Abstract:
The present invention provides methods, machine readable memories and systems for versioning plugin adapters for servers so as to allow legacy versions of software plugins to function when the interfaces configured to accept the plugins are upgraded. An adapter resides between a plugin interface and the plugin module and converts requests designed for a current or new version to requests designed for legacy versions. In some embodiments, the interface elements are designed to extend and adapt the functionality of a security apparatus by enabling the security apparatus to utilize third party security providers.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY  
       [0001]     The present application claims priority to the following provisional application, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety:  
         [0002]     U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/598,315, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RUNTIME INTERFACE VERSIONING, by Neil Smithline, filed on Aug. 3, 2004. (Attorney&#39;s Docket No: BEAS-1690US0). 
     
    
     CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0003]     The present application relates to the following application, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety:  
         [0004]     U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/373,532 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENTERPRISE AUTHENTICATION, by Paul Patrick, filed on Feb. 24, 2003 (Attorney Docket No. BEAS-01400US0).  
       COPYRIGHT NOTICE  
       [0005]     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention relates to systems, methods and computer readable media for upgrading servers. The present invention relates more particularly to enabling interoperability between related software products that are designed to work with different versions of servers.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     Since its inception in 1995, the Java™ programming language has become increasingly popular. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) Java, which is an interpreted language, enabled the creation of applications that could be run on a wide variety of platforms. This ability to function across a variety of different client platforms, i.e. platform independence, and Java&#39;s relatively easy implementation of network applications has resulted in its use in endeavors as basic as personal webpages to endeavors as complex as large business-to-business enterprise systems.  
         [0008]     As Java has become more commonplace, a wide variety of tools and development platforms have been created to assist developers in the creation and implementation of applications and portals using Java or other languages supporting platform independence.  
         [0009]     Many of such applications and portals are based around one or more servers that provide, inter alia, application support and control access to resources. It is often desirable to enable third parties to produce custom software modules or plugins that can be inserted into such servers to perform functions that would otherwise be performed by the base software of the server. Server architectures can be designed to enable easy development of plugins for certain features such as security.  
         [0010]     However, as the interfaces through which the plugins interact with the server are upgraded, plugins that were designed for previous versions of the interfaces may be rendered incompatible. The process of upgrading the plugins can be time consuming and expensive.  
         [0011]     What is needed is an improved interface that allows legacy plugin products to be used with newer plugin interfaces. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a security framework.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an interaction among a security provider interface, an adapter, and a security provider.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating another high-level view of an adapter in an embodiment.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a process for utilizing a security provider.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. References to embodiments in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. While specific implementations are discussed, it is understood that this is done for illustrative purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.  
         [0017]     In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough description of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.  
         [0018]     Although a diagram may depict components as logically separate, such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes. It can be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components portrayed can be combined or divided into separate software, firmware and/or hardware components. For example, one or more of the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a network accessible device/appliance such as a router. Furthermore, it can also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components, regardless of how they are combined or divided, can execute on the same computing device or can be distributed among different computing devices connected by one or more networks or other suitable communication means.  
         [0019]     In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for versioning plugin adapters for servers. These mechanisms and methods can enable embodiments to provide legacy versions of software plugins the capability to function when the interfaces configured to accept the plugins are upgraded. The ability of embodiments to provide plugins with the capability to function when the interfaces configured to accept the plugins are upgraded can enable easier migrations to new versions, extended use from legacy plugins and so forth.  
         [0020]     In an embodiment, a method for utilizing a plugin product for a server is provided. The plugin product can have an old interface version. One embodiment of the method includes accepting a request directed towards a new interface version of the plugin. The request directed towards the new interface version is converted to a request directed towards the old interface version. The request directed towards the old interface version is transmitted to the plugin.  
         [0021]     In some embodiments, the request may be a request directed to a security provider. In various embodiments, accepting a request to a security provider accessible via the plugin can include accepting a request for any of: an authentication system, an identity assertion system, an authorization system, and an auditing system.  
         [0022]     While the present invention is described with reference to an embodiment in which security providers create executable adapter programs written in the Java™ programming language that are executed in conjunction with plugin interfaces adapted to work with legacy versions of software, the present invention is not limited to security providers, nor to the Java™ programming language and may be practiced using other programming languages, i.e., JSP and the like without departing from the scope of the embodiments claimed. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.) In one embodiment, the servers utilize an application server product, such as WebLogic® Server by BEA systems of San Jose, Calif.  
