6.7

Table Of Contents
To make VMCA an intermediate CA, you have to run Certificate Manager several times. The workflow
gives the complete set of steps for replacing both machine SSL certificates and solution user certificates.
It explains what to do in environments with embedded Platform Services Controller or external
Platform Services Controller.
1 To generate a CSR, select Option 1, Replace Machine SSL certificate with Custom Certificate then
Option 1.
You receive a signed certificate and a root certificate from the CA.
2 Combine the VMCA root certificate with the CA root certificate and save the file.
3 Select Option 2, Replace VMCA Root certificate with Custom Signing Certificate and replace all
Certificates. This process replaces all certificates on the local machine.
4 In a multi-node deployment, you have to replace certificates on each node.
a First you replace the machine SSL certificate with the (new) VMCA certificate (Option 3)
b Then you replace the solution user certificates with the (new) VMCA certificate (Option 6).
Procedure
1 Generate CSR with vSphere Certificate Manager and Prepare Root Certificate (Intermediate CA)
You can use vSphere Certificate Manager to generate Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs). Submit
those CSRs to your enterprise CA or to an external certificate authority for signing. You can use the
signed certificates with the different supported certificate replacement processes.
2 Replace VMCA Root Certificate with Custom Signing Certificate and Replace All Certificates
You can use vSphere Certificate Manager to generate a CSR and sent the CSR to an enterprise or
third-party CA for signing. You can then replace the VMCA root certificate with a custom signing
certificate and replace all existing certificates with certificates that are signed by the custom CA.
3 Replace Machine SSL Certificate with VMCA Certificate (Intermediate CA)
In a multi-node deployment that uses VMCA as an intermediate CA, you have to replace the
machine SSL certificate explicitly. First you replace the VMCA root certificate on the
Platform Services Controller node, and then you can replace the certificates on the vCenter Server
nodes to have the certificates signed by the full chain. You can also use this option to replace
machine SSL certificates that are corrupt or about to expire.
4 Replace Solution User Certificates with VMCA Certificates (Intermediate CA)
In a multi-node environment that uses VMCA as an intermediate CA, you can replace the solution
user certificates explicitly. First you replace the VMCA root certificate on the
Platform Services Controller node, and then you can replace the certificates on the vCenter Server
nodes to have the certificates signed by the full chain. You can also use this option to replace
solution user certificates that are corrupt or about to expire.
Platform Services Controller Administration
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