This CAS SSO authentication module is a Blackboard 8 Custom Authentication Module. The module is utilized for authenticating a user to Blackboard against a CAS server.

This CAS SSO Module for Blackboard 8+ is intended to replace the previous CAS SSO authentication module for WebCT Vista 4+ once made available at http://devnet.webct.com, and later moved in 2007 to OSCELOT FORGE at http://projects.oscelot.org/gf/project/wct-cas, navigatable to [ Home > Projects > WebCT CE/Vista CAS SSO Module ].

This module is a complete rewrite of its predecessor. It is a complete Maven 2 project with the following features:

1. Supports CAS 2.0 and CAS 1.0 protocols. This is configurable via the module's configuration page in Blackboard.
2. Supports a Null Trust Manager configuration. This is, SSL Cert CA Trust can be turned off or on via the module's configuration page in Blackboard.
3. The module libraries can be compiled without WebLogic library dependencies, and used in Blackboard (without the Null Trust Manager though). The predecessor requires the WebLogic Server library for compilation.
4. Has more debugging output
5. Provides for audit logging via Blackboard's Log4j configuration.

The creation of this Blackboard 8.0 CAS SSO Custom Authentication Module was undertaken by Western Illinois University. It was written by Russell E Glaue, an employee of Western Illinois University Center for the Application of Information Technologies, a Center at the University within the University's uTech division. This module is distributed and supported by Western Illinois University, uTech division.

This project entails two agendas. The first is to create an updated CAS SSO Authentication Module for Blackboard 8. The second is to create a minimal and 3rd-party-library-independent CAS client library.

The objective is to provide a useful CAS client library that does not require any 3rd party libraries, including XML parsers. This CAS client library is then implemented in the Blackboard 8 CAS SSO Custom Authentication Module. The WebLogic Server library dependencies are seperated out into an additional library so that it can be excluded if desired.

This project is divided into three subprojects:

1. cas-client - The minimal 3rd-party-library-independent CAS SSO Client Library
2. cas-weblogic - The Weblogic specific classes for a Null Trust Manager
3. cas-blackboard - The Blackboard 8 CAS SSO Custom Authentication Module

• CASSSO version 1.3.X
  • Maven 3.0+ (Maven is used to compile and package the libraries)
    • Required for the sub projects: cas-client, cas-weblogic, cas-bloackboard
  • Java 1.5.0 (1.5.0_22 tested)
    • Required for the sub projects: cas-client, cas-weblogic, cas-bloackboard
  • WebLogic Server Library 9.2 (9.2.3 tested)
    • Required for the sub projects: cas-weblogic
  • Blackboard 8 PowerLinks 4.2.1 SDK
    • Required for the sub projects: cas-blackboard

• CASSSO version 1.3.X
  • cas-client (CAS Client Library)
    • Java 1.5.0 (1.5.0_22 tested)
  • cas-blackboard (Blackboard 8 CAS SSO Custom Authentication Module)
    • Java 1.5.0 (1.5.0_22 tested)
    • cas-client (CAS Client Library)
    • cas-weblogic (WebLogic-specific Null Trust Manager)
      • WebLogic Server 9.2+ (Which contains the server library in runtime)
    • Blackboard 8.0+ (Which contains the PowerLink SDK 4.2.1+ in runtime)
  • cas-weblogic
    • Java 1.5.0 (1.5.0_22 tested)
    • WebLogic Server 9.2+ (Which contains the server library in runtime)
    • Note: If you want to use a Nulled Trust Manager, the cas-client library comes with a native Java implementation. This library is only necessary to implement a Nulled Trust Manager within the WebLogic runtime which overloads the native Java equivelances.