17.4 Managing Trusted Root and Containers

A trusted root provides the basis for trust in public key cryptography. Trusted roots are used to validate certificates signed by other CAs. Trusted roots enable security for SSL, secure e-mail, and certificate-based authentication.

Using the Trusted Root Management module, you can perform the following tasks:

17.4.1 Creating a Trusted Root Container

To create a trusted root container, perform the following tasks:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default.

  2. Click the icon to create a new trusted root container.

  3. Specify a name for the trusted root container.

  4. Use the object selector to browse for the appropriate container.

  5. Click the OK button.

  6. A confirmation appears indicating that the trusted root container has been created successfully.

17.4.2 Creating a Trusted Root Certificate Object

To create a trusted root object, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default. Select the Trusted Root check box.

  2. Click the icon to create a new trusted root object.

  3. Specify a name for the trusted root object.

  4. Select the appropriate trusted root container from the drop-down list.

  5. Browse and select the appropriate certificate file in .der or .b64 format.

    NOTE:Any type of certificate can be stored in a Trusted Root object (CA certificates, intermediate CA certificates, or user certificates).

  6. Click the OK button.

  7. A confirmation appears indicating that the trusted root object has been created successfully.

17.4.3 Exporting Trusted Root Certificate Objects

To export trusted root certificate objects, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default. Select the Trusted Root check box.

  2. Select the appropriate trusted root certificate from the list and click the icon.

  3. In the next screen, select check box for Export Private key and specify a password to protect the private key. Confirm the password and select the export format.

    NOTE:Trusted root certificates can be exported in DER or in BASE64 formats only.

  4. Click OK to export the trusted root certificate object.

17.4.4 Validating Trusted Root Certificate Objects

To validate trusted root certificate objects, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default. Select the Trusted Root check box.

  2. Select the appropriate trusted root certificate from the list and click the icon.

  3. A confirmation appears indicating a successful validation of the trusted root certificate object.

17.4.5 Deleting Trusted Root Certificate Objects

To remove trusted root certificate objects, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default. Select the Trusted Root check box.

  2. Select the appropriate trusted root certificate from the list and click the icon.

  3. Click OK on the warning screen.

  4. A confirmation appears indicating a successful removal of the trusted root certificate object.

17.4.6 Deleting Trusted Root Containers

To remove a trusted root container, perform the following steps:

  1. Click Certificate Management > Trusted Root Management options from the landing page. The Trusted Root Container check box will be selected by default.

  2. Select the appropriate trusted root container from the list and click the icon.

  3. Click OK on the warning screen.

  4. A confirmation appears indicating a successful removal of the trusted root container.