Cisco WAE 7.1 Installation Guide

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Book Title

Cisco WAE 7.1 Installation Guide

Chapter Title

Security

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Updated:
May 13, 2018

Chapter: Security

Security

Core Security Concepts

If you are an administrator and are looking to optimize the security of your Cisco WAN Automation Engine product, you should have a good understanding of the following security concepts.

HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or its subsequent standardization, Transport Layer Security (TLS), to encrypt the data transmitted over a channel. Several vulnerabilities have been found in SSL, so Cisco WAN Automation Engine now supports TLS only.


Note
TLS is loosely referred to as SSL often, so we will also follow this convention.

SSL employs a mix of privacy, authentication, and data integrity to secure the transmission of data between a client and a server. To enable these security mechanisms, SSL relies upon certificates, private-public key exchange pairs, and Diffie-Hellman key agreement parameters.

SSL Certificates

SSL certificates and private-public key pairs are a form of digital identification for user authentication and the verification of a communication partner’s identity. Certificate Authorities (CAs), such as VeriSign and Thawte, issue certificates to identify an entity (either a server or a client). A client or server certificate includes the name of the issuing authority and digital signature, the serial number, the name of the client or server that the certificate was issued for, the public key, and the certificate's expiration date. A CA uses one or more signing certificates to create SSL certificates. Each signing certificate has a matching private key that is used to create the CA signature. The CA makes signed certificates (with the public key embedded) readily available, enabling anyone to use them to verify that an SSL certificate was actually signed by a specific CA.

In general, setting up certificates involve the following steps:

  1. Generating an identity certificate for a server.

  2. Installing the identity certificate on the server.

  3. Installing the corresponding root certificate on your client or browser.

The specific tasks you need to complete will vary, depending on your environment.

1-Way SSL Authentication

This authentication method is used when a client needs assurance that it is connecting to the right server (and not an intermediary server), making it suitable for public resources like online banking websites. Authentication begins when a client requests access to a resource on a server. The server on which the resource resides then sends its server certificate (also known as an SSL certificate) to the client in order to verify its identity. The client then verifies the server certificate against another trusted object: a server root certificate, which must be installed on the client or browser. After the server has been verified, an encrypted (and therefore secure) communication channel is established. At this point, the Cisco WAN Automation Engine server prompts for the entry of a valid username and password in an HTML form. Entering user credentials after an SSL connection is established protects them from being intercepted by an unauthorized party. Finally, after the username and password have been accepted, access is granted to the resource residing on the server.


Note
A client might need to store multiple server certificates to enable interaction with multiple servers.

To determine whether you need to install a root certificate on your client, look for a lock icon in your browser’s URL field. If you see this icon, this generally indicates that the necessary root certificate has already been installed. This is usually the case for server certificates signed by one of the bigger Certifying Authorities (CAs), because root certificates from these CAs are included with popular browsers.

If your client does not recognize the CA that signed a server certificate, it will indicate that the connection is not secure. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It just indicates that the identity of the server you want to connect has not been verified. At this point, you can do one of two things: First, you can install the necessary root certificate on your client or browser. A lock icon in your browser’s URL field will indicate the certificate was installed successfully. And second, you can install a self-signed certificate on your client. Unlike a root certificate, which is signed by a trusted CA, a self-signed certificate is signed by the person or entity that created it. While you can use a self-signed certificate to create an encrypted channel, understand that it carries an inherent amount of risk because the identity of the server you are connected with has not been verified.

Install Certificates

This section contains information about installing security certificates on the WAE server, WAE Coordinated Maintenance, and WAE Live.

Install a Certificate for WAE 7.1

Cisco WAE comes with a default certificate. Because this certificate is not from a “trusted CA", the browser shows an unsecured connection warning. This is the expected behavior. The warning can be removed by applying an appropriate Certificate Authority (CA) issued certificate.

Procedure

Step 1

Create a private server key and store it in a secure location. For example:

# openssl genrsa -out server.key 2048
Step 2

Create the Certificate Signing Request (CSR). The CSR is used by CA to create a certificate that identifies your website as secure. For example: 

# openssl req -sha256 -new -key server.key -out server.csr
Step 3

Submit the CSR to the Certificate Authority to obtain your Certificate (for example, server.crt).
Step 4

Modify the <WAE_installation_directory>/wae.conf by changing <key-file/> and <cert-file/> elements to point to the location of the server.key and server.crt files.

Step 5

Restart the WAE server.

