Setting up SSL for Faspex Nodes

Setting up SSL for your remote transfer server.

1. Test your connection to the transfer node using the Faspex sample cert.pem file.

   On your Faspex machine, go to the following directory to copy the Aspera cert.pem.sample file:

   • (Windows 32-bit) C:\Program Files\Aspera\Faspex\config\
   • (Windows 64-bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Faspex\config\

   Place a copy of the sample file in the /ssl directory (shown below) and remove the .sample suffix.

   • (Windows 32-bit) C:\Program Files\Aspera\Faspex\config\ssl\
   • (Windows 64-bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Faspex\config\ssl\

   Important: Your cert.pem file should contain the list of CA Root Certificates in PEM format. Please refer to the sample cementer file as a reference.

   To verify this setup, create a Faspex package and confirm that your remote transfer server is able to send the package to another user.

   Continue to the next step if you would like to create your own SSL Certificate (to either self-sign, or send to a signing authority).

2. Create a working directory

   In a Command Prompt window (Start menu > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt), create a new working directory as follows:

   > CD c:\
   > dirk SSL
   > CD c:\SSL
   

3. Copy OpenOffice to your working directory

   Enter the following commands in your Command Prompt window:

   OS Version	Commands
   32-bit Windows	> copy "c:\Program Files\Common Files\Aspera\common\apache\conf\openssl.cnf" "c:\ssl\" > cd c:\ssl
   64-bit Windows	> copy "c:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Aspera\common\apache\conf\openssl.cnf" "c:\ssl\" > cd c:\ssl

4. Enter the OpenSSL command to generate your Private Key and Certificate Signing Request

   In this step, you will generate an RSA Private Key and CSR using OpenSSL. In a Command Prompt window, enter the following command (where my_key_name.key is the name of the unique key that you are creating and my_csr_name.csr is the name of your CSR):

   > openssl req -config "c:\ssl\openssl.cnf" -new -nodes -keyout my_key_name.key -out my_csr_name.csr

   Note that in the example above, the .key and .csr files will be written to the c:\ssl\ directory.

5. Enter your X.509 certificate attributes

   After entering the command in the previous step, you will be prompted to input several pieces of information, which are the certificate's X.509 attributes.