Table of Contents
Advertisement
Chapter 1
Introducing the HTTPS eWay
HTTPS
HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol over secure socket layer—or HTTP over SSL) is a
Web protocol that encrypts and decrypts user page requests as well as the pages that
are returned by the Web server. HTTP uses port 443 instead of HTTP port 80 in its
interactions with the lower layer TCP/IP. SSL uses a 40-bit encryption key algorithm,
which is considered an adequate level of encryption for commercial exchange.
When an HTTPS request is sent by a browser—usually by clicking a link that begins
with https://—the client browser encrypts the request and sends it to the Web server.
The acknowledgement sent by the Web server is also sent using encryption, and is
decrypted by the client browser.
About the HTTPS eWay
1.2
The HTTPS eWay enables eGate Integrator to communicate with client and server
applications over the Internet using HTTP, either with or without SSL.
HTTP Messages
1.2.1
An HTTP message has two parts: a request and a response. The message header is
composed of a header line, header fields, a blank line, and an optional body (or data
payload). The response is made up of a header line, header fields, a blank line, and an
optional body (or data payload). HTTP is a synchronous protocol, that is, a client makes
a request to a server and the server returns the response on the same socket.
Web Browser Cookies
1.2.2
A cookie is an HTTP header, which is a key-value pair in the header fields section of an
HTTP message.
The Set-Cookie and Cookie headers are used with cookies. The Cookie-request header
is sent from the server in request for cookies on the client side. An example of a Cookie-
request header is:
Set-Cookie: sessauth=44c46a10; expires=Wednesday, 27-Sep-2006
03:59:59 GMT
In this example, the server requests that the client store the following cookie:
sessauth=44c46a10
Everything after the first semi-colon contains additional information about the cookie,
such as the expiration date. When the eWay sees this header, it extracts the cookie
sessauth=44c46a10 and returns it to the server on subsequent requests. The eWay
prepends a cookie header to the HTTP request, for example:
Cookie: sessauth=44c46a10
Each time the eWay sends a request to the same server during a session, the cookie is
sent along with the request.
HTTPS eWay Adapter User's Guide
8
Section 1.2
About the HTTPS eWay
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Advertisement
Table of Contents
