PingIntelligence

Configuring SSL for external APIs

API Security Enforcer (ASE) supports both TLS 1.2 and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3 for external application programming interface (API)s.

OpenSSL is bundled with ASE. The following are the version details:

  • RHEL 7 : OpenSSL 1.0.2k-fips January 26, 2017

  • Ubuntu 16LTS : OpenSSL 1.0.2g March 1, 2016

You can configure SSL in ASE for client side connection using one of the following methods:

  • Using a certificate authority (CA)-signed certificate

  • Using a self-signed certificate

  • Using an existing certificate

The steps provided in this section are for certificate and key generated for connections between the client and ASE as depicted in the following diagram.

Diagram of SSL/TLS connections

In a cluster setup:

  1. Stop all the ASE cluster nodes.

  2. Configure the certificate on the management node.

  3. Start the cluster nodes one by one for the certificates to synchronize across the nodes.

  • CA-signed certificate

  • Self-signed certificate

  • Existing certificate and key pair

Using a CA-signed certificate

About this task

To use a CA-signed SSL certificates, follow the process to create a private key, generate a certificate signing request (CSR), and request a certificate as shown in the following diagram.

Diagram showing CA-signed certificate process

ASE internally validates the authenticity of the imported certificate.

To use a CA-signed certificate:

Steps

  1. Create a private key.

    The ASE command-line interface (CLI) is used to create a 2048-bit private key and to store it in the key store.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh create_key_pair -u admin -p
Warning: create_key_pair will delete any existing key_pair, CSR and self-signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Ok, creating new key pair. Creating DH parameter may take around 20 minutes. Please wait
Key created in keystore
dh param file created at /opt/pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/dh1024.pem

  2. Create a CSR.

    ASE takes you through a CLI-based interactive session to create a CSR.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh create_csr -u admin -p
Warning: create_csr will delete any existing CSR and self-signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
please provide following info
Country Code >US
State > Colorado
Location >Denver
Organization >Pingidentity
Organization Unit >Pingintelligence
Common Name >ase
Generating CSR. Please wait...
OK, csr created at /opt/pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/ase.csr

  3. Upload the CSR that you created in step 2 to the CA signing authority’s website to get a CA-signed certificate.

  4. Download the CA-signed certificate from the CA signing authority’s website.

  5. Use the CLI to import the signed CA certificate into ASE.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh import_cert  <CA signed certificate path>  -u admin -p
Warning: import_cert will overwrite any existing signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Exporting certificate to API Security Enforcer...
OK, signed certificate added to keystore

    Result:

    The certificate is imported into the key store.

  6. Restart ASE.

    For more information, see Starting and stopping ASE.

Using a self-signed certificate

About this task

A self-signed certificate is also supported for customer testing.

To create a self-signed certificate:

Steps

  1. Create a private key.

    ASE CLI is used to generate a 2048-bit private key in the /opt/pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/dh1024.pem file.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh create_key_pair -u admin -p
Warning: create_key_pair will delete any existing key_pair, CSR and self-signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Ok, creating new key pair. Creating DH parameter may take around 20 minutes. Please wait
Key created in keystore
dh param file created at /opt/pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/dh1024.pem

  2. Create a CSR file.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh create_csr -u admin -p
Warning: create_csr will delete any existing CSR and self-signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
please provide following info
Country Code >US
State >colorado
Location >Denver
Organization >PI
Organization Unit >TEST
Common Name >yoursiteabc.com
Generating CSR. Please wait...
OK, csr created at /opt/pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/ase.csr

  3. Use the CLI to produce a self-signed certificate using the certificate request located in /pingidentity/ase/config/certs/dataplane/ase.csr.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh create_self_sign_cert -u admin -p
Warning: create_self_sign_cert will delete any existing self-signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Creating new self-signed certificate
OK, self-sign certificate created in keystore

  4. Restart ASE.

    For more information, see Starting and stopping ASE.

Using an existing certificate and key pair

About this task

If you have an intermediate certificate from a CA, then append the content to your server .crt file.

To install an existing certificate:

Steps

  1. Import the key pair.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh import_key_pair private.key -u admin -p
Warning: import_key_pair will overwrite any existing certificates
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Exporting key to API Security Enforcer...
OK, key pair added to keystore

  2. Import the .crt file in ASE by running the import_cert CLI command.

    Example:

    /opt/pingidentity/ase/bin/cli.sh import_cert server-crt.crt -u admin -p
Warning: import_cert will overwrite any existing signed certificate
Do you want to proceed [y/n]:y
Exporting certificate to API Security Enforcer...
OK, signed certificate added to keystore

  3. Restart ASE.

    For more information, see Starting and stopping ASE.