Run the set encryption key command with the same key value that you set for Export. The key values on the source and target must match.

   sp_ctrl>set encryption key key_value

   Example: set encryption key E5F5D4CBA329D2C86B5D7ABA096C18600595490129F55A1422AAB0248B28D0E4

3. Restart Import to activate the settings.

   sp_ctrl> stop import

   sp_ctrl> start import

View the encryption key

Issue this command on the source and target systems to ensure that both key values match.

sp_ctrl> show encryption key

Assign SharePlex users to security groups

Contents

Overview

The SharePlex security groups provide access control to the SharePlex command and control system. Without proper configuration of these groups, anyone with permissions on the system can use the commands that view, configure, and control data replication.