java: How to bulk load the Java Exception Site List

This guide comes handy if you have a big site list that utilizes a Java applet as the primary entry point (Netscaler, Agile, HP BPM/PPM, etc), those you want to allow in browsers but latest Java blocks them, because they are not containing a security manifest.

Good to know

• No wildcards at all in the exception file.
• Specify the port if needed (like :8080), as the default is the protcol's default port (80 for http, 443 for https).
• End URL-s with / to also allow subdirectories.
• Your own (default) exception.sites file is at: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\security\exception.sites, this is what the Java Control Panel uses by default. You have to copy your existing stuff from here.
• No comments are allowed in the exception.sites file... :-( If you try to have one, the exception file gets corrupted and will be skipped.

Step-by-step guide

1. Create the file: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.config
2. Set it's contents to be:

   deployment.system.config=file\:C\:/Windows/Sun/Java/Deployment/deployment.properties

3. Create the file: C:\Windows\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties
4. Set it's contents to be:

   #C:\Windows\Sun\Java\Deployment\deployment.properties
   deployment.webjava.enabled=true
   deployment.security.level=MEDIUM
   deployment.security.level.locked
   deployment.user.security.exception.sites=C\:/Windows/Sun/Java/Deployment/exception.sites
   install.disable.sponsor.offers=true

5. Create the file: C:\Windows\Sun\Java\Deployment\exception.sites
6. Now, you can copy your previous site list. You can even populate it by a login script.