Enabling JMX authentication and authorization

Steps to enable remote JMX connections.

By default, JMX security is disabled and accessible only from localhost without authentication as shown in the following lines from the file:

if [ "$LOCAL_JMX" = "yes" ]; then
  JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcassandra.jmx.local.port=$JMX_PORT -XX:+DisableExplicitGC"

Configuring JMX authentication and authorization can be accomplished using local password and access files to set the usernames, passwords and access permissions. In Cassandra 3.6 and later, Cassandra's internal authentication and authorization can optionally be configured for JMX security.

These two methods work for remote authentication and authorization; the difference is just the location of the configuration settings in the cassandra-env.sh file. Local configuration is placed within the if ["$LOCAL_JMX" = "yes']; then block in the file, whereas remote configuration is placed with the else block.

Procedure

AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORIZATION USING LOCAL FILES

By default, JMX security is disabled and accessible only from localhost as shown in the following lines from the cassandra-env.sh file:
```
if [ "$LOCAL_JMX" = "yes" ]; then
  JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcassandra.jmx.local.port=$JMX_PORT -XX:+DisableExplicitGC"
```

Change $LOCAL_JMX to no. Add the following lines in the remote block in the file:

JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true"
  JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=/etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password"
JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file=/etc/cassandra/jmxremote.access"

Create a password file and add the user and password for JMX-compliant utilities, specifying the credentials for your environment. The default location of the password file in the cassandra-env.sh is /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password.
```
cassandra cassandra
<new_superuser> <new_superuser_password>
<some_other_user> <some_other_user_password>
controlRole someOtherHardToRememberPassword
```
Important: The default superuser account is a security hazard! This account is used only for the purposes of illustration.
The password file must be secured from unauthorized readers. Change the ownership of the jmxremote.password file to the user who starts cassandra and change permissions to read only:
```
chown cassandra:cassandra /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password
$ chmod 400 /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password
```
This example presumes that cassandra is run by the default user cassandra.
Create an access file and enter the following information. The default location of the access file in the cassandra-env.sh is /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.access.
```
cassandra readwrite
<new_superuser> readwrite
<some_other_user> readonly
controlRole readwrite \
create javax.management.monitor.,javax.management.timer. \
unregister
```
Important: The default superuser account is a security hazard! This account is used only for the purposes of illustration.
The readonly permission allows the JMX client to read an MBean's attributes and receive notifications. The readwrite permission allows the JMX client to set attributes, invoke operations, and create and remove MBeans, in addition to reading an MBean's attributes and receives notifications.
The access file must be secured from unauthorized readers. Change the ownership of the jmxremote.access file to the user who starts cassandra and change permissions to read only:
```
chown cassandra:cassandra /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.access
$ chmod 400 /etc/cassandra/jmxremote.access
```
This example presumes that cassandra is run by the default user cassandra.
Restart Cassandra to make the change effective.
Check that nodetool status requires the username and password in order to execute. The command should fail without authentication if everything is configured correctly.
```
nodetool status
```
Run nodetool status with the cassandra user and password.
```
nodetool -u cassandra -pw cassandra status
```

AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORIZATION WITH CASSANDRA INTERNALS - CASSANDRA 3.6 AND LATER

By default, JMX security is disabled and accessible only from localhost as shown in the following lines from the cassandra-env.sh file:
```
if [ "$LOCAL_JMX" = "yes" ]; then
  JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcassandra.jmx.local.port=$JMX_PORT -XX:+DisableExplicitGC"
```

Comment out the existing line and add or uncomment the following lines in either the local or remote block in the file:

JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true"
JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcassandra.jmx.remote.login.config=CassandraLogin"'
JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Djava.security.auth.login.config=$CASSANDRA_HOME/conf/cassandra-jaas.config"
JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcassandra.jmx.authorizer=org.apache.cassandra.auth.jmx.AuthorizationProxy"

And comment out the following lines in the file:

JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=/etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password"
JVM_OPTS="$JVM_OPTS -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.access.file=/etc/cassandra/jmxremote.access"

Change authentication in the cassandra.yaml file to PasswordAuthenticator.
```
authenticator: PasswordAuthenticator
```
Change authorization in the cassandra.yaml file to CassandraAuthorizer.
```
authorizer: CassandraAuthorizer
```
Restart Cassandra to make the change effective.
Check that nodetool status requires the username and password in order to execute. The command should fail without authentication if everything is configured correctly.
```
nodetool -u cassandra -pw cassandra status
```
The location of the cassandra-env.sh file depends on the type of installation:
Cassandra package installations /etc/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh
Cassandra tarball installations install_location/conf/cassandra-env.sh
Cassandra authorization can be used to grant and revoke permissions to database objects, including MBeans.

SPECIFYING JMX AUTHENTICATION ON COMMAND LINE

Generally, JMX settings are inserted into the cassandra-env.sh file. However, these options can be specified at the command line:
```
cassandra -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=true
  -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.password.file=/etc/cassandra/jmxremote.password
```

Example

If you run nodetool status without user and password when authentication and authorization are configured, you'll see an error similar to:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.SecurityException: Authentication failed! Credentials required
at com.sun.jmx.remote.security.JMXPluggableAuthenticator.authenticationFailure(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.jmx.remote.security.JMXPluggableAuthenticator.authenticate(Unknown Source)
at sun.management.jmxremote.ConnectorBootstrap$AccessFileCheckerAuthenticator.authenticate(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.rmi.RMIServerImpl.doNewClient(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.rmi.RMIServerImpl.newClient(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.dispatch(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at sun.rmi.transport.Transport.serviceCall(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport.handleMessages(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run0(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPTransport$ConnectionHandler.run(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.exceptionReceivedFromServer(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(Unknown Source)
at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.invoke(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.rmi.RMIServerImpl_Stub.newClient(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.rmi.RMIConnector.getConnection(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.rmi.RMIConnector.connect(Unknown Source)
at javax.management.remote.JMXConnectorFactory.connect(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.cassandra.tools.NodeProbe.connect(NodeProbe.java:146)
at org.apache.cassandra.tools.NodeProbe.<init>(NodeProbe.java:116)
at org.apache.cassandra.tools.NodeCmd.main(NodeCmd.java:1099)

Cassandra package installations	/etc/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh
Cassandra tarball installations	`install_location`/conf/cassandra-env.sh