How to Change the Security Server UI/API TLS Certificate?

By default, the Security Server UI/API has a self-signed TLS certificate (number 4 in this article) that's automatically generated during the Security Server installation process. Changing the certificate and/or recreating the private key is not possible through the Security Server UI. Instead, both operations require shell access to the Security Server.

Step-by-step guide

The Security Server UI certificate can be changed by following the steps described below.

1. First, take backup copies of the files listed below:

   sudo cp -a /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.key /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.key.bak sudo cp -a /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.crt /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.crt.bak sudo cp -a /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.p12 /etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.p12.bak

2. Update the file permissions so that the backup copies are owned by xroad user:

   sudo chown -f xroad:xroad /etc/xroad/ssl/*.bak

3. Generate a new private key and certificate signing request (CSR) by running the command:

   openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout proxy-ui-api-new.key -out proxy-ui-api-new.crt -days 365 -nodes

4. Enter your CSR details.

5. Locate and open the newly created CSR (/etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api-new.crt) in a text editor and copy all the text including:

6. Paste the contents of the CSR file in a local text file on your workstation.

7. Purchase TSL/SSL certficate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) using the CSR file.

8. Once the CA has issued the certificate, rename the certificate file to proxy-ui-api-new.crt, and copy it to /etc/xroad/ssl/ directory on the Security Server.

9. Replace the old key and certificate files with the new ones:

10. Create a PKCS#12 container (/etc/xroad/ssl/proxy-ui-api.p12) that includes the new key and certificate.

11. Update the file permissions.

12. Restart the xroad-proxy-ui-api service.

13. Check that the proxy UI API log (/var/log/xroad/proxy_ui_api.log) doesn't contain any TLS related errors.

14. In case something goes wrong, restore the original files, and restart the xroad-proxy-ui-api service.

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