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a security framework of a server. In one embodiment, the server is a Java server. The security framework includes a resource container  118  containing resources  105 ,  110 , and  115 . Preferably, the resource container contains all of the resources required by a particular activity or particular group of activities. The resources include information and programs that will be utilized within the activities. The resource container is configured to provide the resources in response to an approved request from a security framework  122 .  
         [0024]     The security framework  122  includes multiple Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs). These interfaces may also be referred to as Security Provider Interfaces. The SPIs are configured to access security providers that provide security verification services for users attempting access the resources  105 ,  110 , and  115 .  
         [0025]     The SPIs include an authentication SPI  125 . The authentication SPI  125  is configured to utilize an external authentication provider  140  to verify a user&#39;s credentials. The authentication provider  140  accepts credentials from a user and uses those credentials to verify the user&#39;s identity. The authentication provider  140 , like the identity assertion provider  145 , authorization provider  150 , and adjudication provider  155  is a software plugin that interacts with the security framework  122  through the SPIs.  
         [0026]     The credentials utilized by the authentication provider can include usernames and passwords, secure tokens, biometric data, secure hardware keys, or any other credentials that can be used to verify a user identity. The authentication provider returns to the security framework  122  a value indicating whether the user has been successfully authenticated and information about the user (e.g. what groups the user belongs to).  
         [0027]     Another type of SPI is an identity assertion SPI  130 . The identity assertion SPI  130  is configured to accept identity assertions for users from external systems such as the identity assertion provider  145 . The identity assertion SPI can be configured for multiple provider types, including multiple tokens and certificates for verifying a user&#39;s identity. The identity assertion SPI provides a response to an authentication request indicating whether a user is permitted to access the resource.  
         [0028]     An authorization SPI  135  is configured to use an authorization provider  150  to determine whether a user is permitted to access a resource. Once a user&#39;s identity has been established through the authentication provider  140  or the identity assertion provider, the authorization provider  150  determines whether the user as currently identified is permitted to access the resource.  
         [0029]     The security framework also includes an auditing SPI  120 . In some embodiments, the various SPIs can utilize multiple providers. The auditing SPI  120  utilizes an auditing provider  158  to record the various responses from the differing security providers. An adjudication SPI  138  and adjudication provider  155  are configured to resolve a conflict when one exists. For example, in some embodiments, the authentication SPI  125  can utilize multiple authorization providers  150 . If some return a successful authentication and some return an unsuccessful authentication in response to an authentication request, the adjudication provider  155  determines whether the user should be authenticated. In some embodiments, an administrator can set adjudication criteria indicating how conflicts are resolved. For example, the criteria could be set such that a successful authentication from any of the providers, or all of the providers is needed for a user to be considered authenticated.  
         [0030]     In some embodiments, the security provider also includes role mapping SPIs, credential mapping SPIs and other SPIs for outsourcing security functions to plugins.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an interaction among a security provider interface  215 , an adapter  210 , and a security provider  205  in an embodiment. The legacy security provider  205  is one of the service providers  140 ,  145 ,  150 ,  155  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The SPI  215  is one of the SPIs  125 ,  130 ,  135 ,  138 ,  158  illustrated in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0032]     The SPI  215  has a set of interface parameters governing how it will interact with the security provider  205 . These parameters indicate the formatting and content of data transmitted to and received from the security provider  205 . As new versions of the SPI are released, these interface parameters can change, thus requiring that the security provider  205  be updated to interact with the SPIs correctly.  
         [0033]     However, security providers are often difficult to update, requiring considerable amounts of time and expense. Thus, legacy providers  205  often remain in place long after the SPI  215  is updated. Thus, an adapter  210  is used to translate information passed between the SPI  215  and the security provider  205 . The adapter  210  receives communications from the SPI  215  configured for a new version of the provider  205 , and translates the communications into communications configured for the legacy version of the provider  215 . The adapter also receives communications configured for the legacy version of the SPI and converts the communications to communications designed for the new version of the SPI.  
         [0034]     In some embodiments, the adapter  210  “wraps” the service provider, generating a new service provider object that interacts with SPI as a provider  215 , but is capable of converting requests between versions.  
         [0035]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating another high-level view of an adapter in an embodiment. The adapter includes an input module  305  that is configured to receive communications from either the SPI  205  or the security provider. These communications are passed to a translator  310 .  
         [0036]     The translator  310  receives the communications and according to the type of communications, translates them as necessary. The translator  310  preferably stores information indicating a version of the SPI  205  and the security provider  215 . In some embodiments, the translator can translate between multiple differing versions of the SPI and providers. When the translator  310  receives input from the SPI  205  or the provider  215  through the input module, it converts it to output that is configured for the type of the destination and passes it to an output module  315 .  
