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Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) and Certificates
What is Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL)?
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a system that allows for a private connection
when communicating with other SSL-enabled products. It is symmetric
encryption nested within public-key encryption and authenticated through
the use of certificates. An SSL connection can only occur between an
SSL-enabled client and an SSL-enabled server. In fact, when a server
is running in SSL mode, it can only communicate through SSL.
What are Certificates?
A digital certificate is a statement signed by an independent and trusted
third party. The statement usually follows very a specific format, laid
down in a standard called X509, but it doesn't have to.
A certificate contains three elements:
- Subject Name and Other Certificate Extensions
This is information about the object being certified. In the case
of a person this might include your name, nationality and email address,
your organization, and the department within that organization where
you work. It could also include a picture of you, a codification of
your fingerprints, your passport number, and so on.
- Public Key Information
This is the public key of the entity being certified. The certificate
acts
to bind the public key to the attributes information described above.
The
public key can be any asymmetric key, but is usually an RSA key.
- Certifying Authority Signature
The CA signs the first two elements and thereby adds credibility to
the certificate. People who receive the certificate check the signature
and will believe the attribute information / public key binding if
they trust that certifying authority.
Sharing or Obtaining a SSL Certificate
You can share one of Render-Vue's certificates if you are just getting
started and don't want to purchase your own. If you are serious about
security and run an e-commerce web site, Render-Vue recommends getting
your own certificate. Besides the security and stability advantages,
now visitors can access your secure site with your domain name and not
as a directory of the server you are on. (https://www.yourdomain.com
as opposed to https://server0000.net/yourdomain/). When you get your
own certificate, your customers see your name on the certificate and
not ours.
Sharing (Dependant on sever
and hosting plan)
If you decide to share our certificate, your site is automatically
set up with it at https://your_server.com/yourdomain/. For example,
if you are on server 5000 and your domain name is treehugger.com your
secure url will be (note https, not http): https://server5000.net/treehugger/
You can find the server you are on from the welcome letter Render-Vue
sent you. The server name is also displayed every time you log in through
SSH or FTP. This location will have the same information as your main
site, but it will be encrypted.
Getting your own Certificate.
Render-Vue recommends that you purchase your own certificate. You can
get your own certificate from a variety or sources. You can get a certificate
from:
Steps to obtaining your own
Certificate
- To obtain your own certificate, companies like Thawte need proof
of identity. A proof of organizational name and proof of the right
to a domain name are required. For specific details, look here: http://www.thawte.com/certs/server/docs.html
The information will be in the control panel under the secure server
section.
- Go to your control panel. Here you can generate a Certificate Signing
Request (CSR) and RSA private key that needs to be sent to the certificate
issuing company. Contact a certificate issuing company with the private
RSA key and your necessary identification information or use the control
panel submission feature.
- The process for installing a certificate is fairly automated from
here. You still need the information obtained in step one. Follow
the instructions for placing the necessary information in the text
fields. You place the RSA private key in the text area first, then
the certificate key that was sent to you by whomever you purchased
it from.
Using Front Page with SSL
Using secure forms with front page and a shared certificate can cause
problems. While we've found this to work sporadically it most often
doesn't. If you want to use secure forms with front page you will have
to purchase your own certificate.
Links
http://developer.netscape.com/quickfind.cgi?cp=dev01qfin
http://developer.netscape.com/tech/security/ssl/howitworks.html
Configuring CGI Scripts Using
SSL...
How do I call a CGI script securely?
Using your local CGI BIN, your path would look like this:
https://secure_server.net/your_domain/cgi-bin/filename.pl or
https://your_domain.com/cgi-bin/filename.pl
The secure_sever.net represents the server your domain is hosted on.
If you would like to use formmail.pl
securely you first need to:
- Save a copy of this script on your local hard drive.
- Upload the formmail.pl file into your local /cgi-bin directory.
Then, instead of calling the universal /cgi-sys directory, you would
call your own /cgi-bin directory. It would look something like this:
https://secure_sever.net/your_domain/cgi-bin/formmail.pl
NOTE: You do NOT include the extension of your domain
(ie. '.com', '.net', '.org').
What is your server path to
PERL and Sendmail?
Our server path to PERL is: !/usr/local/bin/perl or usr/bin/perl
The path to the Sendmail program is: /usr/lib/sendmail
How do I set permissions inside
my CGI BIN?
If the browser returns "Internal Server Error" every time
you submit your form, you did not have the right permission set for
your script. Do the following to set the permission:
SSH/FTP into your /cgi-bin directory and issue the following command:
chmod 755 filename.pl
This will give universal execute permissions for that file.
Totally Confused and not sure - then email us and we'll try and clarify
things for you.
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