TIBCO JASPERREPORTS SERVER

SECURITY GUIDE
RELEASE 6.1

http://www.jaspersoft.com

Copyright 2005-2015, TIBCO Software Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. TIBCO, the TIBCO
logo, TIBCO Jaspersoft, the TIBCO Jaspersoft logo, TIBCO Jaspersoft iReport Designer, TIBCO JasperReports
Library, TIBCO JasperReports Server, TIBCO Jaspersoft OLAP, TIBCO Jaspersoft Studio, and TIBCO Jaspersoft
ETL are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of TIBCO Software Inc. in the United States and in
jurisdictions throughout the world. All other company and product names are or may be trade names or
trademarks of their respective owners.
This is version 0515-JSP61-01 of the JasperReports Server Security Guide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction to JasperReports Server

Chapter 2 Overview of JasperReports Server Security

2.1 Authentication
2.2 Authorization Overview
Chapter 3 Application Security
3.1 Encrypting Passwords in Configuration Files
3.1.1 Encrypting Configuration Passwords on Tomcat (or Spring tcServer)
3.1.2 Encrypting Configuration Passwords on Enterprise Servers
3.1.3 Encrypting Additional Properties in default_master.properties
3.1.4 Password Encryption for External Authentication
3.1.5 Encryption Options
3.2 Configuring CSRF Prevention
3.3 Configuring Input Validation
3.3.1 Customizing Security Error Messages
3.3.2 Editing Input Validation Rules
3.3.3 Creating Validator Expressions
3.3.4 Validating New Input Parameters
3.3.5 Query Validation
3.3.6 Further Configuration
3.4 Restricting File Uploads
3.5 Hiding Stack Trace Messages
3.6 Defining a Cross-Domain Policy for Flash
3.7 Enabling SSL in Tomcat
3.7.1 Setting Up an SSL Certificate
3.7.2 Enabling SSL in the Web Server
3.7.3 Configuring JasperReports Server to Use Only SSL
3.8 Disabling Unused HTTP Verbs
3.9 Setting the Secure Flag on Cookies
3.10 Setting httpOnly for Cookies
3.10.1 Setting httpOnly for Tomcat 7
3.10.2 Setting httpOnly for Tomcat 6
3.11 Protection Domain Infrastructure in Tomcat

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3.11.1 Enabling the JVM Security Manager

3.11.2 Restoring Disallowed Permissions
3.11.3 Additional Customizations for Previous Versions of Tomcat
3.12 Encrypting Passwords in URLs
Chapter 4 User Security
4.1 Configuring the User Session Timeout
4.2 Configuring User Password Options
4.2.1 Configuring Password Memory
4.2.2 Enabling Password Expiration
4.2.3 Allowing Users to Change their Passwords
4.2.4 Enforcing Password Patterns
4.3 Encrypting User Passwords
4.3.1 Dropping and Recreating the Database in PostgreSQL
4.3.2 Dropping and Recreating the Database in MySQL
4.3.3 Dropping and Recreating the Database in Oracle
4.3.4 Dropping and Recreating in the Database in Microsoft SQL Server
4.4 Encrypting User Session Login
4.4.1 Dynamic Key Encryption
4.4.2 Static Key Encryption
Chapter 5 Securing Data in a Domain
5.1 Business Case
5.2 Process Overview
5.3 Sales Domain
5.4 Roles, Users, and Attributes
5.4.1 Roles
5.4.2 Users
5.4.3 User Attributes
5.5 Setting Up Logging and Testing
5.5.1 Enabling Logging
5.5.2 Creating a Test Report
5.6 Creating a Domain Security File
5.6.1 Row-level Security
5.6.2 Column-level Security
5.6.3 CZSs Item Group Access Grants for Sales Data
5.6.4 Uploading the Security File
5.7 Testing and Results
5.7.1 Working with Hierarchical Attributes
5.8 Domain and Security Recommendations
5.9 Domain Reference Material
5.9.1 Domain Design in XML Format
5.9.2 Domain Security File

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Glossary

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Index

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO JASPERREPORTS SERVER

TIBCO JasperReports Server builds on TIBCOJasperReports Library as a comprehensive family of

Business Intelligence (BI) products, providing robust static and interactive reporting, report server, and data
analysis capabilities. These capabilities are available as either stand-alone products, or as part of an integrated
end-to-end BI suite utilizing common metadata and provide shared services, such as security, a repository, and
scheduling. The server exposes comprehensive public interfaces enabling seamless integration with other
applications and the capability to easily add custom functionality.
The heart of the TIBCO Jaspersoft BI Suite is the server, which provides the ability to:

Easily create new reports based on views designed in an intuitive, web-based, drag and drop Ad Hoc
Editor.
Efficiently and securely manage many reports.
Interact with reports, including sorting, changing formatting, entering parameters, and drilling on data.
Schedule reports for distribution through email and storage in the repository.
Arrange reports and web content to create appealing, data-rich Jaspersoft Dashboards that quickly convey
business trends.

For business intelligence users, Jaspersoft offers TIBCO Jaspersoft OLAP, an optional component of
JasperReports Server, controlled by license and described in its own user guide.
While the Ad Hoc Editor lets users create simple reports, more complex reports can be created outside of the
server. You can either use TIBCO Jaspersoft Studio or manually write JRXML code to create a report that
can be run in the server. We recommend that you use Jaspersoft Studio unless you have a thorough
understanding of the JasperReports file structure.
You can use the following sources of information to extend your knowledge of JasperReports Server:

Our core documentation describes how to install, administer, and use JasperReports Server. Core
documentation is available as PDFs in the docs folder of your JasperReports Server installation. You can
also access PDF and HTML versions of these guides online from the Documentation section of the
Jaspersoft Community website.
Our Ultimate Guides document advanced features and configuration. They also include best practice
recommendations and numerous examples. These guides are available online in PDFand HTML from the
Documentation section of the Jaspersoft Community website.
Our Online Learning Portal lets you learn at your own pace, and covers topics for developers, system
administrators, business users, and data integration users. The Portal is available online from Professional
Services section of our website.
Our free samples, which are installed with JasperReports, Jaspersoft Studio, and JasperReports Server, are
documented online. The samples documentation can be found on our community website.

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JasperReports Server Security Guide

JasperReports Server is a component of both a community project and commercial offerings. Each integrates the
standard features such as security, scheduling, a web services interface, and much more for running and sharing
reports. Commercial editions provide additional features, including Ad Hoc charts, flash charts, dashboards,
Domains, auditing, and a multi-organization architecture for hosting large BI deployments.

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Chapter 2 Overview of JasperReports Server Security

CHAPTER 2

OVERVIEW OF JASPERREPORTS SERVER SECURITY

JasperReports Server ensures that people can access only the data they're allowed to see. The settings that define
organizations, users, roles, and repository resources work together to provide complete access control that
includes:

Authentication Restricts access to identified users and protects that access with passwords. Defines roles
for grouping users and assigning permissions.
Authorization Controls access to repository objects, pages, and menus based on users and roles.
Data level security (commercial version only) Defines row and column level permissions to access your
data. Row and column level permissions can be defined and enforced in Domains.

Administrators must keep security in mind at all times when managing organizations, user, roles, and resources,
because the security settings behind each of these rely on the others.
This chapter contains the following sections:

2.1

Authentication
Authorization Overview

Authentication
The first part of security is to define user accounts and secure them with passwords to give each user an identity
within JasperReports Server. The server stores user definitions, including encrypted passwords, in a private
database. Administrators create, modify, and delete user accounts through the administrator pages, as described
in the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide.
JasperReports Server also implements roles for creating groups or classes of users with similar permissions. A
user can belong to any number of roles and have the privileges of each The server stores role definition in its
private database, and administrators create, modify, and delete roles through the administrator pages, as
described in the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide.
JasperReports Server relies on the open source Spring security framework; it has many configurable options for:

External authentication services such as LDAP (used by Microsoft Active Directory and Novell eDirectory)
Single sign-on using JA-SIG's Central Authentication Service (CAS)
Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS)
Container security (Tomcat, Jetty)
SiteMinder
Anonymous user access (disabled by default)

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JasperReports Server Security Guide

JasperReports Server also supports these encryption and authentication standards:

HTTPS, including requiring HTTPS

HTTP Basic
HTTP Digest
X509

The Spring framework is readily extensible to integrate with custom and commercial authentication services and
transports.
Authentication occurs by default through the web user interface, forcing login, and/or through HTTP Basic
authentication for web services, such as Jaspersoft Studio and for XML/A traffic. The server can automatically
synchronize with an external authentication service. External users dont need to be created manually in the
server first. Both users and roles are created automatically in the server from their definitions in an external
authentication service. For an overview of the authentication system and details about external authentication,
see the JasperReports Server Authentication Cookbook.

2.2

Authorization Overview
With a users identity and roles established, JasperReports Server controls the users access in these ways:
Menu options and
pages

The menus appear in JasperReports Server UI depending on the users roles. For
example, only users with the administrator role can see the Manage menu and
access the administrator pages. By modifying the servers configuration, you can
modify access to menus, menu items, and individual pages. Refer to the
JasperReports Server Source Build Guide and JasperReports Server Ultimate
Guide for more information.

Organization scope

Users belong to organizations and are restricted to resources within their

organizations. Organizations have their own administrators who each see only the
users, roles, and resources of their own organization. When JasperReports Server
is configured with multiple organizations, those organizations are effectively
isolated from each other, although the system admin can share resources through
the Public folder. For more information, see the JasperReports Server Administrator
Guide.

Resource permissions

Administrators can define access permissions on every folder and resource in the
repository. You can define permissions for every role and every user, or leave them
undefined to be inherited from the parent folder. For example, user may have readwrite access to a folder where they create reports, but the administrator can also
create shared reports in the same folder that are set to read-only. The possible
permissions are: no access, execute only, read-only, read-delete, read-write-delete,
and administer (see "Repository Administration"in the JasperReports Server
Administrator Guide).
Permissions are enforced when accessing any resource whether directly through
the repository interface, indirectly when called from a report, or programmatically
through the web services. A user's access to resources is limited by the permissions
defined in the user's roles.

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Chapter 2 Overview of JasperReports Server Security

Administrator privileges

JasperReports Server distinguishes between reading or writing a resource in the

repository and viewing or editing the internal definition of a resource. For security
purposes, granting a user read or write permission on a resource does not allow
viewing or editing the resource definition. For example, users need execute or read
permission on a data source to run reports that use it, but they cannot view the data
sources definition, which includes a database password. Also, only administrators
can interact with theme folders to upload, download, and activate CSS files that
control the UI's appearance.

Data-level security

Data-level security determines the data that can be retrieved and viewed in a report,
based on the username and roles of the user running the report. For example, a
management report could allow any user to see the management hierarchy,
managers would see the salary information for their direct employees, and only
human resource managers would see all salary values.
Data-level security in Domains is explained in the JasperReports Server User
Guide. Data-level security through OLAP views is covered in the Jaspersoft OLAP
User Guide.
Note: This type of security is available only in the commercial edition of
JasperReports Server.

Profile attributes

Profile attributes are name-value pairs associated with a user, organization, or

server.
User attributes provide additional information about the user and can also be used
to restrict a user's access to data through Domain security files and OLAP schemas.
For information on defining user attributes, see "Editing User Attributes" in the
JasperReports Server Administrator Guide.
User, organization and server attributes can be used to customize the definition of a
data source or as parameters of a report. See "Attributes in Data Source Definitions"
and "Attribute-Based Parameters for Queries and Reports" in the JasperReports
Server Administrator Guide

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JasperReports Server Security Guide

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CHAPTER 3

APPLICATION SECURITY

This chapter describes the configuration settings that protect JasperReports Server and its users from
unauthorized access. The configuration properties appear in two locations:

Some properties must be configured during the installation and deployment phase, before users access the
server. These settings are configured through files used by the installation scripts. These settings are
available only when performing a WAR file installation.
Properties you can configure after installation are located in files in various folders. Configuration file paths
are relative to the <js-install> directory, which is the root of your JasperReports Server installation. To
change the configuration, edit these files then restart the server.

Because the locations of files described in this chapter vary with your application server, the paths specified in
this chapter are relative to the deployed WAR file for the application. For example, the applicationContext.xml
file is shown as residing in the WEB-INF folder. If you use the Tomcat application server bundled with the
installer, the default path to this location is:
C:\Program Files\jasperreports-server-6.1\apache-tomcat\webapps\jasperserver-pro\WEB-INF
Use caution when editing the properties described in this chapter. Inadvertent changes may cause
unexpected errors throughout JasperReports Server that may be difficult to troubleshoot. Before
changing any files, back them up to a location outside of your JasperReports Server installation.
Do not modify settings not described in the documentation. Even though some settings may appear
straightforward, values other than the default may not work properly and may cause errors.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Encrypting Passwords in Configuration Files

Configuring CSRF Prevention
Configuring Input Validation
Restricting File Uploads
Hiding Stack Trace Messages
Defining a Cross-Domain Policy for Flash
Enabling SSL in Tomcat
Disabling Unused HTTP Verbs
Setting the Secure Flag on Cookies
Setting httpOnly for Cookies
Protection Domain Infrastructure in Tomcat
Encrypting Passwords in URLs

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3.1

Encrypting Passwords in Configuration Files

In JasperReports Server version 5.5 or later, administrators can obfuscate passwords that appear in the
configuration files. This satisfies security audit requirements and prevents the passwords from being seen by
unauthorized individuals. Typically, the following are encrypted:

The password to JasperReports Server's internal database (jasperserver).

The passwords to the sample databases (foodmart and sugarcrm).
On Tomcat and tcServer, passwords in JNDI resource definitions.

You can change the configuration to also encrypt:

The password for the mail server used by the scheduler (quartz.mail.sender.password)
The password for LDAP external authentication.

Passwords in configuration files are encrypted during JasperReports Server installation. If the installation
deploys to the Tomcat application server, the database password is also automatically encrypted in the JNDI
configuration (in the file context.xml).
Full password security cannot be guaranteed from within JasperReports Server. A user with sufficient
privileges and knowledge of JasperReports Server can gain access to the encryption keys and the
configuration passwords. While you could require a password on every server restart, this is impractical
for most users. The only practical way to guarantee password security is through backup and restriction
of access to the keystore property file.

3.1.1

Encrypting Configuration Passwords on Tomcat (or Spring tcServer)

To encrypt passwords in a Tomcat or tcServer installation, modify the installation procedure:
1.

Depending on the database you use, copy the installation configuration file as usual:
from:<js-install>/buildomatic/sample_conf/<database>_master.properties
to:<js-install>/buildomatic/default_master.properties

2.

Edit the default_master.properties file:

3.

4.

Enter values specific to your installation.

Enter your passwords in plain text.
Turn on configuration file encryption by uncommenting the encrypt=true property. You don't have
to uncomment any other encryption properties because they all have the default values shown.
Unless you're using Oracle, uncomment propsToEncrypt and set it to dbPassword,sysPassword.
Optionally, specify additional properties to encrypt as described in Encrypting Additional Properties
in default_master.properties on page13.
Optionally, change the settings for configuration file encryption as described in Encryption Options
on page17.
Run the buildomatic installation script (js-install) and all other installation steps according to the
JasperReports Server Installation Guide. This will have the following effects:
a.

The plain text passwords in default_master.properties are overwritten with their encrypted equivalents.
There is no warning when you run js-install with encrypt=true.

b.

The encrypted passwords are propagated to all configuration files.

c.

The installation proceeds and copies files to their final locations.

After installation, passwords are encrypted in the following locations:

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In all server configuration files in .../WEB-INF/applicationContext*.xml.

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Chapter 3 Application Security

In JNDI definitions in .../META-INF/context.xml.

In the default_master.properties files that remain after installation.
If you get an error like the following when restarting the server:
javax.naming.NamingException: KeystoreManager.init was never called or there are errors
instantiating an instance

you may need to add the following to your Tomcat service start properties:
-Duser.home=c:\Users\<TomcatUser>

3.1.2

Encrypting Configuration Passwords on Enterprise Servers

Most enterprise servers, like JBoss, Glassfish, WebSphere, and WebLogic, have proprietary ways to set up
password encryption. You should use these encryption methods. JasperReports Server doesn't automatically set
up encrypted passwords for these servers during deployment. In this case, you can encrypt the passwords in the
buildomatic file after deployment:
1.

