Cisco Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server Expressway
To generate a CSR:
1.
Go to Maintenance > Security certificates > Server certificate.
2.
Click Generate CSR to go to the Generate CSR page.
3.
Enter the required properties for the certificate.
—
—
if this VCS is part of a Unified
Communications solution.
—
The certificate request includes automatically the public key that will be used in the certificate, and the
client and server authentication Enhanced Key Usage (EKU) extension.
client and server authentication Enhanced Key Usage (EKU) extension.
4.
Click Generate CSR. The system will produce a signing request and an associated private key.
The private key is stored securely on the VCS and cannot be viewed or downloaded. You must never disclose
your private key, not even to the certificate authority.
your private key, not even to the certificate authority.
5.
You are returned to the Server certificate page. From here you can:
—
Download the request to your local file system so that it can be sent to a certificate authority. You are
prompted to save the file (the exact wording depends on your browser).
prompted to save the file (the exact wording depends on your browser).
—
View the current request (click Show (decoded) to view it in a human-readable form, or click Show (PEM
file) to view the file in its raw format).
file) to view the file in its raw format).
Note:
■
Only one signing request can be in progress at any one time. This is because the VCS has to keep track of the
private key file associated with the current request. To discard the current request and start a new request,
click Discard CSR.
private key file associated with the current request. To discard the current request and start a new request,
click Discard CSR.
■
From version X8.5.1 the user interface provides an option to set the Digest algorithm. The default is set to
SHA-256, with options to change to SHA-1, SHA-384, or SHA-512.
SHA-256, with options to change to SHA-1, SHA-384, or SHA-512.
■
The certificate signing request storage location changed in X8.
When you generate a CSR in X7, the application puts csr.pem and privkey_csr.pem into
/tandberg/persistent/certs.
/tandberg/persistent/certs.
When you generate a CSR in X8, the application puts csr.pem and privkey.pem into
/tandberg/persistent/certs/generated_csr.
/tandberg/persistent/certs/generated_csr.
If you want to upgrade from X7 and have an unsubmitted CSR, then we recommend discarding the CSR before
upgrade, and then regenerating the CSR after upgrade.
upgrade, and then regenerating the CSR after upgrade.
You must now authorize the request and generate a signed PEM certificate file. You can pass it to a third-party or
internal certification authority, or use it in conjunction with an application such as Microsoft Certification Authority
(see
internal certification authority, or use it in conjunction with an application such as Microsoft Certification Authority
(see
) or OpenSSL
).
When the signed server certificate is received back from the certificate authority, it must be uploaded to the VCS as
described in
described in
.
Server Certificates and Clustered Systems
When a CSR is generated, a single request and private key combination is generated for that peer only.
If you have a cluster of VCSs, you must generate a separate signing request on each peer. Those requests must then
be sent to the certificate authority and the returned server certificates uploaded to each relevant peer.
be sent to the certificate authority and the returned server certificates uploaded to each relevant peer.
You must ensure that the correct server certificate is uploaded to the appropriate peer, otherwise the stored private
key on each peer will not correspond to the uploaded certificate.
key on each peer will not correspond to the uploaded certificate.
5
Cisco VCS Certificate Creation and Use Deployment Guide