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iPlanet Certificate Management System Customization Guide



About This Guide


The Customization Guide provides reference information about all the plug-in modules provided with iPlanet Certificate Management Server (CMS). Plug-in modules help you configure and customize Certificate Management System, and use it for issuing and managing certificates to various end entities, such as web browsers (users), servers, Virtual Private Network (VPN) clients, and CiscoTM routers.


Note SunTM ONE Certificate Server was previously known as iPlanetTM Certificate Management System. The product was renamed shortly before the launch of this 4.7 release.

The late renaming of this product has resulted in a situation where the new product name is not fully integrated into the shipping product. In particular, you will see the product referenced as iPlanet Certificate Management Server within the product GUI and within the product documentation. For this release, please consider iPlanet Certificate Management Server (CMS) and Sun ONE Certificate Server as interchangeable names for the same product.


This chapter has the following sections:



What's in This Guide

This guide covers topics that help you customize CMS agent and end-entity interfaces. You should use this guide in conjunction with the other CMS documentation, such as the one that explains how to install and configure Certificate Management System. Complete list of CMS documentation is provided later in this preface.



What You Should Already Know


This guide is intended for experienced system administrators who are planning to deploy Certificate Management System. CMS agents should refer to CMS Agent's Guide for information on how to perform agent tasks, such as handling certificate requests and revoking certificates.

This guide assumes that you

  • Are familiar with the basic concepts of public-key cryptography and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.

    • SSL cipher suites

    • The purpose of and major steps in the SSL handshake

  • Understand the concepts of intranet, extranet, and the Internet security and the role of digital certificates in a secure enterprise. These include the following topics:

    • Encryption and decryption

    • Public keys, private keys, and symmetric keys

    • Significance of key lengths

    • Digital signatures

    • Digital certificates, including various types of digital certificates

    • The role of digital certificates in a public-key infrastructure (PKI)

    • Certificate hierarchies

    If you are new to these concepts, we recommend you read the security-related documents available online at this URL: http://docs.sun.com/db?p=coll/S1_nsCMS_42_Resources

    You may also refer to the security-related appendixes ( Appendix D and Appendix E ) of the accompanying manual, Managing Servers with iPlanet Console.

  • Are familiar with the role of iPlanet Console in managing iPlanet version 4.x servers. Otherwise, see the accompanying manual, Managing Servers with iPlanet Console.

  • Are reading this guide in conjunction with the documentation listed in "Where to Go for Related Information.



Conventions Used in This Guide

The following conventions are used in this guide:

  • Monospaced font—This typeface is used for any text that appears on the computer screen or text that you should type. It's also used for filenames, functions, and examples.

    Example: Server Root is the directory where the CMS binaries are kept.

  • Italic—Italic type is used for emphasis, book titles, and glossary terms.

    Example: This control depends on the access permissions the superadministrator has set up for you.

  • Text within "quotation marks"—Cross-references to other topics within this guide.

    Example: For more information, see "Issuing a Certificate to a New User" on page 154.

  • Boldface—Boldface type is used for various UI components such as captions and field names, and the terminology explained in the glossary, which can be found in iPlanet Certificate Management Server Installation and Setup Guide.

    Example:

    Rotation frequency. From the drop-down list, select the interval at which the server should rotate the active error log file. The available choices are Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. The default selection is Monthly.

  • Monospaced [ ]—Square brackets enclose commands that are optional.

    Example:

    PrettyPrintCert <input_file> [<output_file>]

    <input_file> specifies the path to the file that contains the base-64 encoded certificate.

    <output_file> specifies the path to the file to write the certificate. This argument is optional; if you don't specify an output file, the certificate information is written to the standard output.

  • <>—Angle brackets enclose variables or placeholders. When following examples, replace the angle brackets and their text with text that applies to your situation. For example, when path names appear in angle brackets, substitute the path names used on your computer.

    Example: Using Netscape Communicator 4.04 or later, enter the URL for the administration server: http://<hostname>:<port_number>

  • /—A slash is used to separate directories in a path. If you use the Windows NT operating system, you should replace / with \ in paths.

    Example: Except for the Security Module Database Tool, you can find all the other command-line utilities at this location: <server_root>/bin/cert/tools

  • Sidebar text—Sidebar text marks important information. Make sure you read the information before continuing with a task.

    Examples:
    Note You can use iPlanet Console only when Administration Server is up and running.



    Caution

    		A caution note documents a potential risk of losing data, damaging software or hardware, or otherwise disrupting system performance.




Where to Go for Related Information

This section summarizes the documentation that ships with Certificate Management System, using these conventions:

  • <server_root> is the directory where the CMS binaries are kept (which you specify during installation).

  • <instance_id> is the ID for this instance of iPlanet Certificate Management Server (specified during installation).

The documentation set for Certificate Management System includes the following:

  • Managing Servers with iPlanet Console

    Provides background information on basic cryptography concepts and the role of iPlanet Console. To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/manual/en/admin/help/contents.htm

  • CMS Installation and Setup Guide

    Describes how to plan for, install, and administer Certificate Management System. To access the installation and configuration information from within the CMS Installation Wizard or from the CMS window (within iPlanet Console), click any help button.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/manual/en/cert/setup_guide/contents.htm

  • CMS Plug-Ins Guide

    Provides detailed reference information on CMS plug-ins. To access this information from the CMS window within iPlanet Console, click any help button.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/manual/en/cert/plugin_guide/contents.htm

  • CMS Command-Line Tools Guide

    Provides detailed reference information on CMS tools.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/manual/en/cert/tools_guide/contents.htm

  • CMS Customization Guide (this guide)

    Provides detailed reference information on customizing the end-entity and agent interfaces.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/manual/en/cert/custom_guide/contents.htm

  • CMS Agent's Guide

    Provides detailed reference information on CMS agent interfaces. To access this information from the Agent Services pages, click any help button.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/cert-<instance_id>/web/agent/manual/agent_guide/
    contents.htm

  • End-entity help (online only, not printed)

    Provides detailed reference information on CMS end-entity interfaces. To access this information from the end-entity pages, click any help button.

    To view the HTML version of this guide, open this file: <server_root>/cert-<instance_id>/web/ee/manual/ee_guide/
    contents.htm
    Note Do not change the default location of any of the HTML files; they are used for online help. You may move the PDF files to another location.


For a complete list of all documentation for Certificate Management System, including documentation for Directory Server, see Documentation Summary, located at: <server_root>/manual/index.html

For the latest information about Certificate Management System, including current release notes, technical notes, and deployment information, check this site: http://docs.sun.com/?p=coll/S1_s1CertificateServer_47.


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Copyright © 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Last Updated October 07, 2002