How to set cipher suites with javax.net.ssl.SSLContext - java-8

Question

In a spring boot application using java8, I am setting the underlying SSLConext of an httpClient connection as follows:
import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
SSLContext sslContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1.2");
sslContext.init(null, null, null);
CloseableHttpClient httpClient = HttpClientBuilder
.create()
.setConnectionManager(myConnectionManager)
.setDefaultRequestConfig(rqConfig)
.setSSLContext(sslContext)
.build();
I need to set the cipher suites for the underlying TLS1.2 secured connection to something stronger of my choice. I don't see a way to do this with the way I am creation the sslContext in my code.
Can someone help me set up the cipher suites with my sslContext ?
================UPDATE=================
This is how I have now created my HttpClient
CloseableHttpClient httpClient = HttpClientBuilder
.create()
.setConnectionManager(myConnectionManager)
.setDefaultRequestConfig(rqConfig)
.setSSLSocketFactory(new SSLConnectionSocketFactory(
SSLContexts.createSystemDefault(),
new String[]{"TLSv1.2"},
new String[] {"some-gibberish-cipher-suite"},
SSLConnectionSocketFactory.getDefaultHostnameVerifier()))
.build();

Answer 1

Preferred TLS protocol versions and custom ciphers can be specified when creating a custom SSLConnectionSocketFactory instance
CloseableHttpClient client = HttpClients.custom()
.setSSLSocketFactory(new SSLConnectionSocketFactory(
SSLContexts.createSystemDefault(),
new String[]{"TLSv1.2"},
new String[] {"TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256"},
SSLConnectionSocketFactory.getDefaultHostnameVerifier()))
.build();
try (CloseableHttpResponse response = client.execute(new HttpGet("https://httpbin.org/"))) {
System.out.println(response.getStatusLine());
HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
EntityUtils.consume(entity);
}
Alternatively, one can create a custom PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager instance with the desired SSL configuration.
PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager cm = new PoolingHttpClientConnectionManager(RegistryBuilder.<ConnectionSocketFactory>create()
.register("http", PlainConnectionSocketFactory.getSocketFactory())
.register("https", new SSLConnectionSocketFactory(
SSLContexts.createSystemDefault(),
new String[]{"TLSv1.2"},
new String[]{"TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256"},
SSLConnectionSocketFactory.getDefaultHostnameVerifier()))
.build());
CloseableHttpClient client = HttpClients.custom()
.setConnectionManager(cm)
.build();
try (CloseableHttpResponse response = client.execute(new HttpGet("https://httpbin.org/"))) {
System.out.println(response.getStatusLine());
HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();
EntityUtils.consume(entity);
}