5: Advanced Configuration
5-22 Alterpath BladeManager Manual
The command generates a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) which contains
some personal (or corporate) information and its public key.
Step 2: Submit the CSR to the CA
Once generated, submit the CSR and some personal data to the CA. You can
request this service by selecting from a list of CAs at the following URL:
pki-page.org
The service is not free. Before sending the certificate, the CA will analyze
your request for policy approval.
Step 3: Upon receipt, install the certificate
Once the CSR is approved, the CA sends a certificate (e.g., jcertfile.cer) to the
origin and stores a copy on a directory server.
If you are satisfied that the certificate is valid, then you can import the certifi-
cate to your keystore using the -import command:
keytool -import -alias joe -file jcert.cer
The certification becomes effective in the next reboot.
More About Importing Certificates
There are many sources of information regarding certificate management on
the web. The information below has been excerpted and modified from the
keytool document which you can access from the following web site:
https://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/tooldocs/windows/keytool.html.
You import a certificate for two reasons:
1. To add it to the list of trusted certificates, or
2. To import a certificate reply received from a CA as the result of
submitting a Certificate Signing Request (see the -certreq sub c om m an d )
to that CA.
Which type of import is intended is indicated by the value of the -alias option.
If the alias exists in the database, and identifies an entry with a private key,
then it is assumed you want to import a certificate reply. Keytool checks
whether the public key in the certificate reply matches the public key stored
with the alias, and exits if they are different. If the alias identifies the other
type of keystore entry, the certificate will not be imported. If the alias does not
exist, then it will be created and associated with the imported certificate.