Integrating Azure AD authentication in Java web applications can be challenging when using Java SDKs. Datawiza offers a more efficient and secure No-Code proxy-based solution that simplifies integration and enhances security. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the drawbacks of using Java SDKs for Azure AD authentication and demonstrate how Datawiza’s solution provides a streamlined alternative.
Challenges of using Java SDKs for Azure AD Authentication
Complexity: Implementing Azure AD authentication with Java SDKs requires in-depth knowledge of various protocols, such as SAML, OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect (OIDC). This complexity can lead to longer development times and increased risk of errors.
Maintenance: Your development team must continuously monitor and update Java SDKs to maintain compatibility with the latest Azure AD features and security updates. This added workload can lead to security vulnerabilities if not managed properly.
Datawiza: A Simplified Solution for Azure AD Authentication
Datawiza streamlines the process of integrating Azure AD authentication into your Java web application, providing several key benefits:
Easy Integration: Datawiza eliminates the need for manual configuration and management of authentication protocols. Our solution handles the complexities of Azure AD integration, allowing you to focus on developing your application.
Centralized Management: Datawiza enables centralized management of authentication policies across multiple applications, ensuring consistent security and access controls throughout your organization.
Enhanced Security: Datawiza’s platform is regularly updated to support the latest Azure AD features and security updates, providing you with a secure and reliable authentication solution.
Reduced Development Time: By streamlining the integration process, Datawiza significantly reduces development time, allowing your team to launch your application faster and more efficiently.
Ready to see how easy it is? Let’s get started!
Introduction to the Datawiza Platform
The Datawiza Platform is a cloud-delivered, SaaS-based access management solution. It includes a data plane and a control plane: Datawiza Access Proxy and Datawiza Cloud Management Console (DCMC).
Datawiza Access Proxy is a lightweight, container-based access proxy deployed close to your application via the sidecar (agent) or gateway mode. It talks to Azure AD on behalf of your applications, so you don’t need to worry about the integration work.
DCMC is a cloud-based management console where you can configure and manage the policies of Datawiza Access Proxy. Such a SaaS-based design makes the whole platform much easier to use.
Prerequisites
- A favorite text editor or IDE
- JDK 1.8 or later
- Gradle 4+ or Maven 3.2+
- Docker (18.03+)
- Docker Compose
Run a Java web application
We use the sample offered in Spring.io Building an Application with Spring Boot as the example in this section. The application running at port 8080 simply returns “Greetings from Spring Boot!”
Step 1: Configurations in Datawiza Cloud Management Console
First, use your Azure AD Admin Account (this account should have the permission to create an application registration in your Azure AD tenant) to log in to the Datawiza Cloud Management Console (DCMC).
The Get started function will guide you through the configuration. After logging in to the DCMC, click on the “Get started” button and follow the steps.
Enter some basic information, such as the deployment name and description:
Now Add an Application:
Configure your application with the following values:
- Platform: Web
- App Name: Demo App
- Public Domain: http://localhost:9772
- Listen Port: 9772
- Upstream Servers: http://host.docker.internal:8080
Note that Upstream Servers is the address of the Java application.
- If you use Mac or Windows, then set the Upstream Servers to http://host.docker.internal:8080 (requires Docker 18.03+).
- If you use Linux, use ip addr show docker0 to get the docker host IP (e.g., 172.17.0.1) and then set Upstream Servers to http://172.17.0.1:8080 (see this for more details).
Next Configure the IdP:
Select the Microsoft Azure Active Directory as the Identity Provider and keep the Automatic Generator option enabled. Automatic Generator is an advanced feature offered by Datawiza and Azure AD. It automatically creates a new application registration on your behalf in your Azure AD tenant. Click Create and wait for interaction with Azure AD. All the configurations are now automatically set.
Alternatively, if you want to use an existing web application in your Azure AD tenant, you can disable the option and populate the fields of the form. The Tenant ID, Client ID, and Client Secret are needed. You can follow the tutorial on the right side or the documentation to find out how to create an application registration on Azure AD and get these values in your tenant.
In the last step, we provide the command lines to pull the Datawiza Access Proxy image and the docker-compose file to run the Datawiza Access Proxy. Execute the command lines in steps 1 & 2 and note down the docker-compose file in step 3 as shown below.
Step 2: Run Datawiza Access Proxy as a sidecar (agent) to your application
After finishing the configuration in DCMC, you can run the Datawiza Access Proxy with the YAML file noted in the previous step. The docker-compose YAML file, named datawiza-access-broker.yaml should then appear like this:
Now, we can use docker-compose to create and start the Datawiza Access Proxy:
docker-compose -f datawiza-access-broker.yaml up -d
That’s it. After executing the command above, the Java application should have SSO enabled with Azure AD.
Now, let’s give it a try.
Open a browser and type in http://localhost:9772. You should see the Azure AD login page as follows:
After logging in to Azure AD, the Java web application will be shown.
Summary
Congratulations! You secured a Java web application by adding Azure AD authentication using Datawiza — in minutes instead of weeks or months. This is only a small sampling of what Datawiza can do. See Datawiza’s online docs or official website for much more information. You can also get a free trial by signing in here!
