Let's say the following is in the HPEL or SystemOut log when attempting to sign into the WebSphere web console.

SECJ0118E: Authentication error during authentication for username

For example, in this example, the authentication failed when attempting to sign in as Bugs. 

The first time an authentication failure occurs, a First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) log should be created. Let's say the FFDC log has "unable to find LoginModule", something like this.

[6/24/22 4:55:34:603 CDT]     FFDC Exception:javax.security.auth.login.LoginException SourceId:com.ibm.ws.security.auth.JaasLoginHelper.jaas_login ProbeId:503 Reporter:com.ibm.ws.security.auth.JaasLoginHelper@b72b2a19
javax.security.auth.login.LoginException: unable to find LoginModule class: com.example.myLoginModule

In the WebSphere admin console, at Security > Global Security > Java Authentication and Authorization Service > System logins > WEB_INBOUND, ensure the LoginModule exists and has the expected key value pairs.

Let's say you create a login module with class "com.example.myLoginModule". In this scenario, the JAR file that contains the com.example.myLoginModule class will need to be placed in the ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}/lib/ext directory, and the deployment manager will need to be restarted for this change to take effect.