Troubleshooting authentication policy issues
Authentication policies, an optional configuration in PingFederate, help implement complex authentication requirements. Having a complex policy or multiple policies can result in unintended runtime behaviors. The org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger
logger makes it easier to troubleshoot such issues.
About this task
Identify and resolve authentication policy issues.
Steps
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Enable debug messages for the
org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger
class.If you have enabled debug messages for the
org.sourceid
logger, you have already enabled debug messages for theorg.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger
class. Skip to step 3.-
Edit the
<pf_install>/pingfederate/server/default/conf/log4j2.xml
file. -
Look for
Limit categories
inside theLoggers
element, as shown in bold in the following example.... <Loggers> <!-- ================ --> <!-- Limit categories --> <!-- ================ --> ... <!-- <Logger name="org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger" level="DEBUG" /> --> ... </Loggers> ...
-
Uncomment the
org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger
logger, as shown in the following example. Note that the<!--
and-→
markers have been removed.Example:
... <Loggers> <!-- ================ --> <!-- Limit categories --> <!-- ================ --> ... <Logger name="org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger" level="DEBUG" /> ... </Loggers> ...
This change is activated within a minute. No restart of PingFederate is required.
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-
Save any changes made.
For a clustered PingFederate environment, repeat these steps on each applicable node.
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Repeat the request that demonstrates the authentication policy issue.
It is most useful to initiate this request in a browser without any cookies from prior sessions.
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After you have replicated the issue, correlate server log messages using the PF cookie and tracking ID values. For more information, see Troubleshooting runtime errors.
Look for
DEBUG
messages from theorg.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger
class.Example:
For example, suppose the tracking ID value is
wXzQbS8MfHG40wpsQPiREIenJjc
for a given request. The following server log messages demonstrate the authentication flow.DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Selector | generalClients | Yes DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | idFirst DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | idFirst DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | idFirst | Rule | Alpha DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | idFirst | Alpha DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | https://sso.alpha.local:8031 DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Authn Policy Tree setting User ID from attribute 'subject' from Source type 'Adapter' and source ID 'idFirst' DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authn Source | https://sso.alpha.local:8031 | Success DEBUG [org.sourceid.util.log.PolicyTreeLogger] Policy 'General clients policy' | Authentication Policy Contract | APC | Finished
For readability, this sample ignores the time stamp and the tracking ID information. In other troubleshooting scenarios, such information can be valuable.
Log messages are interpreted as follows:
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PingFederate finds an applicable policy named
General clients policy
. The first checkpoint is an OAuth Client Set Authentication Selector instancegeneralClients
. PingFederate routes this request to theYes
policy path because the client that submits the authorization request matches one of the clients defined authentication selector instance. -
PingFederate routes this request to an instance of the Identity First Adapter
idFirst
because that adapter instance is the next authentication source of theYes
policy path. -
Based on the user’s provided user identifier, PingFederate determines that the
Alpha
rule applies and routes this request to theAlpha
policy path. -
PingFederate routes this request to an identity provider (IdP) connection
https://sso.alpha.local:8031
because that IdP connection is the next authentication source of theAlpha
policy path. PingFederate also populates thesubject
attribute in the AuthnRequest message with the user identifier obtained from the Identity First Adapter instance. -
PingFederate receives a valid security token from the IdP
https://sso.alpha.local:8031
. PingFederate routes the request to theSuccess
policy path, which ends with an authentication policy contractAPC
and concludes the authentication flow.
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