Managing system entropy - PingAuthorize - 9.1

PingAuthorize
bundle
pingauthorize-91
ft:publication_title
PingAuthorize
Product_Version_ce
PingAuthorize 9.1
category
ContentType
Product
Productdocumentation
paz-91
pingauthorize
ContentType_ce
Product documentation

Entropy is used to calculate random data that the system uses in cryptographic operations.

Some environments with low entropy might experience intermittent performance issues with SSL-based communication, such as certificate generation. This scenario is more typical on virtual machines but can also occur in physical instances. For best results, monitor the value of kernel.random.entropy_avail in the configuration file /etc/sysctl.conf.
Note:

To increase system entropy on a Windows system, move the mouse pointer in circles or type characters randomly into an empty text document.

  • On a UNIX or Linux system, ensure that rng-tools is installed and run the following command. 
    sudo rngd -r /dev/urandom -o /dev/random
  • To check the level of a system entropy on a UNIX or Linux system, run the following command. 
    cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail
    Note:

    Values smaller than 3200 are considered too low to generate a certificate and might cause the system to hang indefinitely.