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Use

The portal uses the authentication infrastructure mechanisms provided by the AS Java. In addition, to support the functions for portals, SAP NetWeaver also uses portal specific mechanisms, such as authentication schemes and reference systems.

Portal systems enable you to integrate information flow from a number of back-end systems in a user friendly manner. Therefore, a portal can be the initial entry point that your users use to gain access to the information system resources available in your system landscape. Respectively, to protect access users authenticate against a portal system and gain access to back-end systems with Single Sign-On.

You can use this section for an overview of the portal specific mechanisms that support authentication and SSO for portal systems.

Integration

The SAP NetWeaver Portal uses the authentication functions of the AS Java for access authentication and SSO. In addition, the portal specific authentication schemes provide further authentication granularity for supporting portal iViews. Users access the portal using an iView, associated with a specific authentication scheme. If a user needs to access an iView which requires a stronger authentication scheme, he or she must re-authenticate as specified by the stronger authentication scheme.

For more information, see Authentication Schemes .

Features

User Authentication

The portal authentication mechanisms are supported by the AS Java. Thereby you can configure a number of authentication scenarios, ranging from basic authentication with user ID and password to using Kerberos or using SAML browser artifacts.

For more information about configuring user authentication mechanisms for the portal, see Single Sign-On for Web Based Access .

Single Sign-On

Single Sign-On (SSO) is a key feature of the SAP NetWeaver Portal that eases user interaction with the many systems available to the user in a system environment. SSO for the portal is also supported by the underlying AS Java authentication infrastructure.

Once the user is authenticated to the portal, he or she can use the portal to access external applications. With SSO in the portal, the user can access different systems and applications without having to repeatedly enter his or her user information for authentication. SSO eliminates the need for repeated logons to individual applications after the initial authentication at the portal.

In addition to the standard SSO functions, provided by the AS Java, SAP NetWeaver enables you to also use reference systems for user mapping-based SSO and to use a portal system as a SAML source site for issuing SAML browser artifact assertions.

For more information about configuring SSO for the portal, see Configuring Portal Single Sign-On to SAP Systems .