To connect ASE to ABS, configure the ABS address (IPv4:Port or Hostname:Port), access key, and secret key in the abs.conf file located in the /opt/pingidentity/ase/config directory.

Note: enable_absmust be set to true in the ase.conf file. when ABS is in a different AWS security group, use a private IP address

The parameter values and descriptions are included in the following table:

Parameter Description
abs_endpoint Hostname and port or the IPv4 and port of all the ABS nodes
access_key The access key or the username for the ABS nodes. It is the same for all the ABS nodes. The same value has to be configured in ABS MongoDB database. This value is obfuscated during the start of ASE.
Note: ":" is a restricted character and allowed in access key.
secret_key The secret key or the password for the ABS nodes. It is the same for all the ABS nodes. The same value has to be configured in ABS MongoDB database. This value is obfuscated during the start of ASE.
Note: ":" is a restricted character and allowed in secret key.
enable_ssl Set the value to true for SSL communication between ASE and ABS. The default value is true. ASE sends the access log files in plain text if the value is set to false.
abs_ca_cert_path

Location of the trusted CA certificates for SSL/TLS connections from ASE to ABS.

If the path parameter value is left empty, then ASE does not verify the validity of CA certificates. However, the connection to ABS is still encrypted.

Note: The access_key and secret_key are configured in ABS. For more information, see ABS Admin Guide.

Here is a sample abs.conf file:

; API Security Enforcer ABS configuration.
; This file is in the standard .ini format. The comments start with a semicolon (;).
; Following configurations are applicable only if ABS is enabled with true.
; a comma-separated list of abs nodes having hostname:port or ipv4:port as an address.
abs_endpoint=127.0.0.1:8080
; access key for abs node
access_key=OBF:AES://ENOzsqOEhDBWLDY+pIoQ:jN6wfLiHTTd3oVNzvtXuAaOG34c4JBD4XZHgFCaHry0
; secret key for abs node
secret_key=OBF:AES:Y2DadCU4JFZp3bx8EhnOiw:zzi77GIFF5xkQJccjIrIVWU+RY5CxUhp3NLcNBel+3Q
; Setting this value to true will enable encrypted communication with ABS.
enable_ssl=true
; Configure the location of ABS's trusted CA certificates. If empty, ABS's certificate
; will not be verified
abs_ca_cert_path=

Configuring ASE-ABS encrypted communication

To enable SSL communication between ASE and ABS so that the access logs are encrypted and sent to ABS, set the value of enable_ssl to true. The abs_ca_cert_path is the location of ABS’s trusted CA certificate. If the field is left empty, ASE does not verify ABS’s certificate, however, the communication is till encrypted.

Check and open ABS ports

The default ports for connection with ABS are 8080 and 9090. Run the check_ports_ase.sh script on the ASE machine to determine ABS accessibility. Input ABS host IP address and ports as arguments.
/opt/pingidentity/ase/util ./check_ports_ase.sh {ABS IPv4:[port]}