AndroidHttpClient need more info. Self-signed SSL. Possible?

Question

There is very little info about AndroidHttpClient, specifically I can't find any good examples. From what I read - I can use this client and it is preconfigured for SSL. I target 2.2+ so it will work for me well.

1. Is there any good sample on how I use it? Specifically for REST service POST
2. Is there any sample on how to allow self-signed certificate? I don't mind just allow ANY certificate vs importing specific ones into local store.

Thanks!

My own answer (see code below).

1. I have IIS server with self-signed certificate. I had to go extra step and generate certificate that matches external name, not server name.
2. I use AndroidHttpClient. Supposedly, this client has all "proper" settings for android and supported starting in version 8
3. I create AndroidHttpClient in Application object and share across.
4. I separated code where I inject custom certificate so it is easy to get rid of it later. I noticed it does take time on App startup to load certificate from resources.

My version of Application singleton. See comments on top with details on command lines I used to generate all the stuff. Use same password throughout to make sure it works. PKS file password have to match.

import android.net.http.AndroidHttpClient;
import android.app.Application;
import android.util.Log;
import idatt.mobile.android.providers.DBLog;
import org.apache.http.conn.ClientConnectionManager;
import org.apache.http.conn.scheme.Scheme;
import org.apache.http.conn.scheme.SchemeRegistry;
import org.apache.http.conn.ssl.SSLSocketFactory;

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.security.KeyStore;

/*
To generate PKS:
1. Created cert in IIS7 and then exported as pfx. Follow instruction on SelfSSL: http://www.robbagby.com/iis/self-signed-certificates-on-iis-7-the-easy-way-and-the-most-effective-way/
1a. Download tool: http://cid-3c8d41bb553e84f5.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/SelfSSL
1b. Run: SelfSSL /N:CN=mydomainname /V:1000 /S:1 /P:8081
 I use port 8081 on my server
1c. Export from IIS manager to cert.pfx
2. Run command line in SSL to convert file into X.509:
openssl pkcs12 -in C:\cert.pfx -out C:\cert.cer -nodes
3. Edit file and delete all except -----BEGIN.... END CERTIFICATE----- IMPORTANT! It was working when I got proper (5) amount of dashes and put tags and data on separate lines
4. use keytool. C:\Java\JDK\bcprov.jar was downloaded separately
 C:\Users\Ivan>keytool -import -v -trustcacerts -alias key_alias -file C:\cert.cer -keystore C:\mystore.bks -storetype BKS -provider org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider -providerpath C:\Java\JDK\bcprov.jar -storepass 123456

*/

public class MyApplication extends Application
{
    private static final String LOG_TAG = "MyApplication";
    private AndroidHttpClient androidHttpClient;

    @Override
    public void onCreate()
    {
        super.onCreate();
        androidHttpClient = createAndroidHttpClient();
    }

    @Override
    public void onLowMemory()
    {
        super.onLowMemory();
        shutdownAndroidHttpClient();
    }

    @Override
    public void onTerminate()
    {
        super.onTerminate();
        shutdownAndroidHttpClient();
    }


    private AndroidHttpClient createAndroidHttpClient()
    {
        Log.d(LOG_TAG,"createAndroidHttpClient");

        AndroidHttpClient client = AndroidHttpClient.newInstance("Android");

        //This is optional call to inject custom BKS that was created from self-signed certificate
        client = addCustomCertificate(client);

        return client;
    }

    public AndroidHttpClient getAndroidHttpClient()
    {
        return androidHttpClient;
    }

    private void shutdownAndroidHttpClient()
    {
        if(androidHttpClient!=null && androidHttpClient.getConnectionManager()!=null)
        {
            androidHttpClient.getConnectionManager().shutdown();
        }
    }

    private AndroidHttpClient addCustomCertificate(AndroidHttpClient client)
    {
        SSLSocketFactory sf = SSLSocketFactory.getSocketFactory();

        try
        {
            InputStream in = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.home_server);

            KeyStore trustStore = KeyStore.getInstance("BKS");

            trustStore.load(in, "123456".toCharArray());
            in.close();

            sf = new SSLSocketFactory(trustStore);
            sf.setHostnameVerifier(SSLSocketFactory.STRICT_HOSTNAME_VERIFIER);
        }
        catch (Exception t)
        {
            DBLog.InsertError(this, t);
        }

        //Lets register our custom factory here
        client.getConnectionManager().getSchemeRegistry().register(new Scheme("https", sf, 443));

        return client;
    }
}

Here is how I use this client(I call it in AsyncTask)

private String processPOST(String url, String requestData)
{
    String responseData = null;
    application = (MyApplication)getApplication();
    AndroidHttpClient client = application.getAndroidHttpClient();
    HttpPost request = new HttpPost(url);

    try
    {
        StringEntity entity = new StringEntity(requestData);
        entity.setContentType(new BasicHeader(HTTP.CONTENT_TYPE, "application/json"));
        request.setEntity(entity);
        ResponseHandler<String> handler = new BasicResponseHandler();
        responseData = client.execute(request, handler);
    }
    catch (Throwable e)
    {
        DBLog.InsertError(ctxt, e);
    }

    return responseData;
}

This combination seems to be 100% working on 2.2 and 2.3 devices. When I was using snippets with DefaultHttpClient I had issues with 2.3.1 timing out on requests (Nexus S)

Answer 1

You can use Apache HttpClient.

    public HttpClient getNewHttpClient() {
    try {
        KeyStore trustStore = KeyStore.getInstance("BKS");
        InputStream in = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.mykeystore);
        try {
            trustStore.load(in, "mypassword".toCharArray());
        } finally {
            in.close();
        }

        SSLSocketFactory sf = new SSLSocketFactory(trustStore);
        sf.setHostnameVerifier(SSLSocketFactory.STRICT_HOSTNAME_VERIFIER);

        HttpParams params = new BasicHttpParams();
        HttpProtocolParams.setVersion(params, HttpVersion.HTTP_1_1);
        HttpProtocolParams.setContentCharset(params, HTTP.UTF_8);

        SchemeRegistry registry = new SchemeRegistry();
        registry.register(new Scheme("http", PlainSocketFactory.getSocketFactory(), 80));
        registry.register(new Scheme("https", sf, 443));

        ClientConnectionManager ccm = new ThreadSafeClientConnManager(params, registry);
        return new DefaultHttpClient(ccm, params);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        return new DefaultHttpClient();
    }
}

In web server, IIS can create self-signed certificate and export as PFX, then convert it to PEM using openssl tool, edit it to conatin only certificate, then create a keystore that contain the certificate using keytool of JDK and Bouncy Castle jar. The created keystore can be imported to your project as shown in above code.