Security considerations for TrueSight Capacity Optimization

Data transfer

TrueSight Capacity Optimization can securely transfer data between internal components and from TrueSight Capacity Optimization components to external components.

The ETL Engine Server and the Data Hub on the Application Server, which communicate with each other over REST APIs, by default use basic authentication to identify themselves. This traffic can optionally be encrypted by configuring them to use HTTPS as mentioned in the preceding table.

For information about the secure protocols TrueSight Capacity Optimization uses for data transfer, see Communication ports and protocols.

User authentication and authorization

• Users assigned an administrator role can configure user authentication and role-based access control from the TrueSight Capacity Optimization console.
  See Adding and managing roles for detailed information.
• TrueSight Capacity Optimization supports integration with Atrium Single Sign-On (SSO), which enables users to present credentials once for seamless access to all BMC products integrated into the system.
  See Integrating with TrueSight Operations Management for detailed information.
• TrueSight Capacity Optimization supports integration with LDAP services, such as Microsoft Active Directory, for centralized user authentication management.
  See Configuring user authentication for detailed information.
• User authorization is defined by access control policies that allow granular control over functions and data access for TrueSight Capacity Optimization users.
  See Managing users and access control for detailed information.

User credentials

The following types of credentials are stored in an encrypted form:

• TrueSight Capacity Optimization user credentials
• All credentials used by connectors (for example, to access data sources such as databases), which are saved in the TrueSight Capacity Optimization database configuration tables
• SMTP email credentials

For credentials used by connectors, these are extracted by the ETL Engine server from the database in encrypted form. If the ETL Engine is configured as a "remote" ETL Engine, then these credentials are extracted by the Data Hub and transferred to the ETL Engine in encrypted form. Thus, in either case, these keys are never transferred in plaintext.

The encryption and decryption keys are pre-configured in all TrueSight Capacity Optimization ETL Engine servers. These keys are not visible to the administrator.

User credentials for ETL modules

The ETL Engine uses a new version of the Java runtime, JRE 1.8, and can connect securely to external data sources, such as VMware vCenter module. This version of JRE requires high security connections and disables RSA keys less than 1024 bits. However, if you have data sources (for example, vCenter) that still have an SSL key and do not respect this security constraint, old SSL keys may have been created with a key of less than 1024 bits.

In this case, the TrueSight Capacity Optimization connector running in the ETL Engine will not be able to create a secure connection and will fail. The correct way to fix this error is to change the SSL key of the data source and restart the scheduler for the ETL task. You will need to refer to the documentation of the data source in your setup for details.

As a workaround (not recommended) the TrueSight Capacity Optimization administrator can follow the steps given below to lower the security policy of the ETL Engine’s JRE.

1. Navigate to the file jre/lib/security/java.security.
2. Replace jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms=MD2, RSA keySize < 1024 with jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms=MD2.
3. Save the file.

Example for vCenter Extractor Service - An error code (BCO_ETL_FAIL113) is displayed when the ETL is unable to connect to the vCenter because the server certificate does not conform to expected JVM security constraints. Change the vCenter SSL key to use a self-signed certificate and restart the scheduler for the ETL task. For more information, refer to the  VMware documentation .

If it is not possible for the TrueSight Capacity administrator to change the SSL certificate of the vCenter, use the general workaround described above.

Audit log

Important actions are audited in an audit log for the administrator to view. For example, user logins, executions of background tasks, and so on. For more information about the auditing feature, see Auditing.

Web access security

TrueSight Capacity Optimization is designed to be used in an enterprise network, not on the public Internet. Web access vulnerabilities are mitigated by the following steps:

• Cookies: Only session cookies are used; no persistent cookies are left on browser machines.
• Hidden fields: These are used for user data submission, but not for storing data.

Where to go from here

Communication ports and protocols