Knowledgebase: Product Technical Support > FileCatalyst Central
How to Install an SSL Certificate in Central
Posted by Aly Essa, Last modified by Aly Essa on 20 April 2018 02:47 PM

Overview

This article will provide a quick walkthrough of the installation of an SSL Certificate in FileCatalyst Central.

With our most recent release of FileCatalyst Central v3.7.2, we have replaced the embedded Tomcat Web Server which is used to serve up the Central deployment with the Grizzly Web Server. With this new implementation, we will be using this internal web server in all our product lines. Depending on your starting point you can jump down in the article to different guides which will help you install and deploy an SSL Certificate on your Central deployment:

Environment

FileCatalyst Central v3.7.2 and later.

Resolution

Please make sure that OpenSSL is installed on your machine before you proceed with further in this guide.

Install OpenSSL:

  1. Download the OpenSSL installer from one of the mirrors located at https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/Binaries. The example install directory referenced in this article is C:\OpenSSL\.

  2. Follow the installation wizard to complete the rest of the installation.

  3. Make sure that C:\OpenSSL\bin\ has been added to your Windows Environment PATH Variable. This will make the OpenSSL command accessible from the Command Prompt.



Install SSL Certificates on FileCatalyst Central

Once you have your Certificate (.pem file), Private Key (.pvk) and PEM Container Password you can modify the Central configuration file directly. This method is not recommended while the FileCatalyst Central service is running. Please shut down the FileCatalyst Central service before you proceed.

Locate your maconfig.conf file which is inside the installation path of your FileCatalyst Central.

 
Search for the following parameters and enter your certificate details:
 
FCMonitoringAgent.config.webserver.ssl.key.pass=<Enter your PVK Container Password>
FCMonitoringAgent.config.webserver.ssl.cert.file= C:/Program Files/FileCatalyst Central/SSL Cert/fullchain.pem
FCMonitoringAgent.config.http.port=8080
FCMonitoringAgent.config.webserver.ssl.key.file= C:/Program Files/FileCatalyst Central/SSL Cert/pvk.key
FCMonitoringAgent.config.webserver.ssl.enabled=true

SSL Certificate Installation on the FileCatalyst Central Using a PFX File

The steps to extract the elements needed to deploy the SSL Certificate on Central from a PFX container are the same as what has been outlined in our SSL Certificate Installation on the FileCatalyst Server Using a PFX File guide. 

Once you have the PEM container and Private Key you can proceed to the Install SSL Certificates on FileCatalyst Central section.

SSL Certificate Installation on FileCatalyst Central using PKCS#7 Certificate

The steps to extract the elements needed to deploy an SSL Certificate on Central are the same as what has been outlined in our SSL Certificate Installation on FileCatalyst Server using PKCS#7 Certificate guide. 

Once you have the PEM container and Private Key you can proceed to the Install SSL Certificates on FileCatalyst Central section.

Using Self Signed Certificates on the FileCatalyst Central
When FileCatalyst Central is first installed a self-signed certificate is created and stored in the installation directory of Central. If the self-signed certificates have been deleted and they are referenced in the maconfig.conf file they will be regenerated on the next Central service launch.
If you would like to use a self-signed certificate with your own company information please use the following steps:
  1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the final destination of where you want the Private Key and PEM Container to be stored.

  2. Run the following command:

    openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout privatekey.pvk -x509 -days 365 -out certificate.pem

    You will be prompted to enter some information about your company. 

    Your output should look like:



    Now that you have the Certificate (.pem file) and Private Key (.pvk) generated, you can proceed to the Install SSL Certificates on FileCatalyst Central section.