Deploy JasperReports Server to your enterprise server as specified in the JasperReports Server Installation
Guide. The resulting JasperReports Server instance will have unencrypted JNDI data source passwords. If
you want to encrypt these passwords, refer to your application server's documentation.

2.

After the server has been successfully configured, encrypt the JasperReports Server configuration files as
follows:
a.

In default_master.properties, turn on encryption by uncommenting encrypt=true.

b.

Run the target js-ant refresh-config. This will remove and recreate all the configuration files
without deploying them to the application server. Now the buildomatic files will have the database
passwords encrypted. You should still be able to execute import/export or other scripts.
Do not run js-install or js-ant deploy-webapp-pro. These commands will overwrite the WAR file
created in step 1 and render the server data sources inaccessible. If you need to redeploy the WAR file,
reset the database password(s) to plain text in your default_master.properties and start again with step 1.

3.1.3

Encrypting Additional Properties in default_master.properties

You can encrypt additional properties in the default_master.properties file. To work correctly, these properties
need to be decrypted when used. Currently decryption is supported for properties loaded into the Spring
application context via the propertyConfigurer bean in applicationContext-webapp.xml.
If a property is defined via JNDI, we recommend pointing there instead of encrypting:
<property name="password">
<jee:jndi-lookup jndi-name="java:comp/env/emailPassword" />
</property>

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The following code sample shows the propertyConfigurer bean in applicationContext-webapp.xml:

<bean id="propertyConfigurer" classs="com.jaspersoft.jasperserver.api.common.properties.DecryptingPropertyPlaceholderConfigurer">
<property name="locations">
<list>
<value>/WEB-INF/hibernate.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.quartz.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.spring.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.scheduling.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/mondrian.connect.string.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.diagnostic.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.aws.datasource.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.config.properties</value>
<value>/WEB-INF/js.externalAuth.properties</value>
</list>
</property>
...
</bean>
</pre>

Because we extended Spring's PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer class as

DecryptingPropertyPlaceholderConfigurer, all the loaded properties are scanned for the special marker
ENC-<value>-. If that marker is found around the property value, that property is decrypted before it's loaded
into Spring context.
To determine if your property is scanned by propertyConfigurer, search the files in propertyConfigurer's
locations to see if it's defined in one of these files.
For example, suppose you want to encrypt the password property of the reportSchedulerMailSender bean
in applicationContext-report-scheduling.xml:
<bean id="reportSchedulerMailSender" class="org.springframework.mail.javamail.JavaMailSenderImpl">
<property name="host" value="${report.scheduler.mail.sender.host}"/>
<property name="username" value="${report.scheduler.mail.sender.username}"/>
<property name="password" value="${report.scheduler.mail.sender.password}"/>
<property name="protocol" value="${report.scheduler.mail.sender.protocol}"/>
<property name="port" value="${report.scheduler.mail.sender.port}"/>
<property name="javaMailProperties">
<props>
<prop key="mail.smtp.auth">false</prop>
</props>
</property>
</bean>

The use of the ${...} syntax tells you that report.scheduler.mail.sender.password is most likely
defined via the propertyConfigurer bean. Search through the propertyConfigurer locations to verify. This
property is defined in /WEB-INF/js.quartz.properties as follows:
report.scheduler.mail.sender.password=${quartz.mail.sender.password}.
Once you've verified that the quartz.mail.sender.password property can be encrypted using defaultmaster.properties, you set up encryption before installation as follows:
1.

Set the password for quartz.mail.sender.password in default-master.properties:

quartz.mail.sender.password=cleartextpassword

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2.

Uncomment the encrypt=true property in the same file.

3.

Uncomment propsToEncrypt=dbPassword in default-master.properties.

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Chapter 3 Application Security

4.

Add quartz.mail.sender.password to propsToEncrypt:

quartz.mail.sender.password=cleartextpassword
...
encrypt=true
propsToEncrypt=dbPassword,quartz.mail.sender.password

3.1.4

5.

Configure and install your JasperReports Server WAR installation as described in the JasperReports Server
Installation Guide.

6.

Verify that report.scheduler.mail.sender.password was encrypted in both default-master.properties

and in /WEB-INF/js.quartz.properties.

Password Encryption for External Authentication

As of JasperReports Server 5.6, you can encrypt the passwords in the external authentication configuration files
for LDAP and external database authentication. Here we cover only the encryption of these passwords; for
details about configuring external authentication, see the JasperReports Server External Authentication
Cookbook.
To enable encryption during installation, property values in the external authentication sample configuration
are referenced from other configuration files. For example, if you're using LDAP to authenticate, the sample
configuration file contains the following reference to the LDAP password:
<bean id="ldapContextSource"
class="com.jaspersoft.jasperserver.api.security.externalAuth.ldap.JSLdapContextSource">
<constructor-arg value="${external.ldap.url}" />
<property name="userDn" value="${external.ldap.username}" />
<property name="password" value="${external.ldap.password}"/>
</bean>

The values referenced by the ${...} format are defined in the js.externalAuth.properties file and imported into
Spring context via the propertyConfigurer. For example, the LDAP properties are defined in
js.externalAuth.properties as follows:
external.ldap.url=${external.ldapUrl}
external.ldap.username=${external.ldapDn}
external.ldap.password=${external.ldapPassword}

The ${...} syntax again references other configuration properties that must be set in default_master.properties
before installation or upgrade. The following example shows the syntax of the properties in the default_
master.properties file:
external.ldapUrl=ldap://hostname:389/dc=example,dc=com
external.ldapDn=cn=Administrator,dc=example,dc=com
external.ldapPassword=password

To encrypt the password property, set the following values in default_master.properties before installation or
upgrade:
external.ldapPassword=cleartextpassword
...

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JasperReports Server Security Guide

encrypt=true
propsToEncrypt=dbPassword, external.ldapPassword

During the installation process, the password value in default_master.properties and its reference in
js.externalAuth.properties are overwritten with the encrypted value.
If your external authentication is configured to create organizations for external users, and you're using
JasperReports Server 6.0, or later, there is another password to encrypt. When external authentication creates an
organization, it uses the information in ExternalTenantSetupUser of the externalTenantSetupProcessor
bean to create the organization administrator.
<bean class="com.jaspersoft.jasperserver.multipleTenancy.security.externalAuth.processors.
MTAbstractExternalProcessor.ExternalTenantSetupUser">
<property name="username" value="${new.tenant.user.name.1}"/>
<property name="fullName" value="${new.tenant.user.fullname.1}"/>
<property name="password" value="${new.tenant.user.password.1}"/>
<property name="emailAddress" value="${new.tenant.user.email.1}"/>
<property name="roleSet">
<set>
<value>ROLE_ADMINISTRATOR</value>
<value>ROLE_USER</value>
</set>
</property>
</bean>

The values referenced by the ${...} format are defined in the js.config.properties file as follows:
## New tenant creation: user config
new.tenant.user.name.1=jasperadmin
new.tenant.user.fullname.1=jasperadmin
...
new.tenant.user.password.1=jasperadmin
new.tenant.user.email.1=

The default values for new tenant (organization) administrators in js.config.properties apply only to
external authentication. They do not apply to organizations created by administrators through the UI or
REST interface.

To encrypt this password, modify the js.config.properties file as follows:

new.tenant.user.password.1=${tenant.user.password}

Then add the following lines to default_master.properties before installation or upgrade:

tenant.user.password=cleartextpassword
...
encrypt=true
propsToEncrypt=dbPassword, external.ldapPassword, tenant.user.password

During the installation process, the password value in default_master.properties and its reference in
js.config.properties are overwritten with the encrypted value.

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Chapter 3 Application Security

3.1.5

Encryption Options
In buildomatic installation scripts, the passwords are symmetrically encrypted: the same secret key is used for
both encryption and decryption. The key and its containing keystore file are randomly generated on each
machine during the first JasperReports Server installation. All subsequent JasperReports Server installations on
the same server rely on the same keystore; they don't regenerate the key.
The keystore is an encrypted file used to securely store secret keys. JasperReports Server uses keystore properties
to access the keystore. Both the keystore and keystore properties files are created by default in the user home
directory. Alternatively, before running js-install, you can specify different locations for the keystore and
keystore properties files via the environmental variables ks and ksp.
By default, database passwords are encrypted with the AES-128 algorithm in Cipher Block Chaining mode with
PKCS5 padding. The AES algorithm is the current industry encryption standard. You can choose to modify the
encryption strength by choosing either a different algorithm, a longer secret key size (for example AES-256), or
a different encryption mode.
Edit the following properties in your default_master.properties and set these options. If a property is commented
out, the default is used:

Property

Description

Default

build.key.algo

Algorithm used to encrypt the properties in configuration files.

AES

build.key.size

Size of the encryption key as in AES-128.

128 (bits)

To increase the key size, if it has not been done before, you might have
to install "Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files" from the Oracle
site for your Java version. To install the files, download US_export_
policy.jar and local_policy.jar. AFTER backing up the old files, extract
the jars into %JAVA_HOME%/jre/lib/security directory.
Alternatively, you may download one of the reputable providers such as
Bouncy Castle (ships with JasperReports Server). You would need to
add the Bouncy Castle provider to the list in
%JAVA_HOME%/jre/lib/security/java.security file:
security.provider.<seq number>=
org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider
enc.transformation

So-called encryption mode. See Java's javax.crypto documentation

to understand the modes and padding better.

AES/CBC
/PKCS5
Padding

enc.block.size

The size of the block that's encrypted. Encrypted text can contain many
blocks. Usually the block is changed together with the encryption
algorithm.

16 (bytes)

propsToEncrypt

A comma separated list of the properties to encrypt.

dbPassword

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3.2

Configuring CSRF Prevention

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is an exploit where the attacker impersonates a valid user session to gain
information or perform actions. In JasperReports Server, the security framework protects every page with a CSRF
token in the post header, for example:
JASPER_CSRF_TOKEN: BVSY-UBBJ-K8E9-L4NZ-5866-Z4P2-ZG75-KKBW-U53Z-I833-V0OJ-BRK5-OFG5ZL6X

In the default configuration of the server, CSRF prevention is active. We recommend leaving this setting
unchanged:
CSRF Prevention
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security-config.properties

3.3

Property

Value

Description

security.validation.csrf.on

true <default>
false

Turns CSRF prevention on or off. By default,

CSRF prevention is on. Any other value
besides case-insensitive false is equivalent to
true.

Configuring Input Validation

To block potential security threats like cross-site scripting and SQL injection, the security framework validates
all user input and values passed to reports. Input validation prevents input with dangerous side-effects like
malicious scripts and queries.
Administrators can monitor the server logs to search for evidence of attempted security breaches. However, input
that was allowed in previous versions of the server may be blocked, and users may see errors when entering
values. In particular:

Parameter names and values can't have tags (< and >). If your business data contains tags, you need to
update the security configuration to allow them.
SQL queries should start with SELECT and have no comments. Multiple queries separated by semi-colons
(;) are also prohibited. If your reports or Domains have such queries, you need to either change them or
update the security configuration to allow them.

If users see recurring errors, administrators can examine logs to determine what input is not allowed. Preferably,
users should modify their input to remove special characters that are security risks. If that's not feasible,
administrators can configure the security framework to modify security rules or turn off the security restrictions,
based on their perceived threat level.
Input validation rules were added to comply with security guidelines for web applications. Turning off
input validation or modifying the validation rules may make the server more vulnerable to web attacks.

Input validation is complex and configured in the following files:

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Chapter 3 Application Security

File

Contents

<js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/securityconfig.properties

Top-level configuration for enabling or disabling input

validation.

<js-webapp>/WEB-INF/bundles/security.properties

Text of validation error messages shown to users.

<js-webapp>/WEBINF/classes/esapi/security.properties

Defines the input validation rules for each field of the

servers web pages and report input.

<js-webapp>/WEBINF/classes/esapi/validation.properties

Defines the regular expressions used in security rules.

Input validation is based on UTF-8 encoded input. Make sure your application server is configured
for UTF-8 URIs as described in the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide

Input validation is enabled by default when installing JasperReports Server. To turn off one or more of the
protection features:
Input Validation
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security-config.properties
Property

Value

Description

security.validation.input.on

true <default>
false

Turns field input validation on or off for the

server web application. Any other value
besides case-insensitive false is equivalent to
true.

security.validation.sql.on

true <default>

Turns SQL query validation on or off in the

server. Any other value besides caseinsensitive false is equivalent to true.

false

3.3.1

Customizing Security Error Messages

When input validation blocks input that violates a security rule, the server displays a generic error. By default,
security messages are intentionally generic to avoid alerting potential attackers to security errors.
We highly recommend that external deployments customize the security error messages to be unique, yet still
generic. You can change both the message and the error number. Choose any combination of numbers or letters
so administrators can easily search the logs to detect security violations.

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Input Validation Messages

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/bundles/security.properties
Property

Value

message.validation.input

An error has occurred. Please contact your system

administrator. (5321)<default>

message.validation.sql

An error has occurred. Please contact your system

administrator. (6632) <default>

Set these properties to messages and error codes that match the rest of your application. The goal is to display a
message that attackers will not recognize as a security error, yet one that administrators can uniquely identify in
the logs.
If you translate your application into other languages, be sure to create a locale-specific copy of this file and
translate these messages as well.

3.3.2

Editing Input Validation Rules

Input validation rules determine what input is allowed when users send information to the server. This
information generally consists of parameter-value pairs, for example the fields of an input form. For each known
parameter-value pair, an input validation rule determines:

What characters are allowed in the parameter name.

What characters are allowed for the input value.
The maximum length allowed for the parameter name and the input value (one limit applies to both
separately).
Whether the value can be blank.

Allowed characters are determined by a regular expression called a validator. Validators are named regular
expressions that can be used in any number of input validation rules. Although one validator can be used in
several rules, each validation rule should be as specific as possible to the allowable input.
The predefined input validation rules in JasperReports Server are designed to allow all data and normal user
input, while blocking potential attacks on the server. If your data or your user input causes security errors (false
positives), you may choose to modify the input validation rules to allow your input.
1.

Locate the "SECURITY FAILURE" message in your logs. For more information about logs, see
"Configuring System Logs" in the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide. The log message contains the
name of the parameter and context where the parameter was used.

2.

Make a backup copy of the file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security.properties, then open it for

editing.

3.

Locate the parameter name and context. For example, this is the input validation rule for the entities
parameter on the Manage Roles page:
entities=Alpha,AlphaNumPunctuation,5000,true,entities-Manage_Roles_context

The input validation rule has the following format:

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Chapter 3 Application Security

<parameter>=<nameValidator>,[!]<valueValidator>,<charLimit>,<blankAllowed>,<parameter><context>_context
4.

5.

Modify the rule to allow your input:

a.

Usually, you need to change the value validator to one that allows your input characters. Select a value
validator from the file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/validation.properties that allows your input,
or create one as described in the next section.

b.

If your input is atypically long, increase the character limit.

c.

Do not change any other part of the rule.

Save your changes and redeploy the JasperReports Server webapp, or restart your application server.

Recommendations:

Try to keep the character limit as close to the expected value as possible.
Try to use a validator as close to the expected values as possible. If a parameter's value is expected to be
numbers only, use the Numeric validator.
Most validators are whitelists that specify allowed character patterns. A validator may be preceded by an
exclamation point (!) to indicate that everything but those values is permitted. When used with a validator
that matches characters or words, this syntax implements a blacklist. Some rules are easier to define as
whitelists, others as blacklists.
If a parameter can have radically different values or the same parameter is used in different situations, you
can apply more than one rule to that parameter. To do this, simply copy a parameter rule and add
incremental integers to the parameter name. For example:
standAlone=Alpha,Alpha,50,true,standAlone-Report_PopupMenu_context

Updated to:
standAlone=Alpha,AlphaNum,50,true,standAlone-Report_PopupMenu1of3_context
standAlone2=Alpha,JSONObject,50000,true,standAlone-Report_PopupMenu2of3_context
standAlone3=Alpha,JSONArray,500000,true,standAlone-Report_PopupMenu3of3_context
With multiple rules for the same parameter, each rule is applied in the order listed until one passes
(equivalent to a logical OR). If they all fail, the input is blocked and the user is notified with the
generic error message. The rules that fail still appear as security warnings in the logs. Use
numbering in the context names, as shown above, to easily identify these false-positive messages.
When using multiple rules, define the most used rule or the most permissive rule first to optimize
validation and reduce false-positive log messages.

