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Table Of Contents
VMware ACE Administrator’s Manual
62 VMware, Inc.
toeveryoneandtheprivatekeyisknownonlytothemessagerecipient.URLsthat
requireanSSLconnectionstartwithhttps.
ThefollowingisadescriptionofhowtheACE2ManagementServerusesSSL.
AtACE2ManagementServerinstallation,twofilesarecreated:
AnRSA1024bitkey(filename:server.key)Thisistheprivatekey.
Aselfsignedcertificate(filename:server.crt)Itis“selfsignedbecauseits
signatureisverifiedbythepublickey,whichisembeddedinthecertificate.
Bydefault,thesefilesarestoredintheSSLdirectoryintheVMwareACE2
ManagementServerprogramdirectory.
Theselfsignedcertificate,whichisapubliccertificate,isvalidfor10yearsfromthe
dateandtimeatwhichtheserverisinstalled.ThecertificatefileisencodedinPEM
format.Youcanbrowsethefiletoseeitspropertiesasfollows:
OnaWindowshostsystem:InWindowsExplorer,navigatetothelocationofthe
server.crtfileanddoubleclickthefilename.
OnaLinuxhostsystem,usethiscommand:
openssl x509 -in /var/lib/vmware/acesc/ssl/server.crt -text
WhenanACEmasterconnectstoanACE2ManagementServer,itdownloadsthe
publiccertificateforthatserverandanychainofcertificatesrequiredtoverifytheservers
publiccertificate.Aservercertificatemighthaveachainofseveralcertificatesthatmust
beverifiedstepbystepuntiltheverification
processreachestheroot(trusted)
certificateinthecertificatestore.Thefirsttimeaconnectionismadetoaserverbyany
ACEmasteronaWorkstationACEEditionadministratormachine,thecertificateis
downloadedtotheWorkstationACEEditionhostsystem.
Thestoreorcollectionofcertificatesthatis
downloadedwhenanACEmasterconnects
toaserverisincludedineachACEpackagethatyoucreatewiththatACEmaster.Itis
savedintheACEResourcesdirectory.WhenyoudeployandrunanACEinstanceof
thismaster,theVMwarePlayerapplicationusesthecertificatesincludedinthe
package
toverifyconnectionsmadetotheACE2ManagementServer.Itverifiesthatthe
certificatesthatareintheACEpackagematchthoseprovidedbytheserver.Iftheydo
notmatchexactly,VMwarePlayerdisplaysanerrormessageanddoesnotrunthe
instance.
N
OTEAsnotedabove,theselfsignedcertificateisvalidfor10years.Ifyoushould
needtoreplaceanexpiredcertificate,youcandothatbydeployingtheaffectedACE
mastersinanupdatepackage,whichwouldincludethenewcertificate.Donotmodify
certificatestomakethempermanent.