SSL Configuration

The SearchBlox server runs on SSL by default using a self-signed certificate. However, it is recommended to use a valid SSL certificate for your domain through a hosting provider or by using standard methods such as Java KeyTool if the certificate is already available.

Importing External SSL Certificate using Java Key Tool

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Important Notes:

• When creating or exporting the JKS file, ensure the format is PKCS #12, not JKS, because Jetty requires PKCS #12.
• If you are using a SearchBlox cluster, include all cluster hostnames as Subject Alternative Names (SANs) in the certificate. This allows the same certificate or JKS file to be used on all machines in the cluster.
• While generating the certificate, use the same password for all commands to avoid confusion.

Follow the steps to import external SSL Certificates (.pem or .certs):

Step 1

Go to the path:
For Windows: C:\SearchBloxServer\etc
For Linux: /opt/searchblox/etc/

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Note

If a keystore file is already present, you can either rename it or delete by taking a backup of it. If the cert file is of PKCS#7 format please skip step 2, 3 & 4 and continue from Step 4 Alternative.

Step 2
Generate a Java keystore and key pair
we need to create a .jks file (Example: searchblox.jks) using the following command .

keytool -genkey -alias searchblox -keyalg RSA -keystore searchblox.jks -keysize 2048

Step 3
Import a root or intermediate CA certificate to an existing Java keystore
If we have .pem/.cert (Example:searchblox.pem/searchblox.crt)
we need to import into searchblox.jks file which we have created in the previous step.

keytool -import -trustcacerts -alias sbx -file searchblox.pem -keystore searchblox.jks

Step 4
Converting the .JKS file into .P12 or .PKCS12 Format
In this step, we need to convert the searchblox.jks into searchblox.p12/searchblox.pkcs12 format.

keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore searchblox.jks  -destkeystore searchblox.p12 -deststoretype PKCS12

Step 4 Alternative

Note: If the cert file is of PKCS #7 format, the above command (Step 4 command will throw an error) will not work. In this case, you can skip 2, 3 & 4 steps and run the below command for step 4 as an alternative. First PKCS #7 cert file has to be converted to .P12 or .PKCS12 Format using the below command:

openssl pkcs12 -export -in <searchblox.crt> -inkey <domain>.com.key -certfile <certificate-chain.crt> -out searchblox.p12

It will ask you to create a new password for PKCS12 file and ask for other required details(First name/last name is the CN (i.e must match FQDN that users will browse to)). Once you enter please type yes.

Step 5
Run the following command to create keystore file using PKCS12 file.

keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore searchblox.p12 -srcstoretype PKCS12 -destkeystore keystore

Step 6
Generating the OBF key

For Linux:

java -cp /opt/searchblox/lib/logging/slf4j-api-2.0.13.jar:/opt/searchblox/lib/logging/jetty-slf4j-impl-11.0.25.jar:/opt/searchblox/lib/jetty-util-11.0.25.jar org.eclipse.jetty.util.security.Password admin@1234

For Windows:

java -cp C:\SearchBloxServer\lib\logging\slf4j-api-2.0.13.jar;C:\SearchBloxServer\lib\logging\jetty-slf4j-impl-11.0.25.jar;C:\SearchBloxServer\lib\jetty-util-11.0.25.jar org.eclipse.jetty.util.security.Password Admin@123

Step 7
we have to update the OBF key value in to /opt/searchblox/start.d/ssl.ini

The KeyStore password:
jetty.sslContext.keyStorePassword=OBF:1ing1j1s1kmy1jnb1nl91nip1jk71kjo1iz21iky

Step 8
Stop and Start SearchBlox service

Open your browser and go to the URL: https://localhost:8443/console and confirm the valid SSL cert is now displayed when you click on the browsers lock icon.

Disable TLS

TLS can be disabled by updating the configuration within ../etc/jetty-ssl-context.xml

By default, only TLS v1.2 / TLS v1.3 is enabled. In case, If you see TLS v1 and TLS v1.1 are enabled, you can follow below steps to disable vulnerable TLS protocols.

Disable TLSv1 and TLSv1.1 using the steps below:
1.) Edit the following file after stopping SearchBlox service:
/opt/searchblox/etc/jetty-ssl-context.xml
or
C:\SearchBloxServer\etc\jetty-ssl-context.xml

2.) Add or update the required protocols under the sslContextFactory tag.

<Call name="setExcludeProtocols">
    <Arg>
      <Array type="String">
       <Item>TLSv1</Item>
        <Item>TLSv1.1</Item>
      </Array>
    </Arg>
  </Call>
  <Call name="addExcludeCipherSuites">
  <Arg>
    <Array type="String">
      <Item>.*NULL.*</Item>
      <Item>.*RC4.*</Item>
      <Item>.*MD5.*</Item>
      <Item>.*3DES.*</Item>
      <Item>.*DES.*</Item>
      <Item>.*DSS.*</Item>
    </Array>
  </Arg>
</Call>

3.) Restart the SearchBlox service.

Cipher suites in SSL

Cipher suites can be included or excluded by editing the the file ../etc/jetty-ssl-context.xml

To exclude cipher suites:

<Set name="ExcludeCipherSuites">
<Array type="String">
<Item>SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>TLS_DHE_RSA.*</Item> 
<Item>TLS_ECDHE.*</Item> 
</Array>
</Set>

To include cipher suites:

<Set name="IncludeCipherSuites"> 
<Array type="String"> 
<Item>SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA</Item>
<Item>TLS_DHE_RSA.*</Item> 
<Item>TLS_ECDHE.*</Item> 
</Array> 
</Set>

Disable SSL

1. Go to <SEARCHBLOX_INSTALLATION_PATH>/start.d/http.ini and uncomment the following line
   --module=http
2. Disable or comment the line --module=https from file <SEARCHBLOX_INSTALLATION_PATH>/start.d/https.ini
3. Disable or comment the line --module=ssl from file <SEARCHBLOX_INSTALLATION_PATH>/start.d/ssl.ini
4. Restart SearchBlox
   SearchBlox will be accessible only at http://localhost:8080/console