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Configuring user authentication using Knox proxy

In the Cloudera Private Cloud Base 7.1.x release, Knox Proxy is configured via the Knox Admin UI. To set up proxy, you first define the provider configurations and descriptors, and the topologies are automatically generated based on those settings.

  1. SSH in to the machine on which you have installed the Knox gateway.
  2. Change directory to the following:
    /usr/hdp/current/knox-server/data/services/das/1.4.5/
  3. Create the following two configuration files with the given content:

    rewrite.xml

    <!--
   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   limitations under the License.
-->
<rules>
  <rule dir="IN" name="DAS/das/inbound/root" pattern="*://*:*/**/das/">
    <rewrite template="{$serviceUrl[DAS]}/"/>
  </rule>
  <rule dir="IN" name="DAS/das/inbound/path" pattern="*://*:*/**/das/{**}">
    <rewrite template="{$serviceUrl[DAS]}/{**}"/>
  </rule>
  <rule dir="IN" name="DAS/das/inbound/pathqp" pattern="*://*:*/**/das/{**}?{**}">
    <rewrite template="{$serviceUrl[DAS]}/{**}?{**}"/>
  </rule>
  <rule dir="OUT" name="DAS/das/outbound/assets" pattern="assets/{**}">
    <rewrite template="{$frontend[path]}/das/assets/{**}"/>
  </rule>
  <rule dir="OUT" name="DAS/das/outbound/rooturl">
    <rewrite template="{$frontend[path]}/das/"/>
  </rule>
  <filter name="DAS/das/outbound/dasrooturl">
    <content type="application/javascript">
      <apply path="/dasroot/.." rule="DAS/das/outbound/rooturl"/>
    </content>
  </filter>
</rules>

    service.xml

    <!--
   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   limitations under the License.
-->
<service role="DAS" name="das" version="1.4.5">
  <routes>
    <route path="/das" />
    <route path="/das/**" />
    <route path="/das/**/hivestudio*.js">
      <rewrite apply="DAS/das/outbound/dasrooturl" to="response.body"/>
    </route>
  </routes>
</service>
    If you have more than one Knox servers in a high availability configuration, then you need to create these files on every machine.
  4. Restart the Knox server.
  5. Sign in to the Knox Admin UI. From Ambari, go to Knox > Quick Links and click Knox Admin UI.
  6. Create or use an existing Provider Configuration with the following configuration:
    1. (Required) Authentication provider: It provides authentication mechanism for Knox. For example, ShiroProvider. ShiroProvider integrates with LDAP.
    2. (Required) Identity Assertion provider: It authenticates the user name requesting access to DAS through SPNEGO.
    3. (Optional) Add any other provider as per your organization’s requirements, such as Acls or WebAppSec.
  7. Create a new descriptor for the DAS service with the Provider Configuration that you created earlier. If a descriptor is already present with the required Provider Configuration, then you can edit it.
    1. Add a new service named DAS.
    2. Under Descriptor Detail > Services > DAS, add the DAS Webapp URL in the URLs field and save the changes.
  8. If not done already, specify KNOX_PROXY in the user_authentication field under Ambari > Data Analytics Studio > Config.
  9. Next, go to Ambari > Data Analytics Studio > CONFIGS > Advanced data_analytics_studio-security-site and configure the following fields:
    1. das_knox_user: It specifies the Knox service user, and is picked up automatically.
    2. das_knox_doas_param_name: Specify the parameter name that you specified under the Params field in the Knox Admin UI. However, if you have selected the default Identity Assertion provider, then the das_knox_doas_param_name name is doAs, and is configured automatically.
    3. knox_ssout_url: Specify the KnoxSSOUT URL in the following format:
      https://{host}:{port}/{cluster-name}/{knox-sso-out-topo}/api/v1/webssout
      This step requires you to have a KnoxSSO out topology present in your Knox server. To create the Knox SSO out topology, see Enabling logout option for secure clusters.
    4. Add the list of users in the admin_users field who need admin access to DAS.
      You can specify * (asterisk) in the admin_users field to make all users the admin users.
      You can also specify an admin group in the admin_groups field.
  10. Restart the DAS service.