Configuring and Managing MPE/iX Internet Services > Chapter 9 HP WebWise MPE/iX Secure Web Server

Server Keys and Certificates

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	E0802 Edition 6 ♥
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This is a fairly large and complicated topic. You are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to read about it in detail in the Mod_ssl Manual, Chapter 2 Introduction and Chapter 6 FAQ List, either at http://www.modssl.org/docs/2.8/ or the copy that comes with your HP WebWise MPE/iX Secure Web Server (/APACHE/CURRENT/htmanual/mod/mod_ssl/ssl_intro.html and ssl_faq.html) and is accessible from http://yourserver.yourdomain.com/manual/.

Secure web servers require a unique private key and a unique server certificate in order to establish secure encrypted communication sessions. This software includes a default private key and server certificate so that you can immediately start the server and begin testing. But because the supplied private key and server certificate are not unique, they are NOT SECURE AND MUST NOT BE USED FOR PRODUCTION PURPOSES!

You must generate your own private key and either obtain or create your own server certificate in order to be secure. Keys and certificates contain extremely sensitive data and must be tightly controlled to prevent unauthorized access.

Log on as MGR.APACHE

Before starting any key or certificate management you should first log on as MGR.APACHE and make sure that all configuration files and directories are owned by MGR.APACHE:


  1. :HELLO MGR.APACHE,PUB
  2. :XEQ SH.HPBIN.SYS -L
  3. $ export PATH=/APACHE/PUB/bin:$PATH

Create Your Private Server Key

Your private key is an EXTREMELY sensitive and confidential piece of information. Anybody who obtains your private key will be able to impersonate you. If you should ever lose your private key or have it stolen, your only recourse is to create a new private key and do a better job of protecting it.

Appropriate file system security is essential for the file which contains your private key. MGR.APACHE should be the owner of the key file, and the owner is the only user that should have any kind of access. MGR.APACHE should also be the owner of the directory in which the key file resides, and nobody besides the owner should have access to the directory.

For extra added security, it is recommended that you encrypt your server key with a pass phrase that is stored separately from the key. If you use a pass phrase, this will need to be supplied to the web server at start up time, either by inserting it directly into the /APACHE/PUB/JHTTPD job stream after the command that invokes HTTPD (caution — the pass phrase will be in plain text in the JHTTPD job stream, so you'll need to protect the job stream too), or by writing a special script or program that HTTPD will invoke to obtain the pass phrase. See the mod_ssl SSLPassPhraseDialog configuration directive documentation for details.

Key generation uses a random number generator which in order to be portable uses a rather simple random seed consisting of the current time, process ID, and some memory buffer contents. To increase the randomness for the initial random number, you should use the openssl -rand parameter to specify a file that contains possibly random data but definitely data that is unique to your machine. For example, because machines have different patches applied at different times, /SYS/PUB/HPSWINFO might be suitable as a -rand file containing unique data that will only exist on this one machine.

To create your private server key:

```
  $ cd conf/ssl.key
```


  $ openssl genrsa -rand /SYS/PUB/HPSWINFO -des3 -out server.key 1024

  unable to load 'random state'
  28199 semi-random bytes loaded
  Generating RSA private key, 1024 bit long modulus
  ................+++++
  .................+++++
  e is 65537 (0x10001)
  Enter PEM pass phrase:********
  Verifying password - Enter PEM pass phrase:********


  $ openssl rsa -noout -text -in server.key

(displays the details of your newly created server key)


