Ssl Generation Explained; Rhn Ssl Maintenance Tool Options - Red Hat NETWORK 3.7 - CLIENT Configuration Manual

Chapter 3. SSL Infrastructure
SSL information needed to configure, build and deploy the RHN Proxy Server's SSL keys and
certificates.
The installation procedures of both the RHN Satellite Server and the RHN Proxy Server ensure the
CA SSL public certificate is deployed to the
used by the client systems to connect to the RHN Server. Refer to Section 3.3 Deploying the CA SSL
Public Certificate to Clients for more information.
In short, if your organization's RHN infrastructure deploys the latest version of RHN Satellite Server
as its top-level service, you will likely have little need to use the tool. Otherwise, you will have to be
familiar with its usage.

3.2.1. SSL Generation Explained

The primary benefits of using the RHN SSL Maintenance Tool are security, flexibility, and portabil-
ity. Security is achieved through the creation of distinct Web server SSL keys and certificates for each
RHN server, all signed by a single Certificate Authority SSL key pair created by your organization.
Flexibility is supplied by the tool's ability to work on any machine with the
package installed. Portability exists in a build structure that can be stored anywhere for safe keeping
and then installed wherever the need arises.
Again, if your infrastructure's top-level RHN Server is the most current RHN Satellite Server, the
most you may have to do is restore your
utilize the configuration tools provided within the RHN Satellite Server's website.
To make the best use of the RHN SSL Maintenance Tool, you should complete the following high-
level tasks in this rough order. Refer to the remaining sections for the required details:
1. Install the
rhns-certs-tools
necessarily the RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server.
2. Create a single Certificate Authority SSL key pair for your organization and install the resulting
RPM or public certificate on all client systems.
3. Create a Web server SSL key set for each of the Proxies and Satellites to be deployed and install
the resulting RPMs on the RHN Servers, restarting the
/sbin/service httpd restart
4. Archive the SSL build tree - consisting of the primary build directory and all subdirectories and
files - to removable media, such as a floppy disk. (Disk space requirements are insignificant.)
5. Verify and then store that archive in a safe location, such as the one described for backups in the
Additional Requirements sections of either the Proxy or Satellite installation guide.
6. Record and secure the CA password for future use.
7. Delete the build tree from the build system for security purposes, but only once the entire RHN
infrastructure is in place and configured.
8. When additional Web server SSL key sets are needed, restore the build tree on a system running
the RHN SSL Maintenance Tool and repeat steps 3 through 7.

3.2.2. RHN SSL Maintenance Tool Options

The RHN SSL Maintenance Tool offers a plethora of command line options for generating your
Certificate Authority SSL key pair and managing your server SSL certificates and keys. The tool
offers essentially three command line option help listings:
rhn-ssl-tool --gen-ca --help
(Web server). The manual page for rhn-ssl-tool is also quite detailed and available for
--help
assistance:
man rhn-ssl-tool
directory of each server. This public certificate is
/pub
ssl-build
package on a system within your organization, perhaps but not
(Certificate Authority), and
.
tree from archive to the
service afterwards:
httpd
rhn-ssl-tool --help
rhn-ssl-tool --gen-server
11
rhns-certs-tools
directory and
/root
(general),