What You Should Already Know - Netscape MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 6.01 Installation And Setup Manual

What You Should Already Know

Part 5, "Appendix"
• Appendix A, "Certificate Download Specification" Describes the data formats
used by Netscape Communicator 4.x for installing certificates.
Glossary
Summarizes terms used in this guide and other CMS documentation.
What You Should Already Know
This guide is intended for experienced system administrators who are planning to
deploy Certificate Management System. CMS agents should refer to CMS Agent's
Guide for information on how to perform agent tasks, such as handling certificate
requests and revoking certificates.
This guide assumes that you
• Are familiar with the basic concepts of public-key cryptography and the Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.
• Understand the concepts of intranet, extranet, and the Internet security and the
role of digital certificates in a secure enterprise. These include the following
topics:
If you are new to these concepts, we recommend that you read the
security-related appendixes of the accompanying manual, Managing Servers
with Netscape Console.
26 Netscape Certificate Management System Installation and Setup Guide • May 2002
SSL cipher suites
The purpose of and major steps in the SSL handshake
Encryption and decryption
Public keys, private keys, and symmetric keys
Significance of key lengths
Digital signatures
Digital certificates, including various types of digital certificates
The role of digital certificates in a public-key infrastructure (PKI)
Certificate hierarchies