         [0037]     While in the present embodiment, the adapter  210  is used to bridge communications between legacy security providers and new SPIs, in alternate embodiments, adapters can be used to enable any type of plugin having similar compatibility issues.  
         [0038]     Disclosed below is computer code for implementing an adapter for an authorization provider in an embodiment.  
                                       package weblogic.security.service.adapters;           import javax.security.auth.login.AppConfigurationEntry;       import weblogic.security.spi.AuthenticationProvider;       import weblogic.security.spi.AuthenticationProviderV2;       import weblogic.security.spi.ChallengeIdentityAsserter;       import weblogic.security.spi.ChallengeIdentityAsserterV2;       import weblogic.security.spi.IdentityAsserter;       import weblogic.security.spi.IdentityAsserterV2;       import weblogic.security.spi.PrincipalValidator;       public class AuthenticationProviderV1Adapter extends SecurityProviderV1Adapter       implements AuthenticationProviderV2 {       public AuthenticationProviderV1Adapter(AuthenticationProvider provider) {       base = provider;       }       public AppConfigurationEntry getLoginModuleConfiguration() {       AuthenticationProvider atn = (AuthenticationProvider) base;       return atn.getLoginModuleConfiguration();       public AppConfigurationEntry getAssertionModuleConfiguration() {       AuthenticationProvider atn = (AuthenticationProvider) base;       return atn.getAssertionModuleConfiguration();       }       public Principal Validator getPrincipalValidator() {       AuthenticationProvider atn = (AuthenticationProvider) base;       return atn.getPrincipalValidator();       }       public IdentityAsserterV2 getIdentityAsserter() {       AuthenticationProvider atn = (AuthenticationProvider) base;       IdentityAsserter asserter = atn.getIdentityAsserter();       if (asserter instanceof ChallengeIdentityAsserter) {       return new ChallengeIdentityAsserterV1Adapter((ChallengeIdentityAsserter)asserter);       }       else {       return new IdentityAsserterV1Adapter(asserter);       }       }       }                  
 
         [0039]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a process for utilizing a security provider. In block ( 405 ) the security framework  122  receives a request for a protected resource. In block ( 410 ) the security framework creates a provider object from the security provider. Creating a provider object can entail generating an object to perform the provider&#39;s tasks. In block ( 412 ), the system determines whether the provider object uses a current version of the interface or a legacy version. If the provider uses the current interface version, the process jumps to block ( 420 ), where the existing provider is utilized as the provider object. If the provider uses the legacy interface, the process moves to block ( 415 ), in which it wraps the existing provider around the adapter.  
         [0040]     In some embodiments, block ( 415 ) is implemented by the code disclosed below: 
        SecurityProvider provider=AdapterFactory.getAuthenticationProvider(mbean, auditor);        
 
         [0042]     The code disclosed above utilizes an adapter factory to produce an adapter module instance, that with the SPI, communicates with the service provider. The security framework  122  does not need to be aware of any conversion steps being performed by the adapter, instead only receiving notification from the SPI of the response (i.e., successful/unsuccessful authentication/authorization etc.).  
         [0043]     In block ( 420 ), the security provider is utilized to return an authentication/authorization response. If the security provider and adapter have the same version, the adapter does not perform any conversion. The type of conversion depends on the level of change between the two versions of the plugin interface.  
         [0044]     For example, in the case of an improved identity assertion SPI, an original version of a method used to access the identity assertion provider might call the identity assertion provider with one argument, whereas the improved SPI calls the provider with two arguments. The adapter receives the two-argument call from the SPI, and makes a call to the provider with a single argument. The new wrapped security provider is used for future operations.  
         [0045]     In some embodiments, the creation of the provider object and wrapping of the adapter occurs during an initiation/bootup/deployment stage rather than when a specific request is received.  
         [0046]     It should also be understood that while a security provider is discussed as an exemplary embodiment, the embodiments discussed above can be applied to any type of software plugin.  
         [0047]     Other features, aspects and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the figures and the claims. It is to be understood that other embodiments of the invention can be developed and fall within the spirit and scope of the invention and claims.  
         [0048]     The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalence.  
         [0049]     In addition to an embodiment consisting of specifically designed integrated circuits or other electronics, the present invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art.  
         [0050]     Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of application specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.  
         [0051]     The present invention includes a computer program product which is a storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the processes of the present invention. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical discs, DVD, CD-ROMs, microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices, magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data.  
         [0052]     Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media), the present invention includes software for controlling both the hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems, and user applications.  
         [0053]     Included in the programming (software) of the general/specialized computer or microprocessor are software modules for implementing the teachings of the present invention.