  read RSA private key
  Enter PEM pass phrase:********
  Private-Key: (1024 bit)
  modulus:
      00:d2:d6:24:48:b4:52:92:0f:33:a1:0d:28:45:7a:
      88:96:91:f9:dc:d3:23:c6:a7:ba:e4:93:5e:d3:d3:
      9c:ba:18:27:ec:25:db:5b:1f:f5:26:9f:6b:8c:fe:
      d4:8d:3a:28:2e:00:f0:58:71:ef:29:ac:b6:23:36:
      ac:97:63:84:01:0b:35:90:34:6b:ff:35:b1:83:0a:
      81:a1:12:5a:d5:cf:00:44:62:70:72:f9:3c:8f:30:
      5f:dd:61:d1:fe:d6:83:9a:69:36:74:64:4d:16:3f:
      49:7a:0a:29:b3:cd:78:ef:c0:2b:a9:3a:97:10:f3:
      6c:df:87:61:d3:46:93:d8:6b
  publicExponent: 65537 (0x10001)
  privateExponent:
      00:ae:e8:8a:47:6a:99:49:a4:a4:df:4a:0c:0b:bf:
      c0:ca:b1:25:89:65:fc:3b:14:f1:3e:29:68:34:f1:
      4c:07:32:7d:04:32:cf:cc:c4:31:5b:ae:4b:ca:37:
      aa:5b:d3:50:7c:01:b9:62:96:7a:a3:a7:2d:9e:fe:
      ff:a5:c4:20:40:3e:ea:02:05:fa:9e:00:d6:a9:59:
      e0:46:13:ef:9a:ef:64:d1:8a:bd:e6:2b:82:06:c9:
      da:8b:15:e9:b8:fa:eb:a0:13:6c:94:ca:10:9c:dc:
      2a:59:f8:fc:c7:2d:e0:69:cb:5b:a5:32:ec:d2:56:
      e2:0f:b0:c5:39:b8:50:5b:f1
  prime1:
     00:fa:06:99:8b:68:55:5b:a8:ff:25:5a:f5:82:26:
     4c:73:2d:a0:70:75:e6:72:2c:25:70:22:49:5d:1a:
     96:0e:32:ce:4f:d9:7f:31:94:2c:62:8b:02:3c:c8:
     8f:4f:04:58:5b:6a:c0:66:fe:a1:d1:35:21:0e:c1:
     bb:4d:66:a7:83
  prime2:
     00:d7:df:d2:7e:68:7f:5c:04:fe:08:64:48:2e:ee:
     b5:8a:06:40:55:38:14:b4:f1:86:04:5b:98:78:77:
     cf:ab:c8:97:b4:e5:e7:ca:30:b5:8e:4d:93:23:7b:
     41:66:c7:29:8e:d4:f9:8a:0d:61:27:c3:36:b8:26:
     26:1e:bb:4e:f9
  exponent1:
    00:80:ed:d4:51:da:1c:62:26:d4:63:6b:f3:3c:09:
    09:d5:3f:0b:03:d3:18:61:79:b8:58:89:a5:b1:38:
    1b:76:f8:e6:00:b1:14:70:f9:8a:a5:ca:2e:fe:2f:
    22:0f:4a:1b:52:10:cb:64:91:1b:da:a8:fe:02:01:
    0e:d8:0b:fe:87
  exponent2:
    00:b0:5f:9d:52:4c:3c:6a:49:65:e8:23:4e:da:91:
    8b:df:36:56:4f:8a:1f:58:ea:d0:2d:35:4c:f0:78:
    2b:43:56:03:a4:f8:06:16:2b:0f:db:31:44:5b:43:
    f3:de:6e:30:65:13:5a:c2:51:46:24:bf:99:30:81:
    72:b9:bf:1d:b9
  coefficient:
    45:06:9e:13:e6:a9:2a:eb:5a:e0:99:65:43:88:85:
    ed:e2:64:ee:e7:75:99:6e:c3:25:69:36:d5:14:3a:
    e1:20:60:04:a0:44:c0:8e:55:cd:bf:8a:18:97:aa:
    f7:f9:43:81:db:16:ea:c9:e2:1e:68:a9:f2:56:63:
    2e:8f:56:60

```
  $ chmod 400 server.key
```

Create Your Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

Next you need to use your private server key to create a CSR which identifies your company and your web server. This is the same identity that will be presented to your web browser users, so choose carefully.

When openssl prompts you to enter a value for "Common Name (e.g., YOUR name)", you need to enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your web server. For example, if you want people to access your web server via a URL prefix of https://www.yourcompanyhere.com, you would enter www.yourcompanyhere.com in response to this prompt. When openssl prompts you for the 'extra' attributes to be sent with your certificate request, leave them blank.