3.3.3

Creating Validator Expressions

The validators are Java-based regular expressions that specify characters allowed (whitelist) or forbidden
(blacklist), depending on how they're used in a validation rule.
Do not modify the default validator expressions provided with the server. We have thoroughly tested
these expressions to provide reasonable input validation security while allowing for the general use of
the application. Also, a validator can be used in several input validation rules, so modifying them may
have unintended consequences. You should always create new validators with new names.

1.

Make a backup copy of the file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/validation.properties, then open it for

editing.

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2.

Locate the validator used in the input validation rule you want to modify, for example the Alpha validator
expression allows for any letters in any language:
Validator.Alpha=^[\\p{L}\\p{M}]*$

3.

Copy the entire rule on a new line and give it a new name with the following format:
Validator.<validatorName>=<regularExpression>
Remember to use double backslashes (\\) in properties files for single backslashes in the expression. You
should also use the \p{} syntax to match international letters and their accent marks, for example:
Validator.AlphaDotSpace=^[\\p{L}\\p{M}\\.\\s]*$

4.

Use the new value validator name in your input validation rule, as described in the previous procedure.

5.

Save your changes and redeploy the JasperReports Server webapp, or restart your application server.

3.3.4

Validating New Input Parameters

If you customize JasperReports Server to accept new input parameters, you must add the corresponding input
validation rules to maintain server security.
1.

Make a backup copy of the file *<js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security.properties*, then open it for

editing.

2.

Create a new input validation rule in the following format:

<parameter>=<nameValidator>,<valueValidator>,<charLimit>,<blankAllowed>,<parameter>-<context>_
context
The context is the string that will appear in the log when a security validation error occurs, so make sure it
contains the exact parameter name.

3.

Look at existing rules in the file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/classes/esapi/validation.properties to find

validators for the parameter name and value that allow your new input. If necessary, create new validator
expressions as described in the previous procedure.

4.

Save your changes and redeploy the JasperReports Server web app, or restart your application server.

3.3.5

Query Validation
Query validation is a special case of input validation, where the server ensures that all queries being issued by
the server meet a preset pattern for a safe query. When query validation is enabled, all queries in reports and
Domains use the following validator:
Validator.ValidSQL=^\\s*((?i)select)\\s+[^;]+$

As a result:

SQL comments are forbidden.

Ensure that you have only one executable query statement per query. Multiple queries separated by semicolons (;) will be rejected. The following example will cause a security error:
SELECT f1,f2 FROM tbl_1 WHERE f1=f2; SELCT f3 from tbl_2;

Queries for reports must retrieve data only, in other words, use only the SELECT statement. The following
statements are forbidden:
DROP, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE

If you want to use stored procedures, you must add the following validator to the file <js-webapp>/WEBINF/classes/esapi/validation.properties:
Validator.ValidSPROC=^\\s*\\(((?i)call)\\s+[^;]+\\)$

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And then modify the validation rule for the corresponding parameter or field where you want to allow
stored procedure calls. If you want to allow stored procedure calls in addition to select statements, specify
multiple validation rules as shown in sectionEditing Input Validation Rules on page20.

When SQL validation fails, the logs contain the message described in Customizing Security Error
Messages on page19, such as the following:
2011-11-21 13:54:28,007 ERROR ValidatorImpl,"http-bio-8090"-exec-12:48 - An error has
occurred. Please contact your system administrator. (6632)
org.owasp.esapi.errors.ValidationException: SQL_Query_Executor_context: Invalid
input. Please conform to regex ^\s*((?i)select)\s+[^;]+$ with a maximum length of
50000

3.3.6

Further Configuration
The configuration files contain some miscellaneous default settings for the security framework. In particular they
define default action for input that has no validation rules. Changing these defaults is possible but not
recommended:
Advanced Input Validation
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security-config.properties
Property

Default Value

Description

log.msg.security.off

SECURITY for [%s] is OFF

If security is turned OFF, this

message will be logged. This
message in the logs can alert
administrators if the security
configuration has been tampered
with.

msg.no.rule

No rule for parameter [%s]. Using

default validation on input=[%s].

If a request parameter is not

previously known, this message is
logged.

msg.cannot.load

Security configuration [%s]

cannot be loaded.

If there is an error in the security

configuration files, this message is
logged. This is a severe error and
should be resolved by the
administrator.

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security.properties

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Advanced Input Validation

3.4

Property

Default Value

Description

DEFAULT

Alpha,AlphaNumPunctuation
Brackets,200000,true,DEFAULT

If an input parameter has no

defined validation rule, this rule is
applied. The validator for values,
AlphaNumPunctuationBrackets is fairly permissive, and
can be changed to something
more restrictive. The DEFAULT
property name is a keyword and
should never be changed.

Restricting File Uploads

Several dialogs in JasperReports Server prompt the user to upload a file to the server. For performance and
security reasons, you may want to restrict file uploads by name and size.
The following setting is the global file upload limit for the entire server. Any single upload that exceeds this
limit will trigger an error and a stack trace message. It's intended to be an absolute maximum to prevent a worse
out-of-memory error that affects the entire server.
Global File Size Upload Limit
Configuration File
/WEB-INF/js.config.properties
Property

Value

Description

file.upload.max.size

-1
<default>

Maximum size in bytes allowed for any file upload. The

default value, -1, means there is no limit to the file size, and a
large enough file could cause an out-of-memory error in the
JVM. Some file uploads such as importing through the UI are
necessarily large and must be taken into account. Set this
value larger than your largest expected import and smaller
than your available memory.

The following settings apply to most file upload dialogs in the UI, such as uploading a JRXML or a JAR file to
create a JasperReport in the repository. These settings in the fileResourceValidator bean restrict the file size
and the filename pattern.

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File Upload Restrictions

Configuration File
/WEB-INF/flows/fileResourceBeans.xml
Property

Value

Description

maxFileSize

-1
<default>

Maximum size in bytes allowed for a file uploaded through

most UI dialogs. If an upload exceed this limit, the server
displays a helpful error message. The default value, -1,
means there is no limit to the file size, and an upload could
reach the global limit if set, or an out-of-memory error.
Usually, files required in resources are smaller, and a limit of
10 MB is reasonable.

fileNameRegexp

^.+$
<default>

A regular expression that matches allowed file names. The

default expression matches all filenames of one or more
characters. A more restrictive expression such as [a-zA-Z0-9]
{1,200}\.[a-zA-Z0-9]{1,10} would limit uploads to alphanumeric names with an extension.

fileName
ValidationMessageKey

<null/>
<default>

The name of a Java property key whose value is a custom

message to display when the uploaded filename does not
match fileNameRegexp. For example, you could add the
following line to WEB-INF/js.config.properties:
my.filename.validation=The name of the uploaded
filename must contain only alphanumeric
characters and have a valid extension.

The following setting restricts the extension of the uploaded file. The upload dialogs will browse only for files
with the given extensions. Add or remove extensions to change the file type restrictions:
File Upload Extensions
Configuration File
<jasperserver-pro-war>/scripts/resource.locate.js
Property

Value

ALLOWED_FILE_
RESOURCE_EXTENSIONS

By default, the following extensions are allowed:

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"css", "ttf", "jpg", "jpeg", "gif", "bmp", "png", "jar",

"jrxml", "properties", "jrtx", "xml", "agxml", "docx", "doc",
"ppt", "pptx", "xls", "xlsx", "ods", "odt", "odp", "pdf",
"rtf", "html"

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3.5

Hiding Stack Trace Messages

By default, JasperReports Server displays stack traces in certain error messages. Stack traces reveal some
information about the application, and security experts recommend that an application not display them.
The following setting turns off stack traces in error messages. However, more serious error messages still display
Java exceptions without the stack trace.
Hiding Stack Trace Messages
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/applicationContext-security-web.xml
Property

Bean

Description

showStacktrace
Message

webAppSecurity
Filter

Set this value to false to prevent stack traces from

appearing in error messages.

Restart your application server or redeploy the JasperReports Server web app for this change to take effect.

3.6

Defining a Cross-Domain Policy for Flash

JasperReports Server uses Flash for advanced Fusion-based charts such as gauges and maps. For security reasons,
a Flash animation playing in a web browser is not allowed to access data that resides outside the exact web
domain where the SWF originated.
As a result, even servers in subdomains cannot share data with a server in the parent domain unless they define
a cross-domain policy that explicitly allows it. The file crossdomain.xml, located at the root of the server
containing the data, determines which domains can access the data without prompting the user to grant access
in a security dialog. Therefore, the server containing the data determines which other servers may access the
data.
The following crossdomain.xml sample allows access from only the example domain or any of its subdomains.
This example says the server with this file trusts only example.com to use its data.
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE cross-domain-policy SYSTEM
"http://www.macromedia.com/xml/dtds/cross-domain-policy.dtd">
<cross-domain-policy>
<allow-access-from domain="example.com" />
<allow-access-from domain="*.example.com" />
</cross-domain-policy>

Behind a firewall servers and users often refer to other computers in the same domain without using the domain
name. Flash considers this a different domain and blocks access to data unless the computer name is given in the
policy:
<cross-domain-policy>
<allow-access-from domain="myserver.example.com" />

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<allow-access-from domain="myserver" />

</cross-domain-policy>

When using web services, use the allow-http-request-headers-from element so that actions encoded in
the request header are allowed. The following example allows standard requests and web service requests from
any subdomain of example.com.
<cross-domain-policy>
<site-control permitted-cross-domain-policies="master-only"/>
<allow-access-from domain="*.example.com"/>
<allow-http-request-headers-from domain="*.example.com" headers="*"
secure="true"/>
</cross-domain-policy>

For a description of all possible properties, see the cross-domain policy file specification.
To define a cross-domain policy for Flash-based reports, create a file such as the ones above on the server
containing the data being accessed. Be sure to place the crossdomain.xml file at the root of the filespace being
served. For example, if you use Apache Tomcat, place your files in the following locations:

3.7

File

Location

crossdomain.xml

<website-B-tomcat-dir>/webapps/ROOT/crossdomain.xml

XML data (*.xml)

<website-B-tomcat-dir>/webapps/ROOT/<any-dir>/*.xml

Flash component (*.swf)

<website-A-tomcat-dir>/webapps/<appname>/<any-dir>

Enabling SSL in Tomcat

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a widely-used protocol for secure network communications. It encrypts network
connections at the Transport Layer and is used in conjunction with HTTPS, the secure version of the HTTP
protocol. This section shows how to install SSL on Tomcat 7 and to configure JasperReports Server to use only
SSL in Tomcat.

3.7.1

Setting Up an SSL Certificate

To use SSL, you need a valid certificate in the Tomcat keystore. In the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), certificates
and private keys are saved in a keystore. This is the repository for your keys and certificates. By default, it's
implemented as a password-protected file (public keys and certificates are stored elsewhere).
If you already have a suitable certificate, you can import it into the keystore, using the import switch on the
JVM keytool utility. If you don't have a certificate, you can use the keytool utility to generate a self-signed
certificate (one signed by your own certificate authority). Self-signed certificates are acceptable in most cases,
although certificates issued by certificate authorities are even more secure. And they do not require your users to
respond to a security warning every time they login, as self-signed certificates do.
The following command is an example of how to import a certificate. In this case a self-signed certificate
imported into a PKCS12 keystore using OpenSSL:

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openssl pkcs12 \-export \-in mycert.crt \-inkey mykey.key \-out mycert.p12

\-name tomcat \-CAfile myCA.crt \-caname root \-chain

Next in this example, you create key.bin, the keystore file, in the Tomcat home folder. Use one of these
commands.
For Windows:
%JAVA_HOME%\bin\keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\key.bin

For Unix:
$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore $CATALINA_HOME/conf/key.bin

The basic install requires certain data. With the above commands, you're prompted for the data:

3.7.2

Enter two passwords twice. The default for both is changeit. If you use the default, be sure to set better,
stronger passwords later.
Specify information about your organization, including your first and last name, your organization unit, and
organization. The normal response for first and last name is the domain of your server, such as
jasperserver.mycompany.com. This identifies the organization the certificate is issued to. For organization
unit, enter your department or similar-sized unit; for organization, enter the company or corporation. These
identify the organization the certificate is issued by.
Keytool has numerous switches. For more information about it, see the Java documentation.

Enabling SSL in the Web Server

Once the certificate and key are saved in the Tomcat keystore, you need to configure your secure socket in the
$CATALINA_BASE/conf/server.xml file, where $CATALINA_BASE represents the base directory for the
Tomcat instance. For your convenience, sample <Connector> elements for two common SSL connectors
(blocking and non-blocking) are included in the default server.xml file thats installed with Tomcat. They're
similar to the code below, with the connector elements commented out, as shown.
<!-- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443
This connector uses the JSSE configuration, when using APR, the
connector should be using the OpenSSL style configuration
described in the APR documentation -->
<!-<Connector port="8443" protocol="HTTP/1.1" SSLEnabled="true"
maxThreads="150" scheme="https" secure="true"
clientAuth="false" sslProtocol="TLS" />
-->

To implement a connector, you need to remove the comment tags around its code. Then you can customize the
specified options as necessary. For detailed information about the common options, consult the Tomcat 7.0 SSL
Configuration HOW-TO. For detailed information about all possible options, consult the Server Configuration
Reference.
The default protocol is HTTP 1.1; the default port is 8443. The port is the TCP/IP port number on which
Tomcat listens for secure connections. You can change it to any port number (such as the default port for
HTTPS communications, which is 443). However, note that if you run Tomcat on port numbers lower than
1024, special setup outside the scope of this document is necessary on many operating systems.

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3.7.3

Configuring JasperReports Server to Use Only SSL

At this point, the JasperReports Server web application runs on either protocol (HTTP and HTTPS). You can
test the protocols in your web browser:
HTTP:

http://localhost:8080/jasperserver[-pro]/

HTTPS:

https://localhost:<SSLport>./jasperserver[-pro]/

The next step, then, is to configure the web application to enforce SSL as the only protocol allowed. Otherwise,
requests coming through HTTP are still serviced.
Edit the file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/web.xml. Near the end of the file, make the following changes inside the
first <security-constraint> tag:

Comment out the line <transport-guarantee>NONE</transport-guarantee>.

Uncomment the line <transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>.

Your final code should be like the following:

<security-constraint>
<web-resource-collection>
<web-resource-name>JasperServerWebApp</web-resource-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</web-resource-collection>
<user-data-constraint>
<!-- SSL not enforced -->
<!-- <transport-guarantee>NONE</transport-guarantee> -->
<!-- SSL enforced -->
<transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>
</user-data-constraint>
</security-constraint>

The term CONFIDENTIAL forces the server to accept only SSL connections through HTTPS. And because of the
URL pattern /*, all web services must also use HTTPS. If you need to turn off SSL mode, you can set the
transport guarantee back to NONE or delete the entire <security-constraint> tag.

3.8

Disabling Unused HTTP Verbs

It's a good idea to disable all unused HTTP verbs so they can't be used by intruders.
In the default JasperReports Server installation, the following HTTP verbs are not used, but they are allowed. To
make it easier to disable the verbs, they're listed in a single block of code in <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/web.xml.
As in the code immediately above, the URL pattern /* applies the security constraint to all access to the server,
including web service requests.
The list is commented out by default because it has not been exhaustively tested with all system
configurations and platforms.

