Installing the WWU CA Certificates

Background

We have set up an SSL Certificate Authority (CA) locally to allow Web sites that transfer potentially sensitive data to encrypt that data. Previously, any site needing to have secure traffic would have to obtain a certificate from an outside source, which typically incur setup and yearly fees. Using a certificate issued on-campus and signed by our local CA means that secure transfers can be achieved without any cost.

In addition, the Novell servers contain an internally-generated CA of their own. This CA certificate applies to SSL services on the Novell servers, including the Web-based Novell NetStorage application for remote access to Novell files.

The trade-off for the convenience and cost savings of locally-signed server certificates is that WWU's CA certificates must be manually installed in Web browsers to avoid the browser constantly complaining that it doesn't recognize the signer of server certificates issued by the local CA or the Novell systems.

Installation

Fortunately, the process is relatively simple. Step-by-step instructions have been provided for the most common browsers on various platforms.

Walk-thru Instructions

   Windows, Internet Explorer 7/8
   Firefox
   Mac OS X, Safari/Mail
   Windows, Oracle JInitiator