> Documentation > CommCell Management > CommServe Administration > Securing the CommServe Computer > Enabling Secure Communication > Enforcing Authentication of Client Certificates During Installation

Creating a Temporary Certificate for Client Installation

For a CommServe computer to be able to generate a temporary certificate for a client, it must first have a placeholder for that client. Use these steps to create a placeholder for a new Windows client, and then generate the certificate to be used during installation.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right click the Client Computers node, and then click New Client > File System > Windows.

  2. Create a placeholder by entering the Client Name and Host Name of the new client computer, and then clicking Next.

  3. Review the client details, and then click Finish.

    The new client computer appears in the CommCell Browser, with a gray icon to indicate its placeholder status.

    Note

    If the client or the CommServe is behind a firewall, be sure to configure the network properties of these components, and then push the network configuration to the CommServe. To configure the appropriate network connection, see Direct Connections.

  4. On the Home tab of the CommCell Console toolbar, click Control Panel > Certificate Administration > Temp Certificate.

  5. Select the name of the client you created above from the Client Name list, and then click Create.

    The client certificate appears in the text box.

  6. Click Copy to Clipboard, and then paste the contents into a new file, such as client1_cert.txt.

    Note

    Store the temporary certificate file where the client can access it during software installation, such as a network share or portable drive.

    Important: Once you close the Temporary Certificate dialog box, the certificate cannot be retrieved. Be sure to save the file that you copied the certificate into.

  7. Click Close.

    In the Certificate Administration dialog box, the certificate for the new client is displayed with the "active" status in the list of client certificates.

  8. Click OK.

  9. On the client computer, start the software installation process.

  10. When the installer requests the certificate to authenticate the new client identity, click Browse, and then navigate to the file containing the temporary certificate that you created.

  11. Select the client name and host name that you provided during the configuration of the placeholder in Step 2, above.

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