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

Owned by Petteri Kivimäki
Last updated: Feb 28, 2023
2 min read

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.