Chapter 1 Agent Services; Overview Of Certificate Management System - Netscape MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 6.1 - AGENT GUIDE Manual

This chapter describes the role of the privileged users called agents in managing
Netscape Certificate Management System (CMS). It also introduces the tools that
agents use to administer service requests.
This chapter contains the following sections:
•

Overview of Certificate Management System

• Agent Tasks
• Forms for Performing Agent Operations
• Accessing Agent Services
Overview of Certificate Management System
Certificate Management System is a highly configurable set of software
components and tools for creating, deploying, and managing certificates. The
standards and services that facilitate the use of public-key cryptography and X.509
version 3 certificates in a networked environment are collectively called the public
key infrastructure (PKI) for that environment. In any PKI, a certificate authority (CA)
is a trusted entity that issues, renews, and revokes certificates. An end entity is a
person, router, server, or other entity that uses a certificate to identify itself.
To participate in a PKI, an end entity must enroll, or register, in the system. The end
entity typically initiates enrollment by giving the CA some form of identification
and a newly generated public key. The CA uses the information provided to
authenticate, or confirm, the identity; it then issues the end entity a certificate that
associates that identity with the public key, and signs the certificate with the CA's
own private signing key.
Chapter 1
Agent Services
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