Using IBM API Studio with self-signed certificates

Symptom

IBM API Studio fails to connect to an API Gateway that uses a self-signed certificate.

The following error can occur:

SSL certificate validation failed

Cause

IBM API Studio enforces TLS certificate validation by default. Self-signed certificates are not trusted by default, so the certificate validation fails.

IBM API Studio does not provide an option to disable SSL validation within the application.

Solution

To connect to API Gateway instances that use self-signed certificates in development or sandbox environments, set the NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 environment variable and start IBM API Studio from the same session.

Disable SSL validation

Windows

• Command Prompt

  set NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 && start "C:\Path\to\your-api-studio-exe-file.exe"

• PowerShell

  $env:NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED="0"; Start-Process "C:\Path\to\your-api-studio-exe-file.exe"

• Batch file

  Create a batch file named start-api-studio-dev.bat with the following content, then run this file to start IBM API Studio with SSL validation disabled.

  @echo off
  set NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0
  start "C:\Path\to\your-api-studio-exe-file.exe"

Replace C:\Path\to\your-api-studio-exe-file.exe with the actual installation path and executable file name.

macOS

• Terminal

  Run the following command to start IBM API Studio with SSL validation disabled:

  export NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 && open "/Applications/your-api-studio.app"

  Replace /Applications/your-api-studio-exe-file.app with the actual installation path and application name.

How it works

NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 instructs Node.js to skip TLS certificate validation for HTTPS connections. This allows IBM API Studio to connect to endpoints that use self-signed certificates.

Restart requirement

• Close all running instances of IBM API Studio before running the commands.
• Start IBM API Studio again after setting the environment variable so that the change takes effect.