# wae --stop
# wae --start

Install a Certificate for Cisco WAE CM

Cisco WAE CM includes a default certificate that causes the browser to indicate that the certificate is not trusted. This is the expected behavior. The warning can be removed by installing an appropriate CA issued certificate. This procedure is not applicable if WAE CM is installed under WAE Live 7.1.1.

Before you begin


Note

This procedure is only applicable if WAE CM is installed in standalone mode or under WAE 7.1.1 and later.

  • You must be an administrator with WAE user privileges to perform this task.

  • Add the following environment variable:

    # export CM_INSTALLATION_DIR=<CM_installation_directory>
# export JETTY_BASE=$CM_INSTALLATION_DIR/maintenance/jetty-distribution-9.2.10.v20150310/cm2

    Confirm that JRE is installed as part of the WAE CM requirement. You can verify that JRE is installed by using the keytool command to list the current certificate. 

    # keytool -list -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore

Procedure

Step 1

In order to obtain a certificate from the Certificate Authority (CA) of your choice, you have to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR). To create a CSR follow these steps:

  1. Delete the default certificate.

    # keytool -delete -alias jetty -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore

  2. Create a local self-signed certificate. 

    # keytool -genkey -alias jetty -keyalg RSA  -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore

  3. Create the CSR.

    # keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA -alias jetty -file jetty.csr -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore

  4. Submit the CSR to a Certificate Authority to obtain your certificate.

  5. Restart WAE CM.

    # cd $CM_INSTALLATION_DIR/maintenance
# ./stop.sh
# ./start.sh
Step 2

Install the certificate.

  1. Download a Chain Certificate (also called a Root Certificate) from the CA you obtained the certificate from.

  2. Import the Chain Certificate into the keystore.

    # keytool -import -alias root -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore -trustcacerts -file <filename_of_the_chain_certificate>

  3. Import the new certificate.

    # keytool -import -alias jetty -keystore $JETTY_BASE/etc/keystore -file <your_certificate_filename>

  4. Restart WAE CM.

    # cd $CM_INSTALLATION_DIR/maintenance
# ./stop.sh
# ./start.sh

Install a Certificate for Cisco WAE Live

Cisco WAE Live includes a default certificate that causes the browser to indicate that the certificate is not trusted. This is the expected behavior. The warning can be removed by applying an appropriate CA issued certificate.

To install a CA certificate for WAE Live, do the following:

Before you begin


Note

This procedure is only applicable for Cisco WAE Live 7.1.1 and later.

  • You must be an administrator with WAE user privileges to perform this task.

  • Modify the path to add access to the Java keytool by adding the following line to the user .profile or .bash_profile file. For example: 

    # export PATH=$PATH:$CARIDEN_HOME/lib/ext/jre/1.8.0/bin/

    Note

    The previous example is applicable if your shell is sh, ksh, or bash. Use equivalent commands for other shells.

  • Log out and in again, or enter the following command using the appropriate profile filename.

    # source ~/.profile

Procedure

Step 1

In order to obtain a certificate from the Certificate Authority (CA) of your choice, you have to create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR). To create a CSR follow these steps:

  1. Delete the default certificate. For example:

    # keytool -delete -alias tomcat -keystore $CARIDEN_HOME/lib/web/apache-tomcat-8.5.15/conf/keystore

  2. Create a local self-signed Certificate. For example:

    # keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore $CARIDEN_HOME/lib/web/apache-tomcat-8.5.15/conf/keystore

  3. Create the CSR. For example:

    # keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA -alias tomcat -file certreq.csr -keystore $CARIDEN_HOME/lib/web/apache-tomcat-8.5.15/conf/keystore

  4. Submit the CSR to a Certificate Authority to obtain your certificate.

  5. (Optional) Restart WAE Live to use the new certificate immediately.

    # embedded_web_server -action stop
# embedded_web_server -action start
Step 2

Install the certificate.

  1. Download a Chain Certificate (also called a Root Certificate) from the CA you obtained the certificate from.

  2. Import the Chain Certificate into the keystore.

    # keytool -import -alias root -keystore $CARIDEN_HOME/lib/web/apache-tomcat-8.5.15/conf/keystore -trustcacerts -file <filename_of_the_chain_certificate>

  3. Import the new certificate.

    # keytool -import -alias tomcat -keystore $CARIDEN_HOME/lib/web/apache-tomcat-8.5.15/conf/keystore -file <your_certificate_filename>

  4. Restart WAE Live.

    # embedded_web_server -action stop
# embedded_web_server -action start

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