After uncommenting the security constraint, your final code should be like the following:
<!-- This constraint disables the listed HTTP methods, which are not used by JS -->

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<security-constraint>
<web-resource-collection>
<web-resource-name>RestrictedMethods</web-resource-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
<http-method>HEAD</http-method>
<http-method>CONNECT</http-method>
<http-method>COPY</http-method>
<http-method>LOCK</http-method>
<http-method>MKCOL</http-method>
<http-method>OPTIONS</http-method>
<http-method>PATCH</http-method>
<http-method>PROPFIND</http-method>
<http-method>PROPPATCH</http-method>
<http-method>SEARCH</http-method>
<http-method>TRACE</http-method>
<http-method>UNLOCK</http-method>
</web-resource-collection>
</security-constraint>

3.9

Setting the Secure Flag on Cookies

JasperReports Server uses cookies in several ways:

userTimezone and userLocale to store user settings

Repository tree information (all cookies have the prefix tree*)

Other UI settings such as lastFolderUri and inputControlsPanelWidth

The JSESSIONID cookie is managed by the application server, so its security setting depends on your app
server configuration.
Jaspersoft doesn't set the secure flag on these cookies because we don't want to force you to use secure
connections. If you want all cookies to be secure, you must customize the source files that create the cookies.
This requires the source code distribution and recompiling and building the server app, as described in the
JasperReports Server Source Build Guide.
To customize JasperReports Server so cookies are sent only via secure connections:
1.

For the time zone and locale cookies, open the following file to edit:
jasperserver-war-jar\src\main\java\com\jaspersoft\jasperserver\war\UserPreferencesFilter.java

2.

Locate the following code in 2 locations, one for each cookie, and add the middle line to both:

cookie.setMaxAge(cookieAge);
cookie.setSecure(true); /* requires HTTPS */
httpOnlyResponseWrapper.addCookie(cookie);

For more information, see the JavaDoc for the setSecure method on the javax.servlet.http.Cookie
class.
3.

For the repository tree cookies, open the following file to edit:
jasperserver-war\src\main\webapp\scripts\tree.nanotree.js

4.

Locate the following line in the setCookie function:

var secure = (argc > 5) ? argv[5] : false;

Replace the entire line with:

var secure = true;

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5.

For the UI settings cookies, open the following file to edit:

jasperserver-war\src\main\webapp\scripts\utils.common.js

6.

Locate the following line:

JSCookie.addVar('cookieTemplate', new Template('#{name}=#{value}; expires={expires};
path=/;'));

Modify the line as follows:

JSCookie.addVar('cookieTemplate', new Template('#{name}=#{value}; expires={expires};
path=/; secure;'));

7.

Recompile, rebuild, and redeploy the JasperReports Server application.

This acts only on the cookies. Providing a secure connection is up to the client application, usually by
configuring and establishing an HTTPS connection, as described in 3.7, Enabling SSL in Tomcat, on
page27. If no secure connection is established, the cookies with the secure flag will not be sent and user
settings wont take effect.

3.10 Setting httpOnly for Cookies

The application server that hosts JasperReports Server handles the session cookie. To prevent malicious scripts
on a client from accessing the user connection, you should set the application server to use httpOnly cookies.
This tells the browser that only the server may access the cookie, not scripts running on the client. This setting
safeguards against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
The settings for Tomcat are shown below. Consult the documentation for your application server on how to set
httpOnly cookies.

3.10.1

Setting httpOnly for Tomcat 7

Tomcat 7 sets httpOnly on session ID cookies by default. However, on some versions of Tomcat 7, a session
error will occur while running reports, with the log error A request has been denied as a potential CSRF
attack. This is caused by a known conflict between security settings in Direct Web Remote library (DWR) 2.x
and some versions of Tomcat 7.0.x:

Tomcat 7 sets httpOnly on session ID cookies to safeguard against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
DWR 2.xuses session ID cookies to safeguard against cross-site request forgery (CSRF).

To work around this problem, you must modify these safeguards by doing one of the following:

Allowing requests from other domains in DWR

OR

Disabling httpOnly for cookies in Tomcat

For more information on the security impact and relative risks of these two choices, see the Cross-site Scripting
and Cross-site Request Forgery pages at the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
3.10.1.1 Allowing Requests from Other Domains in DWR
DWR is a server-side component used for input controls. By default, DWR uses session ID cookies to prevent
cross-site request forgery. You can disable the protection in DWR by setting the
crossDomainSessionSecurity parameter for the dwr servlet in the file <tomcat>\webapps\jasperserverpro\WEB-INF\web.xml:

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<servlet>
<servlet-name>dwr</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.directwebremoting.spring.DwrSpringServlet</servlet-class>
...
<init-param>
<param-name>crossDomainSessionSecurity</param-name>
<param-value>false</param-value>
</init-param>
</servlet>

3.10.1.2 Disabling httpOnly for Cookies in Tomcat 7

You can disable httpOnly in the file <tomcat>/conf/context.xml:
<Context useHttpOnly="false">
...
</Context>

3.10.2

Setting httpOnly for Tomcat 6

In Apache Tomcat 6.0.19 or higher, you can enable httpOnly in the file <tomcat>/conf/context.xml:
<Context useHttpOnly="true">
...
</Context>

3.11 Protection Domain Infrastructure in Tomcat

Legitimate code can be used to introduce harmful measures into the web application. For instance, calls for disk
access and calls to System.Exit can be hidden in classpaths. An effective measure against such intrusions is to
implement a protection domain. In Tomcat you have to enable the Tomcat Security Manager then edit its
parameters according to the requirements of your server environment.
The ProtectionDomain class encloses a group of classes whose instances have the same permissions, public
keys, and URI. A given class can belong to only one ProtectionDomain. For more information on
ProtectionDomain, see the Java documentation.

3.11.1

Enabling the JVM Security Manager

The Security Manager restricts permissions at the application server level. By default, no permissions are
disallowed at that level, so legitimate permissions must be specifically added. You must add permissions for
JasperReports Server. Doing so does not interfere with server operations because JasperReports Server security
restrictions occur on other levels.
Add the enabling code for the Security Manager in the file <apache-tomcat>/conf/catalina.policy.
ProtectionDomains can be enabled, as defined in <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml,
reportsProtectionDomainProvider bean.
To enable the Security Manager and give JasperReports Server full permissions there, add the following code
fragment at the end of catalina.policy:

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// These permissions apply to the JasperReports Server application

grant codeBase "file:${catalina.home}/webapps/jasperserver[-pro]/-" {
permission java.security.AllPermission;
};

After enabling the manager, you should add the security parameter to your Tomcat startup command. For
example:
<apache-tomcat> \bin\startup -security
If you didn't add the permissions properly, you will receive errors like the following:
Feb 9, 2010 12:34:05 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext listenerStart
SEVERE: Exception sending context initialized event to listener instance of class org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.lang.RuntimePermission
accessDeclaredMembers)
at java.security.AccessControlContext.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPermission(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkMemberAccess(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Class.checkMemberAccess(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods(Unknown Source)
...

3.11.2

Restoring Disallowed Permissions

The file <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml defines the permissions allowed for

java.security.Class. You might have to use the file to add permissions disallowed by enabling the Security
Manager. On the application level, only specified permissions are granted now, so any application-level
permissions you were using have been disallowed. You must write code that restores them.
To help you restore necessary permissions, the following commented sample code is provided in the
applicationContext.xml file. For instance, to add permission for read/write access to the /temp folder, you would
uncomment the code for the bean class java.io.FilePermission:
<bean id="reportsProtectionDomainProvider" class="com.jaspersoft.jasperserver.api.
engine.jasperreports.util.PermissionsListProtectionDomainProvider">
<property name="permissions">
<list>
<!-- no permissions by default -->
<!-- sample permission: read and write to temp folder -->
<!--<bean class="java.io.FilePermission">
<constructor-arg value="${java.io.tmpdir}${file.separator}*"/>
<constructor-arg value="read,write"/>
</bean>-->
<!-- all permissions can be granted if desired -->
<!--<bean class="java.security.AllPermission"/>-->
</list>
</property>
</bean>

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3.11.3

Additional Customizations for Previous Versions of Tomcat

For Tomcat versions 6.0.20 and earlier, you also need to add permissions for Groovy scripts in the
catalina.policy file and in the protection domain for reports.
In <apache-tomcat>/conf/catalina.policy, you need to grant Groovy scripts permission to read the JasperReports
Server classpath:
grant codeBase "file:/groovy/script" {
permission java.io.FilePermission "${catalina.home}${file.separator}webapps
${file.separator}jasperserver-pro${file.separator}WEB-INF${file.separator}
classes${file.separator}-", "read";
permission java.io.FilePermission "${catalina.home}${file.separator}webapps
${file.separator}jasperserver-pro${file.separator}WEB-INF${file.separator}lib
${file.separator}*", "read";
};

In <js-webapp>/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml, the same permissions need to be added to

reportsProtectionDomainProvider. This change grants access to reports that use the Groovy language, plus
reports that need to load additional classes from the JasperReports Server web application:
<bean id="reportsProtectionDomainProvider" class="com.jaspersoft.jasperserver.api.
engine.jasperreports.util.PermissionsListProtectionDomainProvider">
<property name="permissions">
<list>
<bean class="java.io.FilePermission">
<constructor-arg value="${catalina.home}${file.separator}webapps
${file.separator}jasperserver-pro${file.separator}
WEB-INF${file.separator}classes${file.separator}-"/>
<constructor-arg value="read"/>
</bean>
<bean class="java.io.FilePermission">
<constructor-arg value="${catalina.home}${file.separator}webapps
${file.separator}jasperserver-pro${file.separator}WEB-INF
${file.separator}lib${file.separator}*"/>
<constructor-arg value="read"/>
</bean>
</list>
</property>
</bean>

Also, for a Tomcat bug found in 6.0.16, and fixed in 6.0.18, the following configuration change is required for
JasperReports Server to start properly.
In <apache-tomcat>/conf/catalina.policy, find the section that starts with:
grant codeBase "file:${catalina.home}/bin/tomcat-juli.jar" {

Add the following line in that section:

permission java.io.FilePermission "${catalina.base}${file.separator}webapps
${file.separator}jasperserver-pro${file.separator}WEB-INF${file.separator}classes
${file.separator}logging.properties", "read";

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3.12 Encrypting Passwords in URLs

One advantage of JasperReports Server is the ability to share reports with other users. You can easily share the
URL to access a report, even with people who don't have a username. To embed the web app, its often
necessary to include a link to a page without logging in, for example:
http://example.com:8080/jasperserver/flow.html?_flowId=homeFlow&j_username=joeuser&j_
password=joeuser
However, you must take special precautions to avoid revealing a password in plain text. The server provides a
way to encrypt any password that appears in a URL:
1.

Configure login encryption as described in Encrypting User Session Login on page43. Specify static
key encryption by setting encryption.dynamic.key to false and configure the keystore as described.

2.

Once the server is restarted, log into the server to generate the static key.

3.

Open the following URL: http://example.com:8080/jasperserver/encrypt.html.

4.

Enter the password that you want to encrypt then click Encrypt. The script on this page will use the public
key to encrypt the password.

5.

Paste the encrypted password into the URL instead of the plain text password (log out of the server to test
this):
http://example.com:8080/jasperserver/flow.html?_flowId=homeFlow&j_username=joeuser&j_
password=<encrypted>

6.

Use the URL with the encrypted password to share a report.

For complex web applications generating report URLs on the fly, you can also encrypt the password with
JavaScript. Your JavaScript should perform the same operations as the encrypt.js script used by the encrypt.html
page at the URL indicated above. Using the encryptData() function in encrypt.js, your JavaScript can generate
the encrypted password and use it to create the URL.
Static key encryption is very insecure and recommended only for intranet server installation where the
network traffic is more protected. Anyone who sees the username and encrypted password can use them
to log into JasperReports Server. Therefore, we recommend creating user IDs with very specific
permissions to control access from URLs.
The only advantage of encrypting passwords in URLs is that passwords can't be deciphered and used to
attack other systems where users might have the same password.

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CHAPTER 4

USER SECURITY

JasperReports Server ensures that users access only the data they're allowed to see. The settings that define
organizations, users, roles, and repository resources work together to provide complete access control.
This chapter contains the following sections:

4.1

Configuring the User Session Timeout

Configuring User Password Options
Encrypting User Passwords
Encrypting User Session Login

Configuring the User Session Timeout

After a period of inactivity, JasperReports Server displays a pop-up notice that the user's session is about to
timeout. This gives the user a chance to continue without being logged out.
User Session Timeout
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/web.xml
Property

Value

Description

<session-config>
<session-timeout>

20 <default>

Set the number of minutes that a user session

can remain idle before automatic logout. A
setting of 0 (zero) will prevent session timeouts.

Note that the session timeout also applies to how long a session remains in memory after a web services call
finishes. If another web service call with the same credentials occurs within the timeout period, the server reuses
the same session. If the timeout is too short for this case, you may have performance issues caused by a high
load of web service calls.
If the timeout is too long, a session may stay active for a long time (even indefinitely with a timeout of 0). The
risk of allowing long sessions is that the in-memory session is not updated with any role changes until the user
logs out manually (ending the session) and logs in again (creating a new session).

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4.2

Configuring User Password Options

The user password options determine whether passwords can be remembered by the browser, whether users can
change their own passwords, and whether password changes are mandatory or optional.
By default, passwords are stored in an encrypted format in the servers private database. For information
about changing the way passwords are encrypted, see Encrypting User Passwords on page40

4.2.1

Configuring Password Memory

As a general security policy, sensitive passwords should not be stored in browsers. Many browsers have a
remember passwords feature that stores a user's passwords. Most browsers don't protect passwords with a
master password by default. JasperReports Server can send the property autocomplete="off" to indicate that
its users passwords should not be stored or filled in automatically. This helps to ensure that your users don't
store their passwords. Actual behavior depends on the browser settings and how the browser responds to the
autocomplete="off" property.
Login encryption described in Encrypting User Session Login on page43 is not compatible with password
memory in the browser. Independent of the autocomplete setting, the JavaScript that implements the login
encryption clears the password field before submitting the page. As a result, most browsers will not prompt to
remember the password when login encryption is enabled, even if the user has password memory enabled in the
browser.
When autoCompleteLoginForm is true, as in the default installation, you should ensure that all of your
users have a master password in their browser.

Password Memory in the Browser

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/jasperserver-servlet.xml

4.2.2

Property

Value

Description

autoCompleteLoginForm

true <default>
false

When false, the server sets autocomplete="off"

on the login page and browsers will not fill in or
prompt to save Jaspersoft passwords. When
true, the autocomplete property is not sent at
all, and browser behavior depends on user
settings.

Enabling Password Expiration

If your security policies require users to change their passwords at regular intervals, you can enable password
expiration. This way JasperReports Server prompts users to change their passwords at your set interval. Users
with expired passwords can't log in without changing their passwords. This option is disabled by default,
meaning passwords dont expire and users are never prompted.

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When you enable this option, the server automatically enables the Change Password link on the Login page,
even if allowUserPasswordChange is set to false.
If your users are externally authenticated, for example with LDAP, do not enable this option.

Password Administration Option

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/jasperserver-servlet.xml (controls the Login page)
.../WEB-INF/applicationContext-security-web.xml (controls web services)

4.2.3

Property

Value

Description

passwordExpirationInDays

0 <default>
<any other value>

Set the value to any positive, non-zero value to

specify the number of days after which a
password expires.

Allowing Users to Change their Passwords

This configuration enables the Change Password link on the Login page. By default, this option is turned off,
and an administrator must define user passwords initially or reset a forgotten password. Enabling the password
expiration option (described in the previous section) automatically enables users to change their passwords.
If your users are externally authenticated, for example with LDAP, do not enable this option.

Password Administration Option

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/jasperserver-servlet.xml

4.2.4

Property

Value

Description

allowUserPasswordChange

false <default>
true

Set the value to true to enable the Change

Password link. Any other value disables it.

Enforcing Password Patterns

If you allow or force users to change their passwords, you can enforce patterns for valid strong passwords, by
requiring a minimum length and a mix of uppercase, lowercase, and numbers. The default pattern accepts any
password of any length, including an empty password.
If your users are externally authenticated, for example with LDAP, do not enable this option.