To create your CSR:

```
  $ cd ../ssl.csr
```


  $ openssl req -new -key ../ssl.key/server.key -out server.csr

Using configuration from /APACHE/A0300/openssl.cnf Enter PEM pass phrase:********
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) [AU]:US
  State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:My State
  Locality Name (eg, city) []:My City
  Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:My Company
  Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:My Org
  Common Name (eg, YOUR name) []:www.mycompany.com
  Email Address []:webmaster@www.mycompany.com
  Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
  to be sent with your certificate request
  A challenge password []:
  An optional company name []:

$ openssl req -noout -text -in server.csr (displays the details of your newly created server CSR)


  Using configuration from /APACHE/A0300/openssl.cnf
  Certificate Request:
      Data:
      Version: 0 (0x0)
      Subject: C=US, ST=My State, L=My City, O=My Company, OU=My Org,
               CN=www.mycompany.com/Email=webmaster@www.mycompany.com
      Subject Public Key Info:
          Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
          RSA Public Key: (1024 bit)
              Modulus (1024 bit):
                  00:d2:d6:24:48:b4:52:92:0f:33:a1:0d:28:45:7a:
                  88:96:91:f9:dc:d3:23:c6:a7:ba:e4:93:5e:d3:d3:
                  9c:ba:18:27:ec:25:db:5b:1f:f5:26:9f:6b:8c:fe:
                  d4:8d:3a:28:2e:00:f0:58:71:ef:29:ac:b6:23:36:
                  ac:97:63:84:01:0b:35:90:34:6b:ff:35:b1:83:0a:
                  81:a1:12:5a:d5:cf:00:44:62:70:72:f9:3c:8f:30:
                  5f:dd:61:d1:fe:d6:83:9a:69:36:74:64:4d:16:3f:
                  49:7a:0a:29:b3:cd:78:ef:c0:2b:a9:3a:97:10:f3:
                  6c:df:87:61:d3:46:93:d8:6b
              Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
      Attributes:
          a0:00
  Signature Algorithm: md5WithRSAEncryption
      8f:5b:d3:45:ae:52:6a:66:36:23:09:0b:b9:d1:5c:2b:52:12:
      00:98:78:97:39:5b:9d:f6:9f:82:b2:2c:3f:24:bb:e0:f0:47:
      19:02:9d:3e:9f:32:d0:be:9a:54:3d:bc:c0:ed:63:67:cd:a3:
      eb:68:a1:2d:7a:0f:94:87:f0:a8:14:f6:45:cf:bd:a9:bc:13:
      9a:4c:cc:fb:a7:ab:73:88:17:23:90:b3:49:58:7f:d5:02:55:
      f1:85:81:f8:ea:48:d9:40:bc:29:de:f8:ed:e3:04:9c:b9:b1:
      c2:ce:8d:c2:c8:43:e7:73:bc:e6:e5:9f:99:b5:73:98:dd:65:
      38:ba

$ chmod 400 server.csr

You're now ready to have your CSR signed by a Certificate Authority (CA). This results in the creation of a server certificate. You have two options — you can either have an external trusted CA sign your CSR, or you can create your own CA and use it to sign your CSR. Choose one of these options which are explained in detail.

Submit Your CSR to an External Trusted CA For Signing...

All web browsers come preconfigured with a list of trusted CAs. Certificates signed by these trusted CAs will in turn be trusted by the browsers. If your certificate is signed by a CA unrecognized by the browser, each browser user will get a warning dialog window each time they visit your web site. So if you're doing an Internet e-commerce application where you have no control over the customer's browser configuration, you will want to obtain your certificate from one of the default trusted CAs recognized by all browsers.

There are many trusted CAs; VeriSign (www.verisign.com) and Equifax (www.equifaxsecure.com) are just two examples. By using your browser's security-related features, you can list all of the CAs trusted by that particular browser.

You can either purchase a real certificate at this point, or alternatively you can usually obtain a free test certificate good for a limited time. In either case, the process is the same. You typically visit the CA's web site and submit a web registration form that includes a cut/paste of your CSR, and then the CA e-mails the resulting certificate to you.

You need to cut/paste your CSR in its raw PEM format, which looks like this if you display the contents of the conf/ssl.csr/server.csr file:

Your signed certificate will arrive in raw PEM format, which looks like this:

Save this data as /APACHE/PUB/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt and then proceed to the "Installing Your Certificate" section. You can display the details of your new server certificate by doing:


  $ openssl x509 -noout -text -in /APACHE/PUB/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt

...Or Sign Your CSR With Your Own CA

First, create a private key and certificate for your CA. The CA requires a unique Distinguished Name different from the server certificate(s) you will be signing. One way to do this is to use a unique Organizational Unit Name when you create the CA certificate. For example, if your organization is XYZ Corporation, you might want to make the Organizational Unit Name be XYZ Corporation Certificate Authority.

