Requesting a digital certificate

To acquire a digital certificate, generate a request using Key Manager and submit the request to a CA. The request file you generate is in the PKCS#10 format. The CA then verifies your identity and sends you a digital certificate.

To request a digital certificate, use the following procedure:

  1. Unless you are already using Key Manager, start the tool by typing:
    # certmgr
  2. From the main screen, select Open from the Key Database File list.
  3. Highlight the /etc/security/ikekey.kdb key database file from which you want to generate the request and click Open.
  4. Enter the password and click OK. After your password is accepted, you are returned to the IBM® Key Management screen. The title bar shows the name of the key database file you selected, indicating that the file is now open and ready to be edited.
  5. Select Create > New Certificate Request.
  6. Click New.
  7. From the following screen, enter a Key Label for the self-signed digital certificate, such as:
    keytest
  8. Enter a common name (the default is the host name) and organization, and then select a country. For the remaining fields, either accept the default values, or choose new values.
  9. Define the subject alternate name. The optional fields associated with subject alternate are e-mail address, IP address, and DNS name. For a tunnel type of IP address, type the same IP address that is configured in the IKE tunnel into the IP address field. For a tunnel ID type of user@FQDN, complete the e-mail address field. For a tunnel ID type of FQDN, type a fully qualified domain name (for example, hostname.companyname.com) in the DNS name field.
  10. At the bottom of the screen, enter a name for the file, such as:
    certreq.arm
  11. Click OK. A confirmation screen is displayed, verifying that you have created a request for a new digital certificate.
  12. Click OK. You are returned to the IBM Key Management screen. The Personal Certificate Requests field now shows the key label of the new digital certificate request (PKCS#10) created.
  13. Send the file to a CA to request a new digital certificate. You can either perform other tasks or exit the tool.