summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/doc/CHAIN-SSL
blob: 9180ae2be77d2a3128e4eb7a9d2accba3ef8bff4 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
SSL UCSPI Certificate Chain Support
-----------------------------------

Scope:
-----

This version of UCSPI-SSL allows the SSL server to issue certificate chains.
In this case, the SSL client does not need to verify the certificates on 
his own behalf, rather the client uses the presented certificates from the server. 
However, the final root certificate has to be known by the client.


Usage:
-----

1. Concatinate all relevant X.509 certifcates in one file.
   The first one is the certificate of the server, the last one
   should be the root certificate.

2. Tell the sslserver the name and location of this file.
   Use the environment variable CERTCHAINFILE.

3. Provide a separate keyfile for your own (the first certificate)
   employing the environment variable KEYFILE.

4. If this variable variable is present, it takes precedence over
   CERTFILE.


UI considerations:
-----------------

a) Providing a particular cipher for sslclient is now facilited with
   option "-z cipher" instead of "-C cipher".

b) Reversely, the location of the certificate chain file is available
   via option "-C certchainfile".

c) For sslserver use the environment variable CERTCHAINFILE.


Security considerations:
-----------------------

Your own keyfile can be password protected.


Performance considerations:
--------------------------

The server needs to open one thread per certificate.
Thus, the server carries the burden to provide the certificates.

Erwin Hoffmann - 2011-02-16