Creating a Temporary Certificate for Client Installation

When you install a new client, you must manually generate a temporary certificate to authenticate the installation. Once the temporary certificate is validated during installation, the client certificate is automatically created.

For a CommServe computer to be able to generate a temporary certificate for a client, it must first have a placeholder for that client. The following procedure creates a placeholder for a new Windows client, and then generates the certificate to be used during installation.

Before You Begin

You must enable client certificate authentication on the network gateway client. See Enforcing Client Certificate Authentication on the Network Gateway.

Procedure

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

2. Enter the Client Name and Host Name of the new client computer, and then click Next.

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

   The new client computer appears in the Client Computers node.

   Note

   If the client or the CommServe host is behind a firewall, configure the network properties of these components, and then push the network configuration to the CommServe. 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 from the Client Name list, and then click Create.

   The Temporary Certificate dialog box appears. The client certificate appears in the text box.

   Important

   Do not close the Temporary Certificate dialog box at this point. Once you close the Temporary Certificate dialog box, the client certificate no longer can be retrieved.

6. Copy the client certificate by clicking Copy to Clipboard.

7. Paste the client certificate into a new text file, and then save the file with a name such as client1_cert.txt.

   Note

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

8. In the Temporary Certificate dialog box, click Close.

   In the Certificate Administration dialog box, the certificate for the new client is displayed with a status of "Active".

9. Click OK.

10. Start the software installation process on the client computer.

    1. When the installer requests the certificate to authenticate the new client identity, click Browse, and then browse to the file that you created in Step 7, above.

    2. Select the client name and host name that you entered in Step 2, above.