Writing Java Extensions in ITIM

Writing Java Extensions in ITIM

By Siva Praturi

The Identity Manager provisioning platform is designed with extensibility as a primary goal. Below are few typical scenarios in which we generally extend ITIM capability to meet business requirements.

-          Generate UniqueIds during provisioning accounts

-          Adding custom debug messages to ITIM log

-          Custom approval process that is determined by looking up an approver in a database

You can extend ITIM workflows in two ways: create a workflow extension in Java that can be called as a regular operation, or extending the JavaScript Engine with Java

To Extend JSEngine, One method to write an extension in java that is called from Tivoli Identity Manager (TIM), is to add a new custom class into the application and then call it from Javascript.

There is an alternative method, which uses classes that implement the com.ibm.itim.script.ScriptExtension interface. This method allows extensions to be limited to specific TIM components and access context information such as variables. This method is more complicated.

Developing Java Extensions in ITIM

Below figure shows typical deployment of custom Java Extensions in ITIM.

 Steps involved in writing Java Extensions in ITIM are

1. Develop & build custom java code as per business requirement.
2. Deploying the new extension.

-          Updating the Application Server's Classpath

-          Registering the JavaScript Extensions

3. Test Java Extensions by calling them from ITIM workflows.      

Updating the Application Server's Classpath

TIM is a J2EE application, running on top of IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS). To add a Java class to the application, follow these steps:

1. Compile the Java code into a class file. To use the TIM API, put $ITIM_HOME/lib/itim_server.jar the class path

2. Include the Java class and properties file into a Java archive (JAR) file.

3. Log on to the WAS integrated services console. Perform step 4 or step 5 to add jar file to classpath

4. Create a new shared library that includes the JAR file you created. Modify the ITIM application: Change the Shared library references to add the new shared library.

5. Another option is to Expand ‘Environment’ menu and click on ‘Shared Libraries’. Click on ‘ITIM_LIB’ shared library. Under ‘General Properties’, append in (JAR) file in list of Classpath property.

6. Save the modified WAS configuration.

Registering the JavaScript Extensions

There are the steps to call the new class from JavaScript:

1. Edit this file: $ITIM_HOME/data/scriptframework.properties

In the file, add a property that starts with ITIM.java.access whose value is equal to the name of the new class. For example:  ITIM.java.access.test=com.ibm.tivoli.javaext.TestClass

2. Restart WebSphere Application Server

3. Use the class in JavaScript within ITIM to test it. For example: define a variable test in identity policy and request an account.

 var test = new com.ibm.tivoli.javaext.TestClass()

Note: To learn more on ITIM Extensions, look at the demonstration code at $ITIM_HOME/extensions/5.1/examples/directory.