GUI Configuration Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine Integrated Management Controller, Release 3.1.1

Managing the Server Certificate

You can generate a certificate signing request (CSR) to obtain a new certificate, and you can upload the new certificate to the CIMC to replace the current server certificate. The server certificate may be signed either by a public Certificate Authority (CA), such as Verisign, or by your own certificate authority.

Procedure

Step 1

Generate the CSR from the CIMC.

Step 2

Submit the CSR file to a certificate authority that will issue and sign your certificate. If your organization generates its own self-signed certificates, you can use the CSR file to generate a self-signed certificate.

Step 3

Upload the new certificate to the CIMC.

Note

The uploaded certificate must be created from a CSR generated by the CIMC. Do not upload a certificate that was not created by this method.

Generating a Certificate Signing Request

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure certificates.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.

Step 2

On the Admin tab, click Certificate Management.

Step 3

In the Actions area, click the Generate New Certificate Signing Request link.

The Generate New Certificate Signing Request dialog box appears.

Step 4

In the Generate New Certificate Signing Request dialog box, update the following properties:

Name	Description
Common Name field	The fully qualified hostname of the CIMC.
Organization Name field	The organization requesting the certificate.
Organization Unit field	The organizational unit.
Locality field	The city or town in which the company requesting the certificate is headquartered.
State Name field	The state or province in which the company requesting the certificate is headquartered.
Country Code drop-down list	The country in which the company resides.
Email field	The e-mail contact at the company.

Step 5

Click Generate CSR.

The Opening csr.txt dialog box appears.

Step 6

Perform any one of the following steps to manage the CSR file, csr.txt:

Click Open With to view csr.txt.
Click Save File and then click OK to save csr.txt to your local machine.

What to Do Next

Submit the CSR file to a certificate authority that will issue and sign your certificate. If your organization generates its own self-signed certificates, you can use the CSR file to generate a self-signed certificate.

Creating a Self-Signed Certificate

As an alternative to using a public Certificate Authority (CA) to generate and sign a server certificate, you can operate your own CA and sign your own certificates. This section shows commands for creating a CA and generating a server certificate using the OpenSSL certificate server running on Linux. For detailed information about OpenSSL, see http://www.openssl.org.

Note

These commands are to be entered on a Linux server with the OpenSSL package, not in the CIMC CLI.

Before You Begin

Obtain and install a certificate server software package on a server within your organization.

Procedure

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

openssl genrsa -out CA_keyfilename keysize

Example:

# openssl genrsa -out ca.key 1024

This command generates an RSA private key that will be used by the CA.

Note

To allow the CA to access the key without user input, do not use the -des3 option for this command.

The specified file name contains an RSA key of the specified key size.

Step 2

openssl req -new -x509 -days numdays -key CA_keyfilename -out CA_certfilename

Example:

# openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -key ca.key -out ca.crt

This command generates a new self-signed certificate for the CA using the specified key. The certificate is valid for the specified period. The command prompts the user for additional certificate information.

The certificate server is an active CA.

Step 3

echo "nsCertType = server" > openssl.conf

Example:

# echo "nsCertType = server" > openssl.conf

This command adds a line to the OpenSSL configuration file to designate the certificate as a server-only certificate. This designation is a defense against a man-in-the-middle attack, in which an authorized client attempts to impersonate the server.

The OpenSSL configuration file openssl.conf contains the statement "nsCertType = server".

Step 4

openssl x509 -req -days numdays -in CSR_filename -CA CA_certfilename -set_serial 04 -CAkey CA_keyfilename -out server_certfilename -extfile openssl.conf

Example:

# openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in csr.txt -CA ca.crt -set_serial 04
-CAkey ca.key -out myserver05.crt -extfile openssl.conf

This command directs the CA to use your CSR file to generate a server certificate.

Your server certificate is contained in the output file.

This example shows how to create a CA and to generate a server certificate signed by the new CA. These commands are entered on a Linux server running OpenSSL.

# /usr/bin/openssl genrsa -out ca.key 1024
Generating RSA private key, 1024 bit long modulus
.............++++++
.....++++++
e is 65537 (0x10001)
# /usr/bin/openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -key ca.key -out ca.crt
You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
into your certificate request.
What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
For some fields there will be a default value,
If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
-----
Country Name (2 letter code) [GB]:US
State or Province Name (full name) [Berkshire]:California
Locality Name (eg, city) [Newbury]:San Jose
Organization Name (eg, company) [My Company Ltd]:Example Incorporated
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Unit A
Common Name (eg, your name or your server's hostname) []:example.com
Email Address []:admin@example.com
# echo "nsCertType = server" > openssl.conf
# /usr/bin/openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in csr.txt -CA ca.crt -set_serial 01 -CAkey ca.key -out server.crt -extfile openssl.conf
Signature ok
subject=/C=US/ST=California/L=San Jose/O=Example Inc./OU=Unit A/CN=example.com/emailAddress=john@example.com
Getting CA Private Key
#

What to Do Next

Upload the new certificate to the CIMC.

Uploading a Server Certificate

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to upload a certificate.

The certificate file to be uploaded must reside on a locally accessible file system.

Note

You must first generate a CSR using the CIMC Certificate Management menu, and you must use that CSR to obtain the certificate for uploading. Do not upload a certificate that was not obtained by this method.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.

Step 2

On the Admin tab, click Certificate Management.

Step 3

In the Actions area, click Upload Server Certificate.

The Upload Certificate dialog box appears.

Step 4

In the Upload Certificate dialog box, update the following properties:

Name

Description

File field

The certificate file you want to upload.

Browse button

Opens a dialog box that allows you to navigate to the appropriate certificate file.

Caution

After you select the certificate file using the Browse button, do not edit the certificate file name using the Backspace button on your keyboard. If you do, you will be logged out of CIMC.

Step 5

Click Upload Certificate.

Book Title

Chapter Title

Results

Chapter: Managing Certificates

Managing Certificates

Managing the Server Certificate

Generating a Certificate Signing Request

Creating a Self-Signed Certificate

Uploading a Server Certificate

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