HowToAcceptSelfSignedCertsForHttps

Parent: UserExperience

A number of sites including Soylentnews, in places, use self signed certs for https encryption.

The first time you go to such a site, you will see some sort of warning from your browser. The exact nature of that warning varies, each browser handles it a little differently. What is important is that you need to use whatever facility is provided to tell your browser that it is ok to continue on connecting, and, unless you want to deal with that message every time you visit the site, you need to tell it to remember your choice.

Some examples of typical browser warnings

Below, I have loosely recorded the steps I had to take with some of the browsers I have available here and some other instructions from various places. If you are having trouble, reading through these - even if your exact browser is not here - may help a bit. You can at least get a rough ideas of what is required.

Internet Explorer

( from http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/clmhelp/v4r0m3/topic/com.ibm.rational.rrdi.admin.doc/topics/t_browser_ss_cert.html )

Ignore the warning message and proceed to the website. A certificate error is displayed in the address bar.

Click Certificate error in the address bar.

Click View certificates.

Click the Certification Path tab

Select the root certificate and click View Certificate.

Click Install Certificate to start another Certificate Import wizard.

Note: If the Install Certificate button remains disabled, you must click Tools > Internet options > Content > Certificates > Trusted Root Certificate Authorities and import the root certificate manually.

Click Next.

Select Place all certificates in the following store, click Browse, select Trusted Root Certificate Authorities, click OK and click Next.

Click Finish.

Click Yes to import the root signer certificate into Internet Explorer’s certificate trust store

Click OK to close the Certificate Import wizard.

Click OK twice to close the Certificate window.

Close all instances of Internet Explorer.

Repeat step 1. Internet Explorer does not warn you about the untrusted certificate. If the browser warns you about mismatched certificate address, click Tools > Internet Options > Advanced. Scroll down and clear the Warn about certificate address mismatch check box. Click OK. Close Internet Explorer and repeat step 1.

Firefox

(Is probably similar to other browsers using the Firefox engine)

-- Mac Version 3.6

This Connection is Untrusted

/Get me out of here/

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to www.homeviva.demmers.org, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.

Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.

What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.

Technical Details

www.xxxxx.org uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because it is self-signed.

The certificate is only valid for yyyy.xxxxx.org

(Error code: sec_error_untrusted_issuer)

- select 'I Understand the Risks'

If you understand what's going on, you can tell Firefox to start trusting this site's identification. Even if you trust the site, this error could mean that someone is tampering with your connection.

Don't add an exception unless you know there's a good reason why this site doesn't use trusted identification.

- select /Add Exception/

- select /X/ permanently store this exception

- select /Confirm Security Exception/

( another set of instructions from http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/clmhelp/v4r0m3/topic/com.ibm.rational.rrdi.admin.doc/topics/t_browser_ss_cert.html )

In Firefox, perform the following steps:

Click I Understand the Risks.

Click Add Exception.

Click Confirm Security Exception to automatically import the root signer certificate into Firefox’s certificate trust store.

Close all instances of Firefox.

Repeat step 1. Firefox does not warn you about the untrusted connection.

Opera

(Note the very newest versions of Opera are using a diffderent engine)

-- Mac Version 10.10.0

'Warning this page may not be secure'

'You need to approve or reject the loading of this page' /Help/ /Reject/ /Approve/

-select security tab, see:

The certificate for "www.xxxxx.org" is signed by the unknown Certificate Authority "www.xxxxx.org". It is not possible to verify that this is a valid certificate.

/X/ Remember my choice for this certificate

Then select the main /Approve/ button.

Safari

(Is probably similar to other browsers using the 'Webkit' engine)

-- Mac Version 4.1.3

'Safari can't verify the identity of the website www.xxxxx.org'

/Show Certificate/ /Cancel/ /Continue/

- select show certificate

- select Trust Setting

- select When using this certificate, /Always Trust/

- select /Continue/

Google Chrome

(from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7580508/getting-chrome-to-accept-self-signed-localhost-certificate )

Using Chrome, hit a page on your server via HTTPS and continue past the red warning page (assuming you haven't done this already).

Open up Chrome Settings > Show advanced settings > HTTPS/SSL > Manage Certificates.

Click the Authorities tab and scroll down to find your certificate under the Organization Name that you gave to the certificate.

Select it, click Edit, check all the boxes and click OK. You may have to restart Chrome.

You should get the nice green lock on your pages now.

EDIT: I tried this again on a new machine and the certificate did not appear on the Manage Certificates window just by continuing from the red untrusted certificate page. I had to do the following:

On the page with the untrusted certificate (https:// is crossed out in red), click the lock > Certificate Information.

Click the Details tab > Export. Choose PKCS #7, single certificate as the file format.

Then follow my original instructions to get to the Manage Certificates page. Click the Authorities tab >

Import and choose the file to which you exported the certificate, and make sure to choose PKCS #7, single certificate as the file type.

If prompted certification store, choose Trusted Root Certificate Authorities

Check all boxes and click OK. Restart Chrome.