Configuring SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP to Support TLS

Prerequisites

The server possesses a public and private key pair and public-key certificate.

TLS protocol, commonly referred to as SSL, uses public-key technology to provide its protection. Therefore, the server must possess a public and private key pair and a corresponding public-key certificate. It must possess one key pair and certificate to identify itself as the server component and if it is to identify itself as a client component, another key pair and certificate. These key pairs and certificates are stored in the Personal Security Environments (PSEs) of the server, the SSL server PSE, and the SSL client PSE, respectively.

For more information, see Public-Key Technology.

Context

Use the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol to secure HTTP connections to and from SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP. When using TLS, the data being transferred between the two parties (client and server) is encrypted and the two partners can be authenticated. For example, if a user must transfer his or her account information, then you can use TLS to authenticate the user and encrypt the information during transfer.

Procedure

Set the profile parameter.
For more information, see Setting the Profile Parameters for Using SSL.
Create and maintain the SSL Server PSEs as follows:
1. Create the SSL server PSEs.
  For more information, see Creating SSL Server PSEs.
2. Generate a certificate request for each SSL server PSE.
  For more information, see Generating Certificate Requests for the SSL Server PSEs.
3. Send the certificate requests to a CA to be signed.
  For more information, see Sending the Certificate Requests to a CA.
4. Import the certificate request responses into the SSL server PSEs of the server.
  For more information, see Importing the Certificate Request Response.
5. Maintain the certificate list of the SSL server PSE.
  For more information, see Maintaining the SSL Server PSE's Certificate List.
Create SSL client PSEs as follows:
1. Repeat the procedure for the standard SSL client PSE.
  For more information, see Creating the Standard SSL Client PSE.
2. To enable the application server to be able to use the anonymous identity to communicate with other Web servers, repeat the procedure for the anonymous SSL client PSE.
  For more information, see Creating the Anonymous SSL Client PSE.
3. To enable the application server to be able to use individual identities to communicate with other Web servers using SSL, then create individual SSL client PSEs.
  For more information, see Creating Individual SSL Client PSEs.
Define which SSL client PSE to use for each connection.

In Configuration of RFC Connections (transaction SM59), you define the HTTP destinations for SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP. In these destinations, you can specify whether SSL is used for the connection and which SSL client PSE the server should use.

For more information, see Specifying that a Connection Should Use SSL.

If TLS with mutual authentication should be used for the configuration, then maintain a mapping between the identity found in the client certificate used for the connection and the user ID to use for the connection. Maintain this mapping in the table USREXTID in the target system.

For more information, see Maintaining the User Mapping for Incoming Connections that Use Authentication.
Test the connections.
For more information, see Testing the SSL Configuration.

Results

After completing the configuration, make sure that application or scenario-specific configuration changes are also made. Examples of changes that may be necessary include:

Changing the protocol from HTTP to HTTPS in URLs or other parameters.
Changing the hostname from a short name to a full-qualified hostname in URLs or other parameters.
Changing the HTTP port to the target HTTPS port in URLs or other parameters.

For more information, see the application or scenario-specific configuration documentation.