User guide

Chapter 5
Using SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was developed to provide security for Web traffic. Including
confidentiality, message integrity, and authentication. SSL achieves this through the use of
cryptography, digital signatures, and certificates.
Oracle JDBC for Rdb servers and thin clients may use SSL for communication over
TCP/IP. SSL allows an SSL-enabled server to authenticate itself to an SSL-enabled client,
allows the client to authenticate itself to the server, and allows both machines to establish
an encrypted connection.
Before trying to use SSL with the thin driver, you should familiarize yourself with general
Java security and SSL concepts. Please refer to your Java documentation for general
information on SSL and Java Security.
The following sections provide SSL information specific to using SSL with the thin driver
and assume a basic understanding of Java Security and SSL.
5.1 SSL Configuration
Information about SSL connection characteristics must be provided to both the client and
server, and in order for a communication channel to be established, both the server and
client must agree on the SSL security characteristics.
In addition, it is important that both the client and the server have the same security
certificate for authorization. The following sections detail how to provide SSL
characteristics in a client connection request and to an SSL-enabled Oracle JDBC for Rdb
server
5.1.1 Client SSL Configuration
The client application must specify its SSL characteristics during its connection request to
the thin driver. The simplest way of doing this is by providing extra SSL information in the
properties block that is passed to the DriverManager.getConnection() method.
The SSL information provides information such as where to find the appropriate certificate
for SSL connections and what context and protocols should be used to carry out the SSL
handshake during connection set-up.
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