Posted on

This Method Requires Authentication – Full Version

We were having some issues with one of our VCSA’s and creating or subscribing to Content Libraries. So here is our resolution.

Symptoms:

  • When creating a local Content Library, when clicking finish, it errors with: This Method Requires Authentication
  • When subscribing to another Content Library that has authentication disabled, after copying the json URL into the field and clicking next, it halts the view and states: This Method Requires Authentication
  • When attempting to download Support Bundles from the VAMI at https://<vCenter FQDN>:5480, Downloads timeout and fail

SSH into the VCSA and check the following log files:

/storage/log/vmware/vdcs/cls.log
/storage/log/vmware/vdcs/ovf.log
/storage/log/vmware/vdcs/ts.log

In cls.log, you will be looking for something like this:

cls.log
=========
2016-01-20T14:18:01.773Z | DEBUG    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--39           | SsoOverRestVerifierUtil        | Trying to verify request signature using following; host:<vCenter FQDN>, port: 443, uri:/cls/resourcebundle
2016-01-20T14:18:01.800Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--39           | SamlTokenImpl                  | Signature validation failed
javax.xml.crypto.dsig.XMLSignatureException: the keyselector did not find a validation key
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature$DOMSignatureValue.validate(Unknown Source)
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature.validate(Unknown Source)
        at com.vmware.identity.token.impl.SamlTokenImpl.validateSignature(SamlTokenImpl.java:653)
        at com.vmware.identity.token.impl.SamlTokenImpl.validate(SamlTokenImpl.java:535)
        at com.vmware.vim.sso.client.DefaultTokenFactory.parseToken(DefaultTokenFactory.java:46)
        at com.vmware.vim.sso.http.impl.AuthVerifierImpl.validateSamlToken(AuthVerifierImpl.java:77)
        at com.vmware.vim.sso.http.impl.AuthVerifierImpl.verifyToken(AuthVerifierImpl.java:66)
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeaderImpl(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:183)
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeader(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:109)
        com.vmware.vcde.common.services.cm.servlet.SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.doGet(SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.java:103)
.
.
.
.
2016-01-20T14:18:01.801Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--39           | SsoOverRestVerifierUtil        | Failed to verify request signature using following; host:<vCenter FQDN>, port: 443, uri:/cls/resourcebundle
2016-01-20T14:18:01.801Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--39           | SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet | doGet: SSO verification failed for client <vCenter IP Address>
com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil$SsoAuthException: com.vmware.vim.sso.http.AuthException: The SAML token is invalid!
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeaderImpl(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:194)

In ovf.log, you are looking for:

ovf.log
-------
2016-01-20T14:18:01.792Z | DEBUG    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--23           | SsoOverRestVerifierUtil        | Trying to verify request signature using following; host:<vCenter FQDN>, port: 443, uri:/ovf/resourcebundle
2016-01-20T14:18:01.804Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--23           | SamlTokenImpl                  | Signature validation failed
javax.xml.crypto.dsig.XMLSignatureException: the keyselector did not find a validation key
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature$DOMSignatureValue.validate(Unknown Source)
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature.validate(Unknown Source)
        at com.vmware.identity.token.impl.SamlTokenImpl.validateSignature(SamlTokenImpl.java:653)
        
        
2016-01-20T14:18:01.805Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--23           | SsoOverRestVerifierUtil        | Failed to verify request signature using following; host:<vCenter FQDN>, port: 443, uri:/ovf/resourcebundle
2016-01-20T14:18:01.805Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--23           | SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet | doGet: SSO verification failed for client <vCenter IP Address>
com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil$SsoAuthException: com.vmware.vim.sso.http.AuthException: The SAML token is invalid!
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeaderImpl(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:194)
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeader(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:109)
        at com.vmware.vcde.common.services.cm.servlet.SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.doGet(SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.java:103)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:620)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:727)
        at com.vmware.vcde.common.services.cm.servlet.DispatcherServlet.service(DispatcherServlet.java:53)

In ts.log, you are looking for:

Ts.log
---------
2016-01-20T14:18:01.792Z | DEBUG    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--14           | SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet | doGet: Entering (/ts/resourcebundle)
2016-01-20T14:18:01.805Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--14           | SamlTokenImpl                  | Signature validation failed
javax.xml.crypto.dsig.XMLSignatureException: the keyselector did not find a validation key
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature$DOMSignatureValue.validate(Unknown Source)
        at org.jcp.xml.dsig.internal.dom.DOMXMLSignature.validate(Unknown Source)
        at com.vmware.identity.token.impl.SamlTokenImpl.validateSignature(SamlTokenImpl.java:653)
2016-01-20T14:18:01.805Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--14           | SsoOverRestVerifierUtil        | Failed to verify request signature using following; host:<vCenter FQDN>, port: 443, uri:/ts/resourcebundle
2016-01-20T14:18:01.806Z | ERROR    | unset-opId       | tomcat-http--14           | SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet | doGet: SSO verification failed for client <vCenter IP Address>
com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil$SsoAuthException: com.vmware.vim.sso.http.AuthException: The SAML token is invalid!
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeaderImpl(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:194)
        at com.vmware.cis.services.common.sso.SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.verifySecurityHeader(SsoOverRestVerifierUtil.java:109)
        at com.vmware.vcde.common.services.cm.servlet.SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.doGet(SsoAuthenticatedFileStreamServlet.java:103)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:620)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:727)

Cause:

According to VMware support, these log entries show no security context for the user. Without that Security content the user cannot perform actions on the content library.

Resolution:

We found the signing cert and its root CA used by SSO from vmware-identity-sts.log and took out the ssoserverSign and the root certificate and added them to the CA to TRUSTED_ROOTS using the below mentioned vets command.

/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli entry create --store TRUSTED_ROOTS --alias roo51 --cert 51root.crt
/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli entry create --store TRUSTED_ROOTS --alias roo52 --cert 52root.crt

Then restart all services. Run the following commands. (No there is not a –restart or –reset, use both commands).

service-control --stop --all
service-control --start --all

Thats all for today folks. Hope this helped!

Posted on

Professional Growth: Part 2 & 3 – Base Requirements and Upgrades

Continuing the series on professional growth, which started with my last post: Part 1 – Inspirational Beginnings. I started off asking “How did you get started and how long have you been in the game?” I got some interesting results and this next post I asked the question: “What traits, methods, knowledge or experiences did you find crucial to your growth?” Also updated with question 3, “What has changed since then, what’s new to be done?” Continue reading “Professional Growth: Part 2 & 3 – Base Requirements and Upgrades”

Posted on

Professional Growth: Part 1 – Inspirational Beginnings

I asked a number of tech professionals in varying lengths of carrer, heights of their career (Admins through Upper Management) and areas within the technology industry (Programming, Marketing, Infrastructure, etc…). I did this because I understand that getting started is hard. Either getting out of school or finding opportunities while in helpdesk. So I am sharing this to provide insight for those looking to grow professionally both inside and outside work. Continue reading “Professional Growth: Part 1 – Inspirational Beginnings”