Page History

...

1. Create a directory

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   mkdir sslcert

   Now protect the directory,

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   chmod 0700 sslcert

2. Create two subdirectories

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   mkdir certs private

3. Create a database to keep track of each certificate

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   echo '100001' >serial touch certindex.txt

4. Create a custom config file for OpenSSL to use similar to openssl.cnf in your /etc/pki/tls folder.

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   dir = . [ ca ] default_ca = CA_default [ CA_default ] serial = $dir/serial database = $dir/certindex.txt new_certs_dir = $dir/certs certificate = $dir/cacert.pem private_key = $dir/private/cakey.pem default_days = 365 default_md = md5 preserve = no email_in_dn = no nameopt = default_ca certopt = default_ca policy = policy_match [ policy_match ] countryName = match stateOrProvinceName = match organizationName = match organizationalUnitName = optional commonName = supplied emailAddress = optional [ req ] default_bits = 1024 # Size of keys default_keyfile = key.pem # name of generated keys default_md = md5 # message digest algorithm string_mask = nombstr # permitted characters distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name req_extensions = v3_req [ req_distinguished_name ] 0.organizationName = Organization Name (company) organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (department, division) emailAddress = Email Address emailAddress_max = 40 localityName = Locality Name (city, district) stateOrProvinceName = State or Province Name (full name) countryName = Country Name (2 letter code) countryName_min = 2 countryName_max = 2 commonName = Common Name (hostname, IP, or your name) commonName_max = 64 0.organizationName_default = My Company localityName_default = My Town stateOrProvinceName_default = State or Providence countryName_default = US [ v3_ca ] basicConstraints = CA:TRUE subjectKeyIdentifier = hash authorityKeyIdentifier = keyid:always,issuer:always [ v3_req ] basicConstraints = CA:FALSE subjectKeyIdentifier = hash

5. Create a root certificate All other certificates you create will be based of this. Since this is not a commercial certificate software may complain when they use your certificates. You may give people the "public" certifcate and your certifcate will work like commercial ones when they import it. To create, while in the 'sslcert' directory type:

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   openssl req -new -x509 -extensions v3_ca -keyout private/cakey.pem -out cacert.pem -days 365 -config ./openssl.cnf

   You will be prompted for information and a password. Do not lose this password, make sure it is a secure one and back up the two files that are created.
   
   The two files that are created are cacert.pem, which is the one you can give to others for import in their browsers and cakey.pem, which will be in the private directory.
   
   

6. Create a key and signing request

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   openssl req -new -nodes -out name-req.pem -keyout private/name-key.pem -config ./openssl.cnf

   You will be prompted for information. The critical part is the "Common Name". This must be the server's hostname, such as mail.your.domain or the IP address. If you want to cover all subdomains you can enter *.your.domain. Use the "Organizational Unit" to remind you what the certificate is for, such as "Web Server". This will generate two files:

   • name-req.pem - the request

   • name-key.pem - the private key in the private directory
     
     

7. Sign the request This will generate the certificate,

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   openssl ca -out name-cert.pem -config ./openssl.cnf -infiles name-req.pem

   You will be prompted for the password used when creating the root certificate. Two files are created:

   • <number.pem> - a copy of it in the certs directory 
   • name-cert.pem - which is the certificate

     
     

8. Copy to the correct location For apache 2.x on Red Hat using the default location, the directory is:

   
   

   1. For the name-key.pem: 

      Code Block
      theme Confluence

   1. cp name-key.pem /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/

   2. For the certificate:

      Code Block
      theme Confluence
      cp

   1. name-cert.pem /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/

9. Create a Virtual Host

   Code Block
   theme Confluence
   <VirtualHost ip-system-A>:443> DocumentRoot /var/www/html ServerName myserver ErrorLog /etc/httpd/logs/ssl_error_log TransferLog /etc/httpd/logs/ssl_access_log SSLEngine On SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.crt/name-cert.pem SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/conf/ssl.key/name-key.pem </VirtualHost>

10. Configure proxy in Apache described in FAQ 13 and restart Apache.
    Edit the Hosts file [/etc/hosts]

...