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Password Administration Option

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml
Property

Bean

Description

allowedPasswordPattern

userAuthority
Service

A regular expression that matches valid

passwords. The default pattern ^.*$ matches
any password. Change the regular expression
to enforce patterns such as:

Minimum and maximum password length

Both uppercase and lowercase characters
At least one number or special character

Be sure that your pattern allows whitespace

and international characters if needed by your
users.

When you enforce a password pattern, you should set the following message to inform users why their password
was rejected. Be sure to set the message in all your locales.
Password Administration Option
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/bundles/jsexceptions_messages[_locale].properties

4.3

Property

Description

exception.remote.weak.password

Message displayed to users when password

pattern matching fails.

Encrypting User Passwords

User passwords are stored along with user profiles in JasperReports Server's own private database. By default,
password encryption is enabled and passwords are stored as cipher text in the database. With the following
procedure, system administrators can turn user password encryption on or off or change the encryption algorithm
and specify the salt key used to initiate the encryption algorithm.
To Configure User Password Encryption:
1. As a precaution, back up the server's private jasperserver database. To back up the default PostgreSQL
database, go to the <js-install> directory and run the following command:
pg_dump -U postgres jasperserver > js-backup.sql

To back up DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL databases, refer to your database product
documentation.
2.

40

Stop your application server. You should leave your database running.

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Chapter 4 User Security

3.

Export the entire contents of the repository, which includes user profiles and their passwords, with the
following commands. Note that there are two dashes (--) in front of the command options:
Windows: cd <js-install>\buildomatic
js-export.bat --everything --output-dir js-backup-catalog

Linux:

cd <js-install>/buildomatic
js-export.sh --everything --output-dir js-backup-catalog

In the export operation, passwords are decrypted using the existing user password ciphers and re-encrypted
with the import-export encryption key. This is a separate encryption that ensures that passwords are never in
plain text, even when exported. For more information, see Import and Export in the JasperReports Server
Administrator Guide.
4.

Edit the properties in the following table to configure different ciphers. Both the server and the importexport scripts access the user profiles and must be configured identically. Make the same changes in both
files:

Table 4-1 User Password Encryption Configuration

Configuration Files
<jasperserver-pro-war>/WEB-INF/applicationContext-security.xml
<js-install>/buildomatic/conf_source/iePro/applicationContext-security.xml
Property

Bean

Description

allowEncoding

passwordEncoder

With the default setting of true, user passwords are

encrypted when stored. When false, user passwords
are stored in clear text in JasperReports Server's
private database. We do not recommend changing this
setting.

keyInPlainText

passwordEncoder

When true, the secretKey value is given as a plain

text string. When false, the secretKey value is a
numeric representation that can be parsed by Java's
Integer.decode() method. By default, this setting is
false, and the secretKey is in hexadecimal notation
(0xAB).

secretKey

passwordEncoder

This value is the salt used by the encryption algorithm

to make encrypted values unique. This value can be a
text string or a numeric representation depending on
the value of keyInPlainText.

secretKeyAlgorithm

passwordEncoder

The name of the algorithm used to process the key, by

default DESede.

cipher
Transformation

passwordEncoder

The name of the cipher transformation used to encrypt

passwords, by default DESede/CBC/ PKCS5Padding.

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You should change the secretKey value so it's different from the default.

The secretKey, secretKeyAlgorithm, and cipherTransformation properties must be consistent. For

example, the secretKey must be 24 bytes long in hexadecimal notation or 24 characters in plain text for
the default cipher (DESede/CBC/PKCS5Padding). Different algorithms expect different key lengths. For
more information, see Java's javax.crypto documentation.
5.

6.

Next, drop your existing jasperserver database, where the passwords had the old encoding, and recreate
an empty jasperserver database. Follow the instructions for your database server:
Dropping and Recreating the Database in PostgreSQL
Dropping and Recreating the Database in MySQL
Dropping and Recreating the Database in Oracle
Dropping and Recreating in the Database in Microsoft SQL Server
Import your exported repository contents with the following commands. The import operation will restore
the contents of JasperReports Server's private database, including user profiles. As the user profiles are
imported, the passwords are encrypted using the new cipher settings.
Note that there are two dashes (--) in front of the command options:
Windows: cd <js-install>\buildomatic
js-import.bat --input-dir js-backup-catalog

Linux:

cd <js-install>/buildomatic
js-import.sh --input-dir js-backup-catalog

During the import operation, passwords are decrypted with the import-export encryption key and then reencrypted in the database with the new user password encryption settings. For more information, see
Setting the Import-Export Encryption Key in the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide.
7.

Use a database like the SQuirreL tool to check the contents of the JIUser table in the jasperserver
database and verify that the password column values are encrypted.

8.

Restart your application server. Your database should already be running.

9.

Log into JasperReports Server to verify that encryption is working properly during the log in process.

4.3.1

Dropping and Recreating the Database in PostgreSQL

1.

Change directory to <js-install>/buildomatic/install_resources/sql/postgresql.

2.

Start psql using an administrator account such as postgres:

psql -U postgres

3.

Drop the jasperserver database, create a new one, and load the jasperserver schema:
drop database jasperserver;
create database jasperserver encoding='utf8';
\c jasperserver
\i js-pro-create.ddl
\i quartz.ddl

4.3.2

42

Dropping and Recreating the Database in MySQL

1.

Change directory to <js-install>/buildomatic/install_resources/sql/mysql.

2.

Log into your MySQL client:

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Chapter 4 User Security

mysql -u root -p

3.

Drop the jasperserver database, create a new one, and load the jasperserver schema:
mysql>drop database jasperserver;
mysql>create database jasperserver character set utf8;
mysql>use jasperserver;
mysql>source js-pro-create.ddl;
mysql>source quartz.ddl;

4.3.3

Dropping and Recreating the Database in Oracle

1.

Change directory to <js-install>/buildomatic/install_resources/sql/oracle.

2.

Log into your SQLPlus client, for example:

sqlplus sys/sys as sysdba

3.

Drop the jasperserver database, create a new one, and load the jasperserver schema:
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>

4.3.4

drop user jasperserver cascade;

create user jasperserver identified by password;
connect jasperserver/password
@js-pro-create.ddl
@quartz.ddl

Dropping and Recreating in the Database in Microsoft SQL Server

1.

Change directory to <js-install>/buildomatic/install_resources/sql/sqlserver.

2.

Drop the jasperserver database, create a new one, and load the jasperserver schema using the
SQLCMD utility:
cd <js-install>\buildomatic\install_resources\sql\sqlserver
sqlcmd -S ServerName -Usa -Psa
1> DROP DATABASE [jasperserver]
2> GO
1> CREATE DATABASE [jasperserver]
2> GO
1> USE [jasperserver]
2> GO
1> :r js-pro-create.ddl
2> GO
1> :r quartz.ddl
2> GO

4.4

Encrypting User Session Login

By default, JasperReports Server does not enable the Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) to
encrypt all data between the browser and the server, also known as HTTPS. Enabling HTTPS requires a
certificate and a careful configuration of your servers. We recommend implementing HTTPS but recognize that
it is not always feasible. See Enabling SSL in Tomcat on page27

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Without HTTPS, all data sent by the user, including passwords, appear unencrypted in the network traffic.
Because passwords should never be visible, JasperReports Server provides an independent method for
encrypting the password values without using HTTPS. Passwords are encrypted in the following cases:

Passwords sent from the login page.

Passwords sent from the change password dialog. See Configuring User Password Options on page38.
Passwords sent from the user management pages by an administrator.

When a browser requests one of these pages, the server generates a private-public key pair and sends the public
key along with the page. A JavaScript in the requested page encrypts the password when the user posts it to the
server. Meanwhile, the server saves its private key and uses it to decrypt the password when it arrives. After
decrypting the password, the server continues with the usual authentication methods.
Login encryption is not compatible with password memory in the browser. Independent of the autocomplete
setting described in sectionConfiguring Password Memory on page38, the JavaScript that implements
login encryption clears the password field before submitting the page. As a result, most browsers will never
prompt to remember the encrypted password.
The disadvantage of login encryption is the added processing and the added complexity of web services login.
For backward compatibility, login encryption is disabled by default. To enable login encryption, set the
following properties. After making any changes, redeploy the JasperReports Server webapp or restart the
application server.
When login encryption is enabled, web services and URL parameters must also send encrypted
passwords. Your applications must first obtain the key from the server and then encrypt the password
before sending it. See the JasperReports Server Web Services Guide.

Login Encryption
Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security-config.properties

44

Property

Value

Description

encryption.on

truefalse
<default>

Turns login encryption on or off. Encryption is

off by default. Any other value besides caseinsensitive false is equivalent to true.

encryption.type

RSA <default>

Encryption algorithm; currently, only RSA is

supported.

encryption.key.length

integer power of 2
1024 <default>

The length of the generated encryption keys.

This affects the strength of encryption and the
length of the encrypted string.

encryption.dynamic.key

true <default>
false

When true, a key will be generated per every

single request. When false, the key will be
generated once per application installation.
See descriptions in Dynamic Key Encryption
and Static Key Encryption below.

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Chapter 4 User Security

Encryption has two modes, dynamic and static, as determined by the encryption.dynamic.key parameter.
These modes provide different levels of security and are further described in the following sections.

4.4.1

Dynamic Key Encryption

The advantage of encrypting the password at login is to prevent it from being seen, but also to prevent it from
being used. For password encryption to achieve this, the password must be encrypted differently every time it's
sent. With dynamic key encryption, the server uses a new public-private key pair with every login request.
Every time someone logs in, the server generates a new key pair and sends the new public key to the JavaScript
on the page that sends the password. This ensures that the encrypted password is different every time it's sent,
and a potential attacker won't be able to steal the encrypted password to log in or send a different request.
Because it's more secure, dynamic key encryption is the default setting when encryption is enabled. The
disadvantage is that it slows down each login, though users may not always notice. Another effect of dynamic
key encryption is that it doesn't allow remembering passwords in the browser. While this may seem
inconvenient, it's more secure to not store passwords in the browser. See Configuring Password Memory on
page38.

4.4.2

Static Key Encryption

JasperReports Server also supports static key encryption. In this case, a unique key pair is generated
automatically on the user's first login and remains the same for the entire server installation. Because the key is
always the same, the encrypted value of a users password is always the same. This means an attacker could
steal the encrypted password and use it to access the server.
Static key encryption is very insecure and is recommended only for intranet server installation where the
network traffic is more protected. The only advantage of static encryption over no encryption at all is that
passwords can't be deciphered and used to attack other systems where users might have the same password.
Before setting encryption.dynamic.key=false to use static encryption, you must also configure the secure
file called keystore where the key pair is kept. Be sure to customize the keystore parameters listed in the
following table to make your keystore file unique and secure.
For security reasons, always change the default keystore passwords immediately after installing the
server.

Keystore Configuration (when encryption.dynamic.key=false)

Configuration File
.../WEB-INF/classes/esapi/security-config.properties

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Keystore Configuration (when encryption.dynamic.key=false)

Property

Value

Description

keystore.location

keystore.jks
<default>

Path and filename of the keystore file. This

parameter is either an absolute path or a file in
the webapp classpath, for example
<tomcat>/webapps/jasperserver-pro/WEBINF/classes>. By default, the keystore.jks file is
shipped with the server and doesnt contains
any keys.

keystore.password

jasper123 <default>

Password for the whole keystore file. This

password is used to verify keystore's integrity.

keystore.key.alias

jasper <default>

Name by which the single key is retrieved from

keystore. If a new alias is specified and does
not correspond to an existing key, a new key
will be generated and inserted into the
keystore.

keystore.key.password

jasper321 <default>

Password for the key whose alias is specified

by keystore.key.alias.

When you change the key alias, the old key will not be deleted. You can use it again by resetting the key alias.
Also, once the key has been created with a password, you can't change the password through the keystore
configuration. To delete keys or change a keystore password, the server administrator must use the Java
keytool.exe utility in the bin directory of the JRE or JDK. If you change the keystore password or the key
password, the keystore configuration above must reflect the new values or login will fail for all users.

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CHAPTER 5

SECURING DATA IN A DOMAIN

You may need to restrict access to the data in a Domain accessed by multiple users. For example, you may
allow managers to analyze data across their department but allow individual contributors to see only their own
data. For this purpose, Domains support security files.
This section describes functionality that can be restricted by the software license for JasperReports
Server. If you dont see some of the options described in this section, your license may prohibit you from
using them. To find out what you're licensed to use, or to upgrade your license, contact Jaspersoft.

This chapter describes tasks only administrators can perform.

When Domain security is properly configured, a user sees only the data they're meant to see. You define
Domain security by writing data access filtering rules in XML and uploading them as a new security file in the
Domain Designer. These rules are powerful and flexible, and can be based on multiple aspects like user roles or
profile attributes.
The power of this solution is best presented as an example business case. This section describes a fictional
companys implementation of Domains in JasperReports Serverfrom both a business perspective and an
implementation perspective.
In JasperReports Server 6.0, we added support for hierarchical attributes. The examples in this chapter
still work, but they do not support the cascading functionality of hierarchical attributes. See Working with
Hierarchical Attributes on page59 for information on implementing domain security with hierarchical
attributes.

For details about the basics of Domains, refer to the JasperReports Server User Guide.
This chapter includes the following sections:

Business Case
Process Overview
Sales Domain
Roles, Users, and Attributes
Setting Up Logging and Testing
Creating a Domain Security File
Testing and Results

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5.1

Working with Hierarchical Attributes

Domain and Security Recommendations
Domain Reference Material

Business Case
CZS is an up-and-coming consumer electronics company with operations in the U.S. and Japan. CZS uses
JasperReports Server to track sales revenue and operating cost.
The CZS Sales organization employs the following personnel:

Rita is the regional sales manager in the Western U.S. She uses the Sales Domain to create reports that track
sales trends in her region.
Pete is a sales representative selling televisions in Northern California. He uses reports based on the same
Domain to track his quarterly progress.
Yasmin is a sales representative selling cell phones in Northern California. She uses reports based on the
same Domain to track her quarterly progress.
Alexi is the regional sales manager in Kansai, Japan. He uses reports based on the same Domain to track
sales trends in his region.

CZS stores its data in a MySQL database. The data is exposed by the Sales Domain, which displays information
about CZSs consumer electronics sales across the world. It's filtered depending on each employees cities of
operation and product. And only managers can access cost information.

5.2

Process Overview
The table below summarizes the steps CZS could take to create the Sales Domain and configure it to secure
their data using user profile attributes and roles.

48

Steps

Described in

1. Define a Domain. The CZS business case is met by a

Sales Domain that includes the following fields from their
JDBC data source: city, state, product department, sales
amount, cost amount, and unit sales.

5.3, Sales Domain, on page49

2. Identify and create access roles. CZS needs two roles:

one for managers, and another for sales representatives.
Both are granted access to the Sales Domain.

5.4.1, Roles, on page50

3. Create users and assign appropriate roles to each one.

5.4.2, Users, on page51

4. Identify and create profile attributes that determine each

users access to data in the Domain. CZS needs two
attributes: Cities and ProductDepartment.

5.4.3, User Attributes, on page51

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Chapter 5 Securing Data in a Domain

5.3

Steps

Described in

5. Prepare to test the security implementation by enabling

logging and creating an example report.

5.5, Setting Up Logging and Testing, on

page52

6. Iteratively create, upload, and test an XML file that defines

the access granted to users based on the attributes
defined in step4.

5.6, Creating a Domain Security File, on

page53

7. Test the Domain as various users.

5.7, Testing and Results, on page57

Sales Domain
The first step is to create a Domain that presents the relevant data. CZS is primarily interested in the volume and
revenue of their sales, as well as their operational cost. These metrics are represented in the Sales Domain as
fields: unit sales, store sales, and store cost. The Domain also includes fields to establish context for the sales
data, such as product department, city, and state. The following figures show the configuration of this Domain
in the designer.

Figure 5-1 Tables Tab in the Domain Designer

Figure 5-2 Joins Tab in the Domain Designer

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Figure 5-3 Display Tab in the Domain Designer

The XML representation of this Domain design is shown in 5.9.1, Domain Design in XML Format, on
page62.

5.4

Roles, Users, and Attributes

5.4.1

Roles
Domain security can reference a users roles to determine the access permissions to grant. The following roles
meet CZSs needs:

ROLE_SALES_MANAGER is assigned to sales managers.

