I've logged into Websphere Portal but request.getUserPrincipal() returns null

[Anonymous]

Hi there,
I'm trying to develop a "portal-friendly" servlet. A user clicks on a link in WS Portal (4.2) and a new browser window opens that loads a form using a servlet. I'd like to display in the result the name of the authenticated user, so I call request.getUserPrincipal() --> this returns null.
I also tried showing a document in iFrame --> no user...
So how do I get the actual user? Do I need to restrict access to the servlet?
Any help appreciated.
:-) stw

[Jim Baiter]

With the Portal, I'd recommend using portlets instead which are like servlets. There is a portlet development doc on the IBM site.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jim,
thx for your answer. I had a look into portlets, it looks ok, however...
The servlet is just a test to find out how to integrate existing J2EE servlets into a portal. If we have to rewrite all servlets into portlets this would be substantial effort I finally try to avoid. Could u point me to the security model of portal?

Originally posted by Jim Baiter:
With the Portal, I'd recommend using portlets instead which are like servlets. There is a portlet development doc on the IBM site.

[Jaye Dunaway]

Hello,
The ServletInvokerPortlet serves up existing servlets as portlets. You could find it helpful.
JavaRanch is really informative for WSAD and WAS information, but the Portal Forum is a better bet for these specific questions (Is this against forum posting etiquette, I wonder?) http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/dw_forum.jsp?forum=168&cat=9
The WebSphere Portal Server Infocenter also has a lot of helpful information:
http://www7b.software.ibm.com/wsdd/zones/portal/V41InfoCenter/InfoCenter/wpf-ena/en/InfoCenter/index.html
Good luck,
Jaye

[Anonymous]

For the records: How it workes:
(I'm not sure if all parts are needed)
1) let the servlet run in the same realm e.g. /wps/myservlet
2) Create Roles and protect the servlet
--------------------
If you have installed the servlet before you need to: a) uninstall it b) reinstall the Enterprise app and assign the roles c) RESTART Websphere (Strange but needed)
... Hope that helps ...