$ cd ../ssl.key

$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out ca.key 1024


  1128 semi-random bytes loaded
  Generating RSA private key, 1024 bit long modulus
  .......................................+++++
  ....................................................+++++
  e is 65537 (0x10001)
  Enter PEM pass phrase:********
  Verifying password - Enter PEM pass phrase:********

$ openssl rsa -noout -text -in ca.key (displays the details of your newly created CA key; output omitted)
$ openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -key ca.key -out ca.crt
Using configuration from /APACHE/A0300/ssl/openssl.cnf Enter PEM pass phrase:********
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) [AU]:US
  State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:My State
  Locality Name (eg, city) []:My City
  Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:My Company
  Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:My Company CA
  Common Name (eg, YOUR name) []:Certificate Authority
  Email Address []:ca@mycompany.com
```

$ openssl x509 -noout -text -in ca.crt (displays the details of your newly created CA certificate)


  Certificate:
      Data:
          Version: 3 (0x2)
         Serial Number: 0 (0x0)
          Signature Algorithm: md5WithRSAEncryption
          Issuer: C=US, ST=My State, L=My City, O=My Company,
                  OU=My Company CA,
                  CN=Certificate Authority/Email=ca@mycompany.com
          Validity
              Not Before: Apr 13 18:29:50 2000 GMT
              Not After : Apr 13 18:29:50 2001 GMT
          Subject: C=US, ST=My State, L=My City, O=My Company,
                   OU=My Company CA,
                   CN=Certificate Authority/Email=ca@mycompany.com
          Subject Public Key Info:
              Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
              RSA Public Key: (1024 bit)
                  Modulus (1024 bit):
                      00:a8:f9:f5:38:07:dd:6b:84:51:a6:34:43:15:fa:
                      ae:3c:08:24:dc:60:6d:ea:e4:ab:8d:13:f3:bb:48:
                      b9:e9:eb:e9:a7:74:58:87:4b:10:4b:a1:09:c0:c4:
                      7b:88:5e:9c:14:7b:da:bd:9f:5f:d2:b9:19:51:f0:
                      c3:a4:43:10:ec:13:6a:f9:72:25:e2:fe:6e:57:67:
                      0d:7a:dc:3f:a5:63:d2:d2:32:69:f3:d2:6d:1b:f3:
                     70:06:70:28:eb:a8:9f:06:ad:f1:ab:a3:30:db:a7:
                      54:37:f7:75:85:90:26:d0:28:e8:f6:d6:65:93:82:
                      ef:02:88:f4:c7:0b:91:1f:35
                  Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
          X509v3 extensions:
              X509v3 Subject Key Identifier:
  89:B4:C8:ED:17:82:61:39:C5:1D:9F:E9:12:73:75:C8:31:EA:DF:33
              X509v3 Authority Key Identifier:
  keyid:89:B4:C8:ED:17:82:61:39:C5:1D:9F:E9:12:73:75:C8:31:EA:DF:33
                  DirName:/C=US/ST=My State/L=My City/O=My 
                           Company/OU=My Company
                           CA/CN=Certificate Authority/Email=ca@mycompany.com
                  serial:00
              X509v3 Basic Constraints:
                  CA:TRUE
      Signature Algorithm: md5WithRSAEncryption
          a7:3d:21:6a:b8:bf:f2:67:01:81:e6:05:56:89:8a:21:ab:bf:
          d5:43:48:ad:06:af:51:66:2a:02:77:ba:30:41:57:26:a5:7c:
          eb:00:a0:77:bf:b8:2b:03:91:59:92:1c:0b:8d:fc:16:27:c1:
          75:d3:90:1c:fd:de:9b:21:e1:34:27:2c:1c:4c:36:9c:7a:5f:
          16:bf:df:66:85:43:35:9e:b2:e8:2d:04:08:af:b1:60:84:3f:
          3e:5f:67:2b:38:75:38:2d:58:28:36:a2:56:19:fb:b3:66:d2:
          fd:8e:b9:30:02:5d:43:f9:57:bb:1f:b9:40:5d:32:b3:c0:4c:
          ba:dd

$ chmod 400 ca.key ca.crt