ROLE_SALES_REP is assigned to sales representatives.

CZS grants each role access to view the Sales Domain. For details about creating roles and assigning privileges,
refer to the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide. The following shows CZSs ROLE_SALES_REP:

Figure 5-4 CZS Sales Representative Role

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5.4.2

Users
CZS created a user for each of their employees and assigned roles based on each employees level of
responsibility:
User

Role

Alexi

ROLE_SALES_MANAGER

Pete

ROLE_SALES_REP

Rita

ROLE_SALES_MANAGER

Yasmin

ROLE_SALES_REP

For details about creating users, refer to the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide.

5.4.3

User Attributes
A user attribute is a name-value pair defined at the user level that corresponds to some data in a Domain. CZS
wants to be able to describe their users in terms of product lines that they sell and the cities where they sell
them. So each user is assigned two attributes in addition to a role:
Table 5-1 UserAttributes of All CZS Users
User

Profile Attributes
Cities

Product/Department

Rita

San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento

Television, Wireless Devices

Pete

San Francisco

Television

Yasmin

San Francisco

Wireless Devices

Alexi

Osaka, Sakai

Wireless Devices

The security file shown in 5.9.2, Domain Security File, on page66 refers to two of these attributes:

The Cities profile attribute corresponds to the City field in the Geography item group in the Sales
Domain.
The ProductDepartment attribute corresponds to the Department field in the Product item group in the
Sales Domain.

Each users attributes determine the data returned to him by the Domain, based on an access grant definition
that refers to user attributes. For example, Ritas attribute value for Cities is San Francisco,Los
Angeles,Sacramento. So she sees data for all those cities.
For information on configuring user attributes in earlier versions of JasperReports Server, see the JasperReports
Library Ultimate Guide for your version.

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The following figure shows the configuration of Ritas user account. Notice Ritas attributes listed below her
roles:

Figure 5-5 CZS User Ritas Configuration

5.5

Setting Up Logging and Testing

Before creating a security file, CZS prepares for the implementation by:

Enabling Logging
Creating a Test Report

5.5.1

Enabling Logging
To assist in the iterative creation of their security file, CZS enables more verbose logging to help troubleshoot
problems with the Sales Domain and security file. Such logging features are disabled by default to minimize the
log size. They should be enabled in test environments when defining security.
To enable Domain security logging:
1. Locate and open the log4j.properties file and scroll to the bottom.
You'll find this file in the WEB-INF folder; if you use Tomcat as your application server, the default path to
this location is:
<js-install>\apache-tomcat\webapps\jasperserver-pro\WEB-INF.
2.

Add the following lines after the last line in the file:

log4j.logger.com.jaspersoft.commons.semantic.datasource.impl.

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SemanticLayerSecurityResolverImpl=debug
log4j.logger.com.jaspersoft.commons.semantic.dsimpl.JdbcTableDataSet=DEBUG, stdout, fileout
log4j.logger.com.jaspersoft.commons.util.JSControlledJdbcQueryExecuter=DEBUG, stdout, fileout

3.

Save the file.

4.

Restart JasperReports Server.

Information about Domains and their security will now be written to the log and to the console.
The additional information written to the log can be very verbose, and your log files will grow more quickly
with these properties enabled. You can manage your logs in the file system,in the WEB-INF/logs folder
under your JasperReports Server installation. For more information, refer to the log4j documentation,
which is available at:
http://logging.apache.org/log4j/docs/manual.html
Because these options are so verbose, we recommend using them only during debugging and disable
them in your production environment.

5.5.2

Creating a Test Report

CZS creates an Ad Hoc crosstab based on the Sales Domain to assist in testing the security file as they create
each access grant.The report displays store sales amount, store sales cost, and store units sold for all cities and
departments.

Figure 5-6 Administrators View When Creating CZS Ad Hoc Crosstab

Each users limited view of this report is shown in 5.7, Testing and Results, on page57.

5.6

Creating a Domain Security File

A Domains security file contains item and resource access grants that specify access based on certain aspects of
a user, such as roles. Typically, access grants check a users roles and grant access to the columns and rows
available to that role.
A Domains security file has two types of access definitions:

Row-level access determines which rows in the data source can be displayed to a specific user.
Column-level access determines which columns in the data source can be displayed to a specific user.

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This section illustrates both kinds of access grant.

Note the comments in the XML examples in this section; for example: <!-- Comment -->. Its good
practice to comment the access grants you define, and to format your XML neatly. We recommend using
an XML editor when creating security files. See 5.8, Domain and Security Recommendations, on
page60.

5.6.1

Row-level Security
This section gives an overview of row-level security and then shows how CZS uses row-level security to restrict
access based on Cities and ProductDepartment.

5.6.1.1 Understanding Row-level security

Row-level access determines which rows in the data source can be displayed to a specific user.
For example, consider a table that includes values for the cities where products are sold. You could define a
resource access grant that finds users for which a city has been defined as a profile attribute and, for each such
user, limits access to rows where the city value is the users specific city.
For example, take Rita and Alexi. Both have the same role and the same access to the Sales Numbers analysis
view, but CZS doesnt want them to see the same dataRita should see data about San Francisco, Sacramento,
and Los Angeles; and Alexi should see data about Osaka and Sakai. Without profile attributes, this would be
possible only if CZSs access roles were defined along geographic lines.
The following resource grant gives access to users whose Cities profile attribute is San Francisco. The
principle expression determines which users the resource access grant applies to (those whose Cities profile
attribute is San Francisco). The filter expression determines the rows to display (rows where the store_city
field is San Francisco):
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_2">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.getPrincipal().getAttributes().any
{it.getAttrName() in ['Cities'] && it.getAttrValue() in ['San Francisco'] }]]>
</principalExpression>
<filterExpression>store.store_city in ('San Francisco')</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>

Each access grant ID must be unique within the scope of the security file.
You can define several similar resource access grants for each resource defined in your Domain. By
default, the server assumes access grants are combined with a logical AND. You can force the
server to use a logical OR by setting the orMultipleExpressions property to TRUE.

5.6.1.2 The testProfileAttribute Function

The expression in the previous section is limited. You don't want to write a separate expression for each
instance of the Cities profile attribute for example, one expression for San Francisco and another
expression for Osaka. To avoid this, use the DomEl function testProfileAttribute.
The testProfileAttribute function takes two parameters:
testProfileAttribute(table_ID.field_name, 'profileAttribute')

where:

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table_ID.field_name is the table name and field name of the field whose value youre comparing to a

profile attribute.

profileAttribute is the name of the user profile attribute.

For example, CZS used the following XML to define a principal expression and filter expression that grant
access to users based on their Citiesprofile attribute:
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_20">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.principal.attributes.any
{it.attrName in ['Cities'] }]]></principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(store.store_city,'Cities')
</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>

The principle expression is simple; it checks the Cities attribute of the logged-in user. The filter expression
checks the users Cities profile attribute as well, but it compares this value with the values in the Domains
store_city field. The Domain then returns all the rows that match the users Cities profile attribute.
5.6.1.3 CZSs Resource Access Grants
CZS uses the access grant above to determine data access based on a users Cities profile attribute. Because
CZS defines all their profile attributes in the same manner, they can use a similar resource access grant to
determine data access for users based on their ProductDepartment profile attribute.
The resulting security file included these two resource access grants (see the complete file in 5.9.2, Domain
Security File, on page66):
<!-- Row level security -->
<!-- What access do roles/users have to the rows in the resource? -->
<resourceAccessGrantList id="JoinTree_1_List" label="ListLabel"
resourceId="JoinTree_1">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<!-- Row level for Cities -->
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_20">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.principal.attributes.any
{it.attrName in ['Cities'] }]]></principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(store.store_city,'Cities')
</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
<!-- Row level for Product Dept -->
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_30">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.getPrincipal().getAttributes().any
{it.getAttrName() in ['ProductDepartment'] }]]></principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(product_class.product_department,
'ProductDepartment')</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
</resourceAccessGrants>
</resourceAccessGrantList>

5.6.2

Column-level Security
Column-level access determines which columns in the data source can be displayed to specific users.

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5.6.2.1 Understanding Column-level Security

Consider a table that includes employee contact and salary information. You could define item group access
grants that check the users role and grant access to the salary field only if the user has the Human Resources
role. For example, the following code sample modifies access for the ROLE_SALESREP role, first by revoking
the default access for that role and then granting access to sales information only. The principle expression
determines which users the item group access grant applies to (users with the ROLE_SALES_REP role). The
item access grants determine the specific access of the users. All role-specific access is revoked then access to
the StoreSales and StoreCost item is granted:
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_item_group_access_grant_2" access="granted">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any
{ it.getRoleName() in ['ROLE_SALES_REP'] }</principalExpression>
<itemAccessGrantList id="Jointree_1_grant2_item_group_items"
defaultAccess="denied">
<itemAccessGrants>
<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant1" itemId="StoreSales"
access="granted" />
<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant2" itemId="UnitSales"
access="granted" />
</itemAccessGrants>
</itemAccessGrantList>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>
</itemGroupAccessGrants>

5.6.3

CZSs Item Group Access Grants for Sales Data

To ensure that sales representatives dont have access to cost information, CZS adds item group access grants;
the first grants full access to managers and the administrator:
<!-- Column-level access for Sales Manager and Admins-->
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="Jointree1_item_group_access_grant_MNG" access="granted">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any
{ it.getRoleName() in ['ROLE_ADMINISTRATOR','ROLE_SALES_MANAGER'] }
</principalExpression>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>

CZS then adds an item group access grant that grants limited access to sales representatives; the following XML
grants access to the Store Sales and Sales Units fields while revoking access to the Store Cost field:
<!-- Column-level access for Sales Reps-->
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_item_group_access_grant_REP"
access="granted">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any
{ it.getRoleName() in ['ROLE_SALES_REP'] }</principalExpression>
<itemAccessGrantList id="Jointree_1_grant2_item_group_items"
defaultAccess="denied">
<itemAccessGrants>
<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant1" itemId="StoreSales"
access="granted" />
<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant2" itemId="UnitSales"
access="granted" />
</itemAccessGrants>
</itemAccessGrantList>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>

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5.6.4

Uploading the Security File

CZS uploads the security file each time they add a new access grant. You can upload the security file when you
add or edit a Domain.

Figure 5-7 Uploaded Security File in the Domain Dialog

5.7

Testing and Results

Finally, CZS verifies Domain access as various users by clicking the Login as User button on the Manage
Users page.
To test the access granted to users on data in the Domain:
1. Log in as administrator (jasperadmin) if necessary.
2.
3.

Click Manage > Users.

In the list of user names, click the name of the user you want to test.

4.

In the User page, click Log in as User. The selected users Home page appears.

5.
6.

Click View > Reports.

In the list of reports, click the test report you created when defining your security file.

7.

Review the report to ensure that it shows only the data this user should see. Also verify that you have not
restricted data that the user should see. The figures below show CZSs results.

8.

Click Logout to return to the administrator view.

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When viewing the test report created from the Sales Domain:

Rita can see all data pertaining to California and the three Californian cities where CZS has offices (Los
Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco):

Figure 5-8 Ritas view of the CZS Test Report

Pete can see only Television data about San Francisco; he sees zeros for Store Cost because he is denied
access to that field:

Figure 5-9 Petes view of the CZS Test Report

Yasmin can see only Wireless Devices data about San Francisco; she sees zeros for Store Cost because she
is denied access to that field:

Figure 5-10 Yasmins view of the CZS Test Report

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Alexi can see all data pertaining to the two Japanese cities where CZS has stores (Osaka and Sakai):

Figure 5-11 Alexis view of the CZS Test Report

5.7.1

Working with Hierarchical Attributes

In JasperReports Server 6.0, we added support for hierarchical attributes, which extend attribute functionality.
Now a user can inherit attributes from their organization or the server in addition to any attributes assigned to
the user directly. When providing an attribute, you can either specify the category (user, organization, or server)
in which the server should look for its value, or allow the server to locate the value hierarchically. The CZS
example uses pre-6.0 syntax, which only evaluates attributes defined at the user level. This section describes
how to support hierarchical attributes in a security file.
All access grants take a principalExpression that gets the user's roles and evaluates them for the role
specified in the access grant. In JasperReports Server 6.0, we added a new service that supports hierarchical
attributes in principal expression:
attributesService.getAttribute('AttrName',Level[, condition]))
getAttribute() takes the following arguments:

AttrName String that specifies the attribute to check. Can be any available attribute, including predefined
attributes such as Role and customer-defined attributes such as Cities.

Level Category that specifies the level in the hierarchy to check for attributes. One of: null, 'SERVER',
'TENANT', or 'USER'. To use all available attributes from all levels, use null.

required (optional) Boolean that specifies whether or not the attribute is required. When set to true, an
error message is displayed in the UI if the attribute is not present. When set to false (default), no such
error is displayed; instead, the filterExpression fails silently and information which the user is not

authorized to view is not displayed.

For example, the following expression tests whether the user has the Manager role anywhere in the hierarchy:
<principalExpression>attributesService.getAttribute('Role',null)?.getAttrValue() in
['Manager']
</principalExpression>

The following expression tests for the Manager role at the server level, and displays an error message if the
attribute is not found:
<principalExpression>attributesService.getAttribute('Role','SERVER',
true)?.getAttrValue() in ['Manager']
</principalExpression>

The following example shows how to use getAttribute() in a Domain security file:

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<resourceAccessGrants>
<resourceAccessGrantList id="sales_join_resource_access_grant"
label="aLabel" resourceId="sales_join">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<resourceAccessGrant id="custom_grant_2">
<principalExpression>attributesService.getAttribute('Role', null)?.getAttrValue()
in ['Manager']</principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(region11.sales_city,'Cities')
</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
</resourceAccessGrants>
</resourceAccessGrantList>
</resourceAccessGrants>

To update an existing Domain security file to support hierarchical attributes, update principal expressions to use
attributesService. For example, suppose you have the following resource access grant, which does not
support hierarchical attributes:
<resourceAccessGrant id="custom_grant_2">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any{ it.getRoleName()
in ['Manager'] }</principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(region11.sales_city,'Cities')</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>

You can update the principal expression as shown below:

<resourceAccessGrant id="custom_grant_2">
<principalExpression>attributesService.getAttribute('Role', null)?.getAttrValue()
in ['Manager']</principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(region11.sales_city,'Cities')</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>

attributesService is implemented in Groovy. For more information about Groovy, see www.groovylang.org.

5.8

Domain and Security Recommendations

When defining a Domain and its security, keep these recommendations in mind:

60

A Domain should cover a large subject area and include data with multiple uses. Define joins to create data
islands that each contain related information; the data islands themselves can contain completely unrelated
data. For example, you could include both human resources and sales data in a single Domain; users would
see only the information relevant to their job responsibilities. For an example of this type of Domain, refer
to the SuperMart example that can be installed with JasperReports Server.
When defining a Domain, dont create too many item groups, and avoid very deep structures with many
levels. Such complexity makes the Domain harder to use.
Logging can help you troubleshoot any problems you encounter while implementing Domain security. For
more information, refer to 5.5.1, Enabling Logging, on page52.
Refer to http://groovy.codehaus.org for information on the Groovy expressions that Domain security files
support. Note that, while the server does validate Groovy expressions, the validation is very light weight
and doesnt detect all improperly formed expressions.

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If the names of tables and fields in your data source change, you can edit the Domain design XML file so
that the resource names match the new names in the database. Then, upload the new version of the file;
your reports that rely on the Domain will work properly without being updated individually. If you have
defined a security file for this Domain, you must also edit the resource names in the security file.
Start with the simplest item or resource grant, and when that works, expand upon it. Start simple and iterate
until you have the full set of access grants needed. Follow good troubleshooting practices, such as changing
only a single aspect of the security file before testing the results of the change.
Use an XML editor to create your security file. While the server validates the schema against its own XML
definition, a typical XML editor can identify issues like unclosed tags. For example, open the security file
with Internet Explorer; if it returns errors, use them to identify and correct your XML.
Once your Domain is created, create several Domain Topics that focus on specific aspects of the Domain or
specific data your end-users will want to review regularly. To do so, click Create > Ad Hoc Report, select
your Domain, and use the Data, Filters, and Display pages to customize the contents and the way it's
displayed, then use the Topics page to save the new Domain Topic.
When creating a security file, be sure to use the IDs of items and groups as they are defined in the Domain
design file exported from the Domain Designer. For more information.
If you modify the Domain, you should also export the design file and update the security file with any IDs
that have changed. Update the security file using the Change function on the Edit Domain page of the
Domain Designer.

