Password Management for Oracle WebLogic customers
- by Anthony Shorten
One of the most common requests for enhancements I get across my desk is that customers wish to allow end users to change their passwords from our products. Now, typically password management is not in the realm of individual applications but it is an infrastructure requirement, so we don't usually add this to our roadmaps by default. The issue is that with the vast range of security stores that can be used with our product line across the Web Application Servers we support, it is almost impossible to come up with a generic enough API to work across them. If you have a specific security store on a specific Web Application Server platform then there are simpler solutions. There are a number of ways of implementing this without providing functionality specific functionality: Oracle sells Identity Management software that offers common API's to manage passwords. You can purchase those products and link to the password change dialog in those products using Navigation Keys. If you are a customer using Oracle WebLogic, then there is a sample JSP's that can be linked to provide this functionality under Oracle TechNet (registration required) under Code Samples (project S20). These can be added as a Navigation Key to complete the functionality. This will allow end users to manage their own passwords. Obviously these are all samples and should be treated as customizations when you implement them. If you wish to understand Navigation Keys, then look at the Oracle Utilities Application Framework Integration Guidelines (Doc Id: 789060.1) available from My Oracle Support.