Then sign your CSR with your CA certificate and move all files to their correct secure locations:

$ sign.sh ../ssl.csr/server.csr


  CA signing: ../ssl.csr/server.csr -> ../ssl.csr/server.crt:
  Using configuration from ca.config
  Enter PEM pass phrase:********
  Check that the request matches the signature
  Signature ok
  The Subjects Distinguished Name is as follows
  countryName           :PRINTABLE:'US'
  stateOrProvinceName   :PRINTABLE:'My State'
  localityName          :PRINTABLE:'My City'
  organizationName      :PRINTABLE:'My Company'
  organizationalUnitName:PRINTABLE:'My Org'
  commonName            :PRINTABLE:'www.mycompany.com'
  emailAddress          :IA5STRING:'webmaster@www.mycompany.com'
  Certificate is to be certified until Apr 13 18:36:41 2001 GMT (365 days)
  Sign the certificate? [y/n]:y

  1 out of 1 certificate requests certified, commit? [y/n]y
  Write out database with 1 new entries
  Data Base Updated
  CA verifying: ../ssl.csr/server.crt <- CA cert
  ../ssl.csr/server.crt: OK

$ rm -fR ca.db.*
$ cd ..
$ mv ssl.csr/server.crt ssl.crt/server.crt

$ openssl x509 -noout -text -in ssl.crt/server.crt (displays the details of your newly created self-signed server certificate)


  Certificate:
      Data:
          Version: 1 (0x0)
          Serial Number: 1 (0x1)
          Signature Algorithm: md5WithRSAEncryption
          Issuer: C=US, ST=My State, L=My City, O=My Company,
                  OU=My Company CA,
                  CN=Certificate Authority/Email=ca@mycompany.com
          Validity
              Not Before: Apr 13 18:36:41 2000 GMT
              Not After : Apr 13 18:36:41 2001 GMT
          Subject: C=US, ST=My State, L=My City, O=My Company, OU=My Org,
                   CN=www.mycompany.com/Email=webmaster@www.mycompany.com
          Subject Public Key Info:
              Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
              RSA Public Key: (1024 bit)
                  Modulus (1024 bit):
                      00:d2:d6:24:48:b4:52:92:0f:33:a1:0d:28:45:7a:
                      88:96:91:f9:dc:d3:23:c6:a7:ba:e4:93:5e:d3:d3:
                      9c:ba:18:27:ec:25:db:5b:1f:f5:26:9f:6b:8c:fe:
                      d4:8d:3a:28:2e:00:f0:58:71:ef:29:ac:b6:23:36:
                      ac:97:63:84:01:0b:35:90:34:6b:ff:35:b1:83:0a:
                      81:a1:12:5a:d5:cf:00:44:62:70:72:f9:3c:8f:30:
                      5f:dd:61:d1:fe:d6:83:9a:69:36:74:64:4d:16:3f:
                      49:7a:0a:29:b3:cd:78:ef:c0:2b:a9:3a:97:10:f3:
                      6c:df:87:61:d3:46:93:d8:6b
                  Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
      Signature Algorithm: md5WithRSAEncryption
          19:51:39:cd:7f:c6:91:be:16:53:dd:95:e9:2a:f8:4d:68:73:
          8d:ac:38:c8:8b:69:67:ba:a2:b7:df:7e:1e:f8:0d:bb:93:83:
          1b:d3:59:32:bc:5a:8d:f5:5b:c4:5e:aa:3e:e3:a8:e0:1e:1a:
          f1:78:ea:65:87:56:ad:66:14:cf:c9:87:da:0c:41:86:f6:20:
          08:db:b8:0d:7f:ee:47:9f:90:c1:dd:81:fe:8d:30:2d:cb:d1:
          c6:c2:2a:ce:9b:17:b9:c3:24:68:d6:61:bf:6c:5d:c4:cc:b2:
          16:09:30:b0:57:c8:a5:be:72:6a:ef:24:8a:a8:32:7a:bc:0d:
          95:2f

$ mv ssl.key/ca.crt ssl.crt/ca.crt

Installing Your Certificate

Certificates (and keys) are sensitive information and must be protected from unauthorized usage:

$ cd /APACHE/PUB/conf/ssl.crt

$ make (to rebuild the certificate hash symbolic links)


  ca-bundle.crt   ... Skipped
  ca.crt          ... dc91dd8e.0
  server.crt      ... 2f66b362.0
  snakeoil-ca-dsa.crt ... 0cf14d7d.0
  snakeoil-ca-rsa.crt ... e52d41d0.0
  snakeoil-dsa.crt ... 5d8360e1.0
  snakeoil-rsa.crt ... 82ab5372.0
  zzyzx-ca-rsa.crt ... f28a2a0f.0<

$ chmod 400 /APACHE/PUB/conf/ssl.*/*

Configuring the Software

Starting the Web Server