A typical security file has the following structure:

</resourceAccessGrants>
</resourceAccessGrantList>
...
</resourceAccessGrants>
<securityDefinition xmlns="http://www.jaspersoft.com/2007/SL/XMLSchema"
version="1.0" itemGroupDefaultAccess="granted">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<!-- Begin row-level security -->
<resourceAccessGrantList id="expense_join_resource_access_grant" label="aLabel"
resourceId="expense_join">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<resourceAccessGrant id="expense_join_ROLE_SUPERMART_MANAGER_store_row_grant">
<principalExpression>
authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any{ it.getRoleName() in
['ROLE_SUPERMART_MANAGER'] }
</principalExpression>

<filterExpression>s.store_country in ('USA') and s.store_state in ('CA')

</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
...
<itemGroupAccessGrants>
<!-- Begin column-level security -->
<itemGroupAccessGrantList id="expense_join_item_group_access_grant_group"
label="aLabel" itemGroupId="expense_join" defaultAccess="denied">
<itemGroupAccessGrants>
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="expense_join_super_user_item_group_grant"
access="granted">
<principalExpression>
authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any{ it.getRoleName() in
['ROLE_ADMINISTRATOR'] }
</principalExpression>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>
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</itemGroupAccessGrants>
</itemGroupAccessGrantList>
...
</itemGroupAccessGrants>
</securityDefinition>

5.9
5.9.1

Domain Reference Material

Domain Design in XML Format
The CZS-sales-Domain.xml file defines a Domain that returns data from the sales_fact_2006 table stored in a
MySQL database. It includes the three fields that CZS is interested in displaying, as well as the data that
corresponds to the profile attributes described in the security file.
<schema xmlns="http://www.jaspersoft.com/2007/SL/XMLSchema" version="1.0">
<itemGroups>
<itemGroup description="Product family and department" descriptionId=""
id="Products" label="Products" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1">
<items>
<item description="Family" descriptionId="" id="Family" label="Family"
labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.product_class.product_family" />
<item description="Department" descriptionId="" id="Department"
label="Department" labelId=""
resourceId="JoinTree_1.product_class.product_department" />
</items>
</itemGroup>
<itemGroup description="Geography" descriptionId="" id="Geography"
label="Geography" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1">
<items>
<item description="City" descriptionId="" id="City" label="City" labelId=""

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resourceId="JoinTree_1.store.store_city" />
<item description="Country" descriptionId="" id="Country" label="Country"
labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.store.store_country" />
<item description="State" descriptionId="" id="State" label="State"
labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.store.store_state" />
</items>
</itemGroup>
<itemGroup description="Sales Data" descriptionId="" id="SalesData" label="Sales
Data" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1">
<items>
<item description="Store Cost" descriptionId="" id="StoreCost" label="Store
Cost" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.sales_fact_2006.store_cost" />
<item description="Store Sales" descriptionId="" id="StoreSales" label="Store
Sales" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.sales_fact_2006.store_sales" />
<item description="Unit Sales" descriptionId="" id="UnitSales" label="Unit
Sales" labelId="" resourceId="JoinTree_1.sales_fact_2006.unit_sales" />
</items>
</itemGroup>
</itemGroups>
<resources>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="product" tableName="product">
<fieldList>
<field id="brand_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="gross_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="net_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="product_class_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="recyclable_package" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
<field id="shelf_depth" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="shelf_height" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="shelf_width" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="SKU" type="java.lang.Long" />
<field id="SRP" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field id="units_per_case" type="java.lang.Short" />
</fieldList>
</jdbcTable>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="product_class" tableName="product_class">
<fieldList>
<field id="product_category" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_class_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_department" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_family" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_subcategory" type="java.lang.String" />
</fieldList>
</jdbcTable>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="product" tableName="product">
<fieldList>
<field id="brand_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="gross_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="net_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="product_class_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="recyclable_package" type="java.lang.Boolean" />

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<field id="shelf_depth" type="java.lang.Double" />

<field id="shelf_height" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="shelf_width" type="java.lang.Double" />
<field id="SKU" type="java.lang.Long" />
<field id="SRP" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field id="units_per_case" type="java.lang.Short" />
</fieldList>
</jdbcTable>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="sales_fact_2006"
tableName="sales_fact_2006">
<fieldList>
<field id="customer_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="promotion_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_cost" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field id="store_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_sales" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field id="time_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="unit_sales" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
</fieldList>
</jdbcTable>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="store" tableName="store">
<fieldList>
<field id="coffee_bar" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
<field id="first_opened_date" type="java.sql.Timestamp" />
<field id="last_remodel_date" type="java.sql.Timestamp" />
<field id="region_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_city" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_country" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_fax" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_manager" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_number" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_phone" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_postal_code" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_sqft" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store_state" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_street_address" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store_type" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="video_store" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
</fieldList>
</jdbcTable>
<jdbcTable datasourceId="czsdata" id="JoinTree_1" tableName="product">
<fieldList>
<field id="product_class.product_category" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_class.product_class_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="product_class.product_department" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_class.product_family" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="product_class.product_subcategory" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.customer_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.product_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.promotion_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.store_cost" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.promotion_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />

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<field id="sales_fact_2006.store_cost" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />

<field id="sales_fact_2006.store_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="sales_fact_2006.store_sales" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field
<field

id="sales_fact_2006.time_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />

id="sales_fact_2006.unit_sales" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />
id="product.brand_name" type="java.lang.String" />
id="product.gross_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
id="product.net_weight" type="java.lang.Double" />
id="product.product_class_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
id="product.product_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
id="product.product_name" type="java.lang.String" />
id="product.recyclable_package" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
id="product.shelf_depth" type="java.lang.Double" />
id="product.shelf_height" type="java.lang.Double" />
id="product.shelf_width" type="java.lang.Double" />
id="product.SKU" type="java.lang.Long" />

<field id="product.SRP" type="java.math.BigDecimal" />

<field id="product.units_per_case" type="java.lang.Short" />
<field id="store.coffee_bar" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
<field id="store.first_opened_date" type="java.sql.Timestamp" />
<field id="store.grocery_sqft" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.last_remodel_date" type="java.sql.Timestamp" />
<field id="store.meat_sqft" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.region_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.store_city" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_country" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_fax" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_id" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.store_manager" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_name" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_number" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.store_phone" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_postal_code" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_sqft" type="java.lang.Integer" />
<field id="store.store_state" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_street_address" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.store_type" type="java.lang.String" />
<field id="store.video_store" type="java.lang.Boolean" />
</fieldList>
<joinInfo alias="product" referenceId="product" />
<joinedDataSetList>
<joinedDataSetRef>
<joinString>join product_class product_class on (product.product_class_id
== product_class.product_class_id) />
</joinedDataSetRef>
<joinedDataSetRef>
<joinString>join sales_fact_2006 sales_fact_2006 on (product.product_id ==
sales_fact_2006.product_id) />
</joinedDataSetRef>
<joinedDataSetRef>
<joinString>join store store on (sales_fact_2006.store_id ==
store.store_id) />
</joinedDataSetRef>
</joinedDataSetList>
</jdbcTable>

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</resources>
</schema>

5.9.2

Domain Security File

The CZS-sales-security.xml file is based on the CZS-sales-domain.xml Domain design file, and defines access for
users with Cities and ProductDepartment profile attributes.
<securityDefinition xmlns="http://www.jaspersoft.com/2007/SL/XMLSchema" version="1.0" itemGroupDefaultAccess="granted">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<!-- Row level security -->
<!-- What access do roles/users have to the rows in the resource? -->
<resourceAccessGrantList id="JoinTree_1_List" label="ListLabel"
resourceId="JoinTree_1">
<resourceAccessGrants>
<!-- Row level for Cities -->
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_20">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.principal.attributes.any
{it.attrName in ['Cities'] }]]></principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(store.store_city,'Cities')
</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
<!-- Row level for Product Dept -->
<resourceAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_row_access_grant_30">
<principalExpression><![CDATA[authentication.getPrincipal().getAttributes().any
{it.getAttrName() in ['ProductDepartment'] }]]></principalExpression>
<filterExpression>testProfileAttribute(product_class.product_department,
'ProductDepartment')</filterExpression>
</resourceAccessGrant>
</resourceAccessGrants>
</resourceAccessGrantList>
</resourceAccessGrants>
<!-- Column level security -->
<!-- What access do roles/users have to the fields in an item group? -->
<itemGroupAccessGrants>
<itemGroupAccessGrantList id="restrict_Jointree_1_item_group_Sales" label="aLabel"
itemGroupId="SalesData" defaultAccess="denied">
<itemGroupAccessGrants>
<!-- Column level for managers and admin -->
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="Jointree1_item_group_access_grant_1" access="granted">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any
{ it.getRoleName() in ['ROLE_ADMINISTRATOR','ROLE_SALES_MANAGER'] }
</principalExpression>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>
<!-- Column level for sales reps -->
<itemGroupAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_item_group_access_grant_2"
access="granted">
<principalExpression>authentication.getPrincipal().getRoles().any
{ it.getRoleName() in ['ROLE_SALES_REP'] }</principalExpression>
<itemAccessGrantList id="Jointree_1_grant2_item_group_items"
defaultAccess="denied">
<itemAccessGrants>

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<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant1" itemId="StoreSales"

access="granted" />
<itemAccessGrant id="Jointree_1_grant2_items_grant2" itemId="UnitSales"
access="granted" />
</itemAccessGrants>
</itemAccessGrantList>
</itemGroupAccessGrant>
</itemGroupAccessGrants>
</itemGroupAccessGrantList>
</itemGroupAccessGrants>
</securityDefinition>

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GLOSSARY
Ad Hoc Editor
The interactive data explorer in JasperReports Server Professional and Enterprise editions. Starting from a
predefined collection of fields, the Ad Hoc Editor lets you drag and drop fields, dimensions, and measures to
explore data and create tables, charts, and crosstabs. These Ad Hoc views can be saved as reports.
Ad Hoc Report
In previous versions of JasperReports Server, a report created through the Ad Hoc Editor. Such reports could be
added to dashboards and be scheduled, but when edited in iReport, lost their grouping and sorting. In the
current version, the Ad Hoc Editor is used to explore views which in turn can be saved as reports. Such reports
can be edited in iReport and Jaspersoft Studio without loss, and can be scheduled and added to dashboards.
Ad Hoc View
A view of data that is based on a Domain, Topic, or OLAP client connection. An Ad Hoc view can be a table,
chart, or crosstab and is the entry point to analysis operations such as slice and dice, drill down, and drill
through. Compare OLAP View. You can save an Ad Hoc view as a report in order to edit it in the interactive
viewer, schedule it, or add it to a dashboard.
Aggregate Function
An aggregate function is one that is computed using a group of values; for example, Sum or Average. Aggregate
functions can be used to create calculated fields in Ad Hoc views. Calculated fields containing aggregate
functions cannot be used as fields or added to groups in an Ad Hoc view and should not be used as filters.
Aggregate functions allow you to set a level, which specifies the scope of the calculation; level values include
Current (not available for PercentOf), ColumnGroup, ColumnTotal, RowGroup, RowTotal, Total
Analysis View
See OLAP View.
Audit Archiving
To prevent audit logs from growing too large to be easily accessed, the installer configures JasperReports Server
to move current audit logs to an archive after a certain number of days, and to delete logs in the archive after a
certain age. The archive is another table in the JasperReports Servers repository database.
Audit Domains
A Domain that accesses audit data in the repository and lets administrators create Ad Hoc reports of server
activity. There is one Domain for current audit logs and one for archived logs.

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Audit Logging
When auditing is enabled, audit logging is the active recording of who used JasperReports Server to do what
when. The system installer can configure what activities to log, the amount of detail gathered, and when to
archive the data. Audit logs are stored in the same private database that JasperReports Server uses to store the
repository, but the data is only accessible through the audit Domains.
Auditing
A feature of JasperReports Server Enterprise edition that records all server activity and allows administrators to
view the data.
Calculated Field
In an Ad Hoc view or a Domain, a field whose value is calculated from a user-defined formula that may include
any number of fields, operators, and constants. For Domains, a calculated field becomes one of the items to
which the Domains security file and locale bundles can apply. There are more functions available for Ad Hoc
view calculations than for Domains.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management. The practice of managing every facet of a companys interactions with its
clientele. CRM applications help businesses track and support their customers.
CrossJoin
An MDX function that combines two or more dimensions into a single axis (column or row).
Cube
The basis of most OLAP applications, a cube is a data structure that contains three or more dimensions that
categorize the cubes quantitative data. When you navigate the data displayed in an OLAP view, you are
exploring a cube.
Custom Field
In the Ad Hoc Editor, a field that is created through menu items as a simple function of one or two available
fields, including other custom fields. When a custom field becomes too complex or needs to be used in many
reports, it is best to define it as a calculated field in a Domain.
Dashboard
A collection of reports, input controls, graphics, labels, and web content displayed in a single, integrated view.
Dashboards often present a high level view of your data, but input controls can parametrize the data to display.
For example, you can narrow down the data to a specific date range. Embedded web content, such as other webbased applications or maps, make dashboards more interactive and functional.
Data Island
A single join tree or a table without joins in a Domain. A Domain may contain several data islands, but when
creating an Ad Hoc view from a Domain, you can only select one of them to be available in the view.
Data Policy
In JasperReports Server, a setting that determines how the server processes and caches data used by Ad Hoc
reports. Select your data policies by clicking Manage > Ad Hoc Settings.
Data Source
Defines the connection properties that JasperReports Server needs to access data. The server transmits queries to
data sources and obtains datasets in return for use in filling reports and previewing Ad Hoc reports.
JasperReports Server supports JDBC, JNDI, and Bean data sources; custom data sources can be defined as well.

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Glossary

Dataset
A collection of data arranged in columns and rows. Datasets are equivalent to relational results sets and the
JRDataSource type in the JasperReports Library.
Datatype
In JasperReports Server, a datatype is used to characterize a value entered through an input control. A datatype
must be of type text, number, date, or date-time. It can include constraints on the value of the input, for example
maximum and minimum values. As such, a datatype in JasperReports Server is more structured than a datatype
in most programming languages.
Denormalize
A process for creating table joins that speeds up data retrieval at the cost of having duplicate row values
between some columns.
Derived Table
In a Domain, a derived table is defined by an additional query whose result becomes another set of items
available in the Domain. For example, with a JDBC data source, you can write an SQL query that includes
complex functions for selecting data. You can use the items in a derived table for other operations on the
Domain, such as joining tables, defining a calculated field, or filtering. The items in a derived table can also be
referenced in the Domains security file and locale bundles.
Dice
An OLAP operation to select columns.
Dimension
A categorization of the data in a cube. For example, a cube that stores data about sales figures might include
dimensions such as time, product, region, and customers industry.
Domain
A virtual view of a data source that presents the data in business terms, allows for localization, and provides
data-level security. A Domain is not a view of the database in relational terms, but it implements the same
functionality within JasperReports Server. The design of a Domain specifies tables in the database, join clauses,
calculated fields, display names, and default properties, all of which define items and sets of items for creating
Ad Hoc reports.
Domain Topic
A Topic that is created from a Domain by the Data Chooser. A Domain Topic is based on the data source and
items in a Domain, but it allows further filtering, user input, and selection of items. Unlike a JRXML-based
Topic, a Domain Topic can be edited in JasperReports Server by users with the appropriate permissions.
Drill
To click on an element of an OLAP view to change the data that is displayed:

Drill down. An OLAP operation that exposes more detailed information down the hierarchy levels by
delving deeper into the hierarchy and updating the contents of the navigation table.
Drill through. An OLAP operation that displays detailed transactional data for a given aggregate measure.
Click a fact to open a new table beneath the main navigation table; the new table displays the low-level
data that constitutes the data that was clicked.
Drill up. An OLAP operation for returning the parent hierarchy level to view to summary information.

