System Infrastructure for Using SSF Functions 

SSF uses a security product, such as SAP NetWeaver Single Sign-On, to execute the functions for using digital signatures and encryption in AS ABAP systems. To communicate with the security product, the AS ABAP needs to be able to access the product and its information. Therefore, the following system infrastructure is necessary for using the SSF functions:

·        Communication interface to the security product:

To communicate with the security product on the front ends, the AS ABAP uses the SSF Remote Function Call (RFC) server program ssfrfc.exe. On the application server, the communication interface is included in the AS ABAP kernel.

·        Access to product-specific information:

The AS ABAP must also be able to access the product-specific information (for example, the location of the library and the algorithms that the product uses). On the front ends, this information needs to be located in either environment variables or in the SSF initialization file ssfrfc.ini. On the application servers, this information is contained in either profile parameters or environment variables.

·        User SSF information:

In addition, the users that participate in the public-key infrastructure must also be correctly maintained in the AS ABAP.

See the diagram below.

Components in the System Infrastructure for Using SSF

In the following topics, we describe the administration tasks necessary to establish this infrastructure.