Service Interfaces - Red Hat CERTIFICATE SYSTEM 7.1 - ADMINISTRATOR Administrator's Manual

System Architecture
• Agent Entry Point—provides entry point for agent interface and inter-CIMC_Boundary
interface. A set of customizable HTML forms are provided at this port for CA, RA, and
DRM agent users to perform agent tasks. The client applications used to access this
entry point must have the capability to act as an SSL client. A common client
application is a browser such as the Netscape browser.
• Administrators Entry Point—provides entry point for administration configuration
interface, and for auditor's audit log viewing. The client applications used to access this
entry point must have the capability to act as an SSL client. A common client
application is bundled with the CS product is Red Hat Console, a java application that
provides a GUI interface and understands the protocol provided by the CS
Administration Interface.

Service Interfaces

Each of the subsystems contains interfaces allowing interaction with various portions of the
subsystem. All four subsystems share a common administrative interface. All four
subsystems have an agent interface that allows for agents to perform the tasks assigned to
them. A CA Subsystem and an RA Subsystem have an end-entity services interface
allowing end entities to enroll in the PKI. An OCSP responder subsystem has an end-entity
services interface allowing end entities and applications to check for current certificate
revocation status
While the HTTP Engine provides the connection entry points, CS completes the interfaces
by providing the servlets specific to each interface.
End-Entity Services Interface
For the CA subsystem and RA subsystem, the end-entity interface provide JAVA servlets to
process HTML form submissions coming from the end-entity entry point. Based on the
information received from the form submissions, the end-entity servlets allow end entities
to enroll, renew certificates, revoke their own certificates, and pick up issued certificates.
The OCSP responder subsystem's end-entity interface provides JAVA servlets to accept and
process OCSP requests. The DRM subsystem does not offer any end-entity service.
58 Red Hat Certificate System Administrator's Guide • September 2005