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Eclipse
An open source Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Java and other programming languages, such as
C/C++.
ETL
Extract, Transform, Load. A process that retrieves data from transactional systems, and filters and aggregates the
data to create a multidimensional database. Generally, ETL prepares the database that your reports will access.
The Jaspersoft ETL product lets you define and schedule ETL processes.
Fact
The specific value or aggregate value of a measure for a particular member of a dimension. Facts are typically
numeric.
Field
A field is equivalent to a column in the relational database model. Fields originate in the structure of the data
source, but you may define calculated fields in a Domain or custom fields in the Ad Hoc Editor. Any type of
field, along with its display name and default formatting properties, is called an item and may be used in the Ad
Hoc Editor.
Frame
A dashboard element that displays reports or custom URLs. Frames can be mapped to input controls if their
content can accept parameters.
Group
In a report, a group is a set of data rows that have an identical value in a designated field.

In a table, the value appears in a header and footer around the rows of the group, while the other fields
appear as columns.
In a chart, the field chosen to define the group becomes the independent variable on the X axis, while the
other fields of each group are used to compute the dependent value on the Y axis.

Hierarchy Level
In an OLAP cube, a member of a dimension containing a group of members.
Input Control
A button, check box, drop-down list, text field, or calendar icon that allows users to enter a value when running
a report or viewing a dashboard that accepts input parameters. For JRXML reports, input controls and their
associated datatypes must be defined as repository objects and explicitly associated with the report. For
Domain-based reports that prompt for filter values, the input controls are defined internally. When either type of
report is used in a dashboard, its input controls are available to be added as special content.
iReport Designer
An open source tool for graphically designing reports that leverage all features of the JasperReports Library. The
Jaspersoft iReport Designer lets you drag and drop fields, charts, and sub-reports onto a canvas, and also define
parameters or expressions for each object to create pixel-perfect reports. You can generate the JRXML of the
report directly in iReport, or upload it to JasperReports Server. iReport is implemented in NetBeans.
Item
When designing a Domain or creating a Topic based on a Domain, an item is the representation of a database
field or a calculated field along with its display name and formatting properties defined in the Domain. Items
can be grouped in sets and are available for use in the creation of Ad Hoc reports.

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Glossary

JasperReport
A combination of a report template and data that produces a complex document for viewing, printing, or
archiving information. In the server, a JasperReport references other resources in the repository:

The report template (in the form of a JRXML file)

Information about the data source that supplies data for the report
Any additional resources, such as images, fonts, and resource bundles referenced by the report template.

The collection of all the resources that are referenced in a JasperReport is sometimes called a report unit. End
users usually see and interact with a JasperReport as a single resource in the repository, but report creators must
define all of the components in the report unit.
Level
Specifies the scope of an aggregate function in an Ad Hoc view. Level values include Current (not available for
PercentOf), ColumnGroup, ColumnTotal, RowGroup, RowTotal, Total.
JasperReports Library
An embeddable, open source, Java API for generating a report, filling it with current data, drawing charts and
tables, and exporting to any standard format (HTML, PDF, Excel, CSV, and others). JasperReports processes
reports defined in JRXML, an open XML format that allows the report to contain expressions and logic to
control report output based on run-time data.
JasperReports Server
A commercial open source, server-based application that calls the JasperReports Library to generate and share
reports securely. JasperReports Server authenticates users and lets them upload, run, view, schedule, and send
reports from a web browser. Commercial versions provide metadata layers, interactive report and dashboard
creation, and enterprise features such as organizations and auditing.
Jaspersoft ETL
A graphical tool for designing and implementing your data extraction, transforming, and loading (ETL) tasks. It
provides hundreds of data source connectors to extract data from many relational and non-relational systems.
Then, it schedules and performs data aggregation and integration into data marts or data warehouses that you
use for reporting.
Jaspersoft OLAP
A relational OLAP server integrated into JasperReports Server that performs data analysis with MDX queries.
The product includes query builders and visualization clients that help users explore and make sense of
multidimensional data. Jaspersoft OLAP also supports XML/A connections to remote servers.
Jaspersoft Studio
An open source tool for graphically designing reports that leverage all features of the JasperReports Library.
Jaspersoft Studio lets you drag and drop fields, charts, and sub-reports onto a canvas, and also define parameters
or expressions for each object to create pixel-perfect reports. You can generate the JRXML of the report directly
in Jaspersoft Studio, or upload it to JasperReports Server. Jaspersoft Studio is implemented in Eclipse.
JavaBean
A reusable Java component that can be dropped into an application container to provide standard functionality.
JDBC
Java Database Connectivity. A standard interface that Java applications use to access databases.

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JNDI
Java Naming and Directory Interface. A standard interface that Java applications use to access naming and
directory services.
Join Tree
In Domains, a collection of joined tables from the actual data source. A join is the relational operation that
associates the rows of one table with the rows of another table based on a common value in given field of each
table. Only the fields in a same join tree or calculated from the fields in a same join tree may appear together in
a report.
JPivot
An open source graphical user interface for OLAP operations. For more information, visit
http://jpivot.sourceforge.net/.
JRXML
An XML file format for saving and sharing reports created for the JasperReports Library and the applications
that use it, such as iReport Designer and JasperReports Server. JRXML is an open format that uses the XML
standard to define precisely all the structure and configuration of a report.
MDX
Multidimensional Expression Language. A language for querying multidimensional objects, such as OLAP (On
Line Analytical Processing) cubes, and returning cube data for analytical processing. An MDX query is the
query that determines the data displayed in an OLAP view.
Measure
Depending on the context:

In a report, a formula that calculates the values displayed in a tables columns, a crosstabs data values, or a
charts dependent variable (such as the slices in a pie).
In an OLAP view, a formula that calculates the facts that constitute the quantitative data in a cube.

Mondrian
A Java-based, open source multidimensional database application.
Mondrian Connection
An OLAP client connection that consists of an OLAP schema and a data source. OLAP client connections
populate OLAP views.
Mondrian Schema Editor
An open source Eclipse plug-in for creating Mondrian OLAP schemas.
Mondrian XML/A Source
A server-side XML/A source definition of a remote client-side XML/A connection used to populate an OLAP
view using the XML/A standard.
MySQL
An open source relational database management system. For information, visit http://www.mysql.com/.
Navigation Table
The main table in an OLAP view that displays measures and dimensions as columns and rows.

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Glossary

ODBO Connect
Jaspersoft ODBO Connect enables Microsoft Excel 2003 and 2007 Pivot Tables to work with Jaspersoft OLAP
and other OLAP servers that support the XML/A protocol. After setting up the Jaspersoft ODBO data source,
business analysts can use Excel Pivot Tables as a front-end for OLAP analysis.
OLAP
On Line Analytical Processing. Provides multidimensional views of data that help users analyze current and past
performance and model future scenarios.
OLAP Client Connection
A definition for retrieving data to populate an OLAP view. An OLAP client connection is either a direct Java
connection (Mondrian connection) or an XML-based API connection (XML/A connection).
OLAP Schema
A metadata definition of a multidimensional database. In Jaspersoft OLAP, schemas are stored in the repository
as XML file resources.
OLAP View
Also called an analysis view. A view of multidimensional data that is based on an OLAP client connection and
an MDX query. Unlike Ad Hoc views, you can directly edit an OLAP views MDX query to change the data
and the way they are displayed. An OLAP view is the entry point for advanced analysis users who want to
write their own queries. Compare Ad Hoc View.
Organization
A set of users that share folders and resources in the repository. An organization has its own user accounts, roles,
and root folder in the repository to securely isolate it from other organizations that may be hosted on the same
instance of JasperReports Server.
Organization Admin
Also called the organization administrator. A user in an organization with the privileges to manage the
organizations user accounts and roles, repository permissions, and repository content. An organization admin
can also create suborganizations and mange all of their accounts, roles, and repository objects. The default
organization admin in each organization is the jasperadmin account.
Outlier
A fact that seems incongruous when compared to other members facts. For example, a very low sales figure or a
very high number of helpdesk tickets. Such outliers may indicate a problem (or an important achievement) in
your business. The analysis features of Jaspersoft OLAP excel at revealing outliers.
Parameter
Named values that are passed to the engine at report-filling time to control the data returned or the appearance
and formatting of the report. A report parameter is defined by its name and type. In JasperReports Server,
parameters can be mapped to input controls that users can interact with.
Pivot
To rotate a crosstab such that its row groups become column groups and its column groups become rows. In the
Ad Hoc Editor, pivot a crosstab by clicking

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Pivot Table
A table with two physical dimensions (for example, X and Y axis) for organizing information containing more
than two logical dimensions (for example, PRODUCT, CUSTOMER, TIME, and LOCATION), such that each
physical dimension is capable of representing one or more logical dimensions, where the values described by
the dimensions are aggregated using a function such as SUM. Pivot tables are used in Jaspersoft OLAP.
Properties
Settings associated with an object. The settings determine certain features of the object, such as its color and
label. Properties are normally editable. In Java, properties can be set in files listing objects and their settings.
Report
In casual usage, report may refer to:

A JasperReport. See JasperReport.

The main JRXML in a JasperReport.
The file generated when a JasperReport is scheduled. Such files are also called content resources or output
files.
The file generated when a JasperReport is run and then exported.
In previous JasperReports Server versions, a report created in the Ad Hoc Editor. See Ad Hoc Report.

Report Run
An execution of a report, Ad Hoc view, or dashboard, or a view or dashboard designer session, it measures and
limits usage of Freemium instances of JasperReports Server. The executions apply to resources no matter how
they are run (either in the web interface or through the various APIs, such as REST web services). Users of our
Community Project and our full-use commercial licenses are not affected by the limit. For more information,
please contact [email protected].
Repository
The tree structure of folders that contain all saved reports, dashboards, OLAP views, and resources. Users access
the repository through the JasperReports Server web interface or through iReport. Applications can access the
repository through the web service API. Administrators use the import and export utilities to back up the
repository contents.
Resource
In JasperReports Server, anything residing in the repository, such as an image, file, font, data source, Topic,
Domain, report element, saved report, report output, dashboard, or OLAP view. Resources also include the
folders in the repository. Administrators set user and role-based access permissions on repository resources to
establish a security policy.
Role
A security feature of JasperReports Server. Administrators create named roles, assign them to user accounts, and
then set access permissions to repository objects based on those roles. Certain roles also determine what
functionality and menu options are displayed to users in the JasperReports Server interface.
Schema
A logical model that determines how data is stored. For example, the schema in a relational database is a
description of the relationships between tables, views, and indexes. In Jaspersoft OLAP, an OLAP schema is the
logical model of the data that appears in an OLAP view; they are uploaded to the repository as resources. For
Domains, schemas are represented in XML design files.

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Glossary

Schema Workbench
A graphical tool for easily designing OLAP schemas, data security schemas, and MDX queries. The resulting
cube and query definitions can then be used in Jaspersoft OLAP to perform simple but powerful analysis of
large quantities of multi-dimensional data stored in standard RDBMS systems.
Set
In Domains and Domain Topics, a named collection of items grouped together for ease of use in the Ad Hoc
Editor. A set can be based on the fields in a table or entirely defined by the Domain creator, but all items in a
set must originate in the same join tree. The order of items in a set is preserved.
Slice
An OLAP operation for filtering data rows.
SQL
Structured Query Language. A standard language used to access and manipulate data and schemas in a
relational database.
System Admin
Also called the system administrator. A user who has unlimited access to manage all organizations, users, roles,
repository permissions, and repository objects across the entire JasperReports Server instance. The system admin
can create root-level organizations and manage all server settings. The default system admin is the superuser
account.
Topic
A JRXML file created externally and uploaded to JasperReports Server as a basis for Ad Hoc reports. Topics are
created by business analysts to specify a data source and a list of fields with which business users can create
reports in the Ad Hoc Editor. Topics are stored in the Ad Hoc Components folder of the repository and
displayed when a user launches the Ad Hoc Editor.
Transactional Data
Data that describe measurable aspects of an event, such as a retail transaction, relevant to your business.
Transactional data are often stored in relational databases, with one row for each event and a table column or
field for each measure.
User
Depending on the context:

A person who interacts with JasperReports Server through the web interface. There are generally three
categories of users: administrators who install and configure JasperReports Server, database experts or
business analysts who create data sources and Domains, and business users who create and view reports and
dashboards.
A user account that has an ID and password to enforce authentication. Both people and API calls accessing
the server must provide the ID and password of a valid user account. Roles are assigned to user accounts to
determine access to objects in the repository.

View
Several meanings pertain to JasperReports Server:

An Ad Hoc view. See Ad Hoc View.

An OLAP view. See OLAP View.
A database view. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_%28database%29.

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Virtual Data Source

A virtual data source allows you to combine data residing in multiple JDBC and/or JNDI data sources into a
single data source that can query the combined data. Once you have created a virtual data source, you create
Domains that join tables across the data sources to define the relationships between the data sources.
WCF
Web Component Framework. A low-level GUI component of JPivot. For more information, see
http://jpivot.sourceforge.net/wcf/index.html.
Web Services
A SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) API that enables applications to access certain features of
JasperReports Server. The features include repository, scheduling and user administration tasks.
XML
eXtensible Markup language. A standard for defining, transferring, and interpreting data for use across any
number of XML-enabled applications.
XML/A
XML for Analysis. An XML standard that uses Simple Object Access protocol (SOAP) to access remote data
sources. For more information, see http://www.xmla.org/
XML/A Connection
A type of OLAP client connection that consists of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) definitions used to
access data on a remote server. OLAP client connections populate OLAP views.

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INDEX

CZS 48

access control
authentication 7
authorization 8
data 47
data example 48
Domains 47
profile attributes 48, 52
roles 50
access grants 47
Ad Hoc Editor
testing Domain security 53
administering
Domain security 47
administering JasperReports Server
passwords 38
security settings 11
users 7
attributes 9
authentication. See access control. 7
authorization. See access control. 8

B
business case, CZS 48

C
column-level security 53, 55-57
configuring
Domains 49
cookies 30

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data
access control 47
access control example 48
default_master.properties 15
Domains
access control 47
best practices 60
column-level security 53
complex 60
example 49-50
example design file 62
example security file 66
performance 60
principal expressions 59
row-level security 53
security 50-51
tables tab 49
testing security 53, 57-58
Topics based on 61

E
examples
CZS business case 48
Domain design 50, 62
Domain security file 66
Domain tables 49
fields 49
joins 49

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report 58
roles 50
users 51
external.ldap.password 15
external.ldap.username 15

Domain security 51, 55

in user account 52
See user attributes. 9
propertyConfigurer 14
protection domains 32

filters
filter expressions 55

report.scheduler.mail.sender.password 14
reports
example 58
reportSchedulerMailSender 14
roles
Domain security 50
example 50

G
Groovy 55, 60

H
HTTPS only, configuring 29

row-level security 53-55, 57

item groups 60

Secure Sockets Layer. See SSL. 27

security 11
configuring HTTPS only 29
cookies 30-31
Domains 47
httpOnly 31
keystore 27
protection domains 32
SSL 27
security files
principal expressions 59
Security Manager 32
session timeout 37

J
JasperAnalysis. See Jaspersoft OLAP. 5
JasperServer. See administering JasperReports Server. 5
joins 49, 60
js.config.properties 16
js.externalAuth.properties 15

K
keystore 27

L
log4j 52
logging 52

N
new.tenant.user.password.1 16

O
OLAP views 9

P
passwords
expiration 38
users changing 39
PKC12 keystore 27
principal expressions 55, 59
profile attributes
CZS example 48, 55

80

SSL 27, 29

T
testing Domain security 57-58
TLS. See SSL. 27
Topics
Domains and 61
troubleshooting 52

U
users
administering 7
authenticating 7-8
changing passwords 39
example 51
profile attributes 51

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Index

session timeout 37
using the Ad Hoc Editor
testing Domain security 53

V
views 9

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