Users Guide

• Allow the client to authenticate itself to the server.

• Allow both systems to establish an encrypted connection.

This encryption process provides a high level of data protection. CMC employs the 128-bit SSL

encryption standard, the most secure form of encryption generally available for Internet browsers in

North America.

The CMC Web server includes a Dell self-signed SSL digital certificate (Server ID). To ensure high security

over the Internet, replace the Web server SSL certificate by submitting a request to CMC to generate a

new Certificate Signing Request (CSR).

At boot time, a new self-signed certificate is generated if:

• A custom certificate is not present

• A self-signed certificate is not present

• The self-signed certificate is corrupt

• The self-signed certificate is expired (within 30 day window)

The self-signed certificate displays the common name as <cmcname.domain-name> where cmcname is

the CMC host name and domain-name is the domain name. If domain name is not available it displays

only the Partially Qualified Domain Name (PQDN), which is the CMC host name.

Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

A CSR is a digital request to a certificate authority (referred to as a CA in the Web interface) for a secure

server certificate. Secure server certificates ensure the identity of a remote system and ensure that

information exchanged with the remote system cannot be viewed or changed by others. To ensure the

security for your CMC, it is strongly recommended that you generate a CSR, submit the CSR to a

certificate authority, and upload the certificate returned from the certificate authority.

A certificate authority is a business entity that is recognized in the IT industry for meeting high standards

of reliable screening, identification, and other important security criteria. Examples of CAs include Thawte

and VeriSign. After the certificate authority receives your CSR, they review and verify the information the

CSR contains. If the applicant meets the certificate authority’s security standards, the certificate authority

issues a certificate to the applicant that uniquely identifies that applicant for transactions over networks

and on the Internet.

After the certificate authority approves the CSR and sends you a certificate, you must upload the

certificate to the CMC firmware. The CSR information stored on the CMC firmware must match the

information contained in the certificate.

NOTE: To configure SSL settings for CMC, you must have Chassis Configuration Administrator

privilege.

NOTE: Any server certificate you upload must be current (not expired) and signed by a certificate

authority.