OpenAS2 4.1.0 – How to retain and inspect the complete synchronous MDN response

[johnchao77]

Hello,

We are running OpenAS2 4.1.0 in Docker:

Image:
greicodex/openas2:4.1.0

For outbound AS2 messages using synchronous MDN, the log shows:

Message sent and response received
Pending MDN MSG FILE deleted

The pendingMDN3 and pendinginfoMDN3 directories are empty after the
transaction, and we cannot locate the corresponding outbound MDN file or
the original HTTP response body.

We need to retain the complete MDN evidence for every outbound message,
including:

• Original-Message-ID
• Received-content-MIC
• Disposition
• MDN signature-verification result
• Raw HTTP response headers and MDN body
• The local saved MDN file path

Could you please clarify:

1. In OpenAS2 4.1.0, does “Pending MDN MSG FILE deleted” mean that a
   positive MDN with “Disposition: processed” was validated, or can the
   pending record also be deleted after another parsable HTTP/MDN response?

2. Does OpenAS2 4.1.0 save the complete synchronous MDN anywhere by
   default?

3. Which configuration or logging options should be enabled to retain the
   complete synchronous MDN response?

4. Does OpenAS2 4.9.0 provide improved MDN persistence or an API for
   retrieving the stored MDN file path?

5. Is there a recommended safe upgrade path from 4.1.0 to 4.9.0 for a
   Docker deployment using file-based partnerships and a PKCS12 keystore?

Thank you.

[uhurusurfa]

Your running image is not an OpenAS2 release and you will need to talk to the source repository owner for information about it as I am unwilling to spend my time on someone else's copy of this project..

To answer your questions specifically for OpenAS2 releases:

1. The message "Pending MDN MSG FILE deleted" is referring to a tracking file that is used to track sent AS2 messages that have not yet received an MDN response and not to the actual received MDN.
2. All OpenAS2 releases by default saved the received MDN (even if it reported an error). The default settings for the OpenAS2 releases for the MDN file storage module are:

• module.MDNFileModule.enabled="true"
• module.MDNFileModule.filename="$properties.storageBaseDir$/$mdn.msg.sender.as2_id$-$mdn.msg.receiver.as2_id$/mdn/$date.yyyy-MM-dd$/$mdn.msg.headers.message-id$"

Most likely all your MDN's are stored somewhere but you will have to figure that out or ask the provider of your image.

3. See 2 above.
4. No changes have been made to the persisting of the received MDN in any 4.X release as far as I can remember but you can check what changes have been made by looking at the changes.txt file which is part of the install ZIP or can be found in the base directory of the repository. An API route was added in 4.9.0 to access the stored MDN path - see point 7 in the changes.txt file for 4.9.0 release.
5. If you have externalised all your custom settings for your deployment using a properties file instead of changing the config.xml then the upgrade path is very straight forward. You simply deploy the new version onto the file system using the OPENAS2_PROPERTIES_FILE environment variable to point the new install to the custom properties.
   If you have not externalised your custom settings then I suggest you diff the config.xml from your deployment with the version in the new release and build an external properties file that implements the changes to your current config.xml and then going forward your upgrades will be simple.

OpenAS2 does not yet provide a pre-built docker image but will provide one in the 5.X version which will be released some time this year. You can build a docker image yourself - instructions can be found here:
https://github.com/OpenAS2/OpenAs2App/blob/master/README.md