Requesting a user certificate

To use the system with security, you must request user credentials from your organization’s security administrator.

The security administrator issues user credentials by creating both files. These are kept on the host server, in the form of a DER file.

There are two methods of requesting a user certificate from your security administrator: From the New User tab or from the New Credentials tab.

To request a user certificate from the New User tab:

  1. Specify your system user name. This is assigned to you by your security administrator.
  2. Specify your email address and password. Click OK.
  3. Wait for the approval from your CA.

To request a user certificate from the New Credentials tab, follow the instructions on the tab:

  1. Specify your system user name, which is assigned to you by your security administrator.
    • If you received the user information file as an email attachment, then the user name is also included in the file name. For example, usernameinfo.der.
    • If you received the file in PEM format, then the user name is in the first line. This informs you where to save the PEM file. For example, Save the following text as username-info.pem.
  2. Copy the user information file to the specified location.
    • If the file is in DER format, for example, then copy it to the specified location.
    • If the file is in PEM format, for example, then paste it into the PEM text box.
  3. Click Use Info File to copy information from the user information file. This fills in some, or all, of the text boxes, providing the information specified by your security administrator.
    Note: You should not change any of this information or complete any blank items, unless you receive explicit instructions from your security administrator.
  4. Click Create Private Key and Request to generate your public key, your private key, and the request for a User Certificate. The Enter Password dialog box is displayed.
    • In the Please enter the password field, specify the password that is used to generate and access your private key.
    • In the Confirm Password field, specify the same password again. The two passwords must match.
    Note: Make a note of this password! This is required to test your user certificate when the security administrator returns it.
  5. Click OK. This action:
    • Copies the contents of the User Information File that you completed in Step 3 into a Certificate Request file.
    • Creates a public key and incorporates it into the Certificate Request file.
    • Encodes the Certificate Request file.
    • Creates a private key that only you can use with the password.
    • Opens a dialog box to notify you of the operation’s success.
  6. Email the Certificate Request to the Security Administrator.
    The file name and location are specified on the New Credentials dialog box. If your email does not support attachments, then send the request in PEM format.
  7. After you receive the certificate, copy it to the specified location.
    • If the file is in DER format, then copy it to the specified location.
    • If the file is in PEM format, then paste it into the PEM text box. This automatically copies it to the appropriate location and gives it a .pem extension.
  8. Click Test to test the user certificate to ensure it matches your private key.
    When you click Test, the Enter Password dialog box opens.

    Specify the password that you specified earlier, when you first opened the New Credentials dialog box. This compares the certificate with the private key to ensure that they match.

    Note: If the test fails, then someone could have interfered with the procedure. Notify your security administrator immediately to revoke the certificate.
  9. Click OK. This concludes the procedure for obtaining a user certificate and closes the New Credentials dialog box.
    You can now access the system, logging on with the user name assigned to you by the security administrator and the password that you supplied.