Java RMI AccessControlException: access denied

Question

Hey I'm getting a AccessControlException: access denied when attempting to start up a RMI app I'm writing, I can't work out why I get this exception if I open it on the default port 1099, or on another dynamic port, my policy file currently grants everything (will change when app is finished).

I am stuck as to where it is going wrong, any help would be of great use

My code

public class Main {

/**
 * @param args the command line arguments
 */
public static void main(String[] args) throws RemoteException, AlreadyBoundException, MalformedURLException {
     if (System.getSecurityManager() == null)
     {
        System.setSecurityManager ( new RMISecurityManager() );
     }

     CreditCardServer ccs = new CreditCardServer();

     int port = 1099;

     try {
        port = Integer.valueOf(args[0]);
        }
     catch (Exception e)
        {
        System.out.println("Invlaid Port");
        }

     if (((port <= 65535) && (port >= 49152)) || port ==1099)
     {
     System.out.println("Valid Port");
     }
     else
     {
         port = 1099;
        System.out.println("Port not in Dynamic Range 49152<-->65535");
     }

     System.out.println(port);

     LocateRegistry.createRegistry(port);

     LocateRegistry.getRegistry().bind("CreditCardServer", ccs);

     while (true)
     {
        //hum?
     }
}

}

The Stack Trace

vega3 [ia32.linux] 23% java -Djava.security.policy=wideopen.policy -jar "BookStore-CreditCardServer.jar 65000"

Valid Port

65000

Exception in thread "main" java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.net.SocketPermission 127.0.0.1:1099 connect,resolve)
        at java.security.AccessControlContext.checkPermission(AccessControlContext.java:342)
        at java.security.AccessController.checkPermission(AccessController.java:553)
        at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPermission(SecurityManager.java:549)
        at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkConnect(SecurityManager.java:1051)
        at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:536)
        at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:492)
        at java.net.Socket.<init>(Socket.java:389)
        at java.net.Socket.<init>(Socket.java:203)
        at sun.rmi.transport.proxy.RMIDirectSocketFactory.createSocket(RMIDirectSocketFactory.java:40)
        at sun.rmi.transport.proxy.RMIMasterSocketFactory.createSocket(RMIMasterSocketFactory.java:146)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPEndpoint.newSocket(TCPEndpoint.java:613)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPChannel.createConnection(TCPChannel.java:216)
        at sun.rmi.transport.tcp.TCPChannel.newConnection(TCPChannel.java:202)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.newCall(UnicastRef.java:340)
        at sun.rmi.registry.RegistryImpl_Stub.bind(Unknown Source)
        at bookstorecreditcardserver.Main.main(Main.java:56)

My Policy File

grant {
// Allow everything for now
permission java.security.AllPermission;
};

Answer 1

I've been stuck on this all day (after figuring out I had to start the rmiregistry from the commandline), trying to make this work locally with Eclipse, and finally solved it. A few pointers to save others this cruel fate:

1 - assign the policy file correctly, either with a commandline flag:

java -Djava.security.policy=/home/.../<filename>.policy ...

or by putting this directly in your code:

System.setProperty("java.security.policy","file:///home/.../<filename>.policy");

You can also put it in the same folder as your project root), to reduce the URI to

file:./<filename>.policy

(use a relative instead of absolute URI - I actually didn't understand this until today).

2 - make sure the format of the policy file is correct, e.g.:

grant codeBase "file:<path>/bin/-" {
    permission java.security.AllPermission;
};

This should refer to the folder where your binary is located! A thorough explanation of the format of the policy file is here.

That's about it, I'd also recommend this tutorial, I found it very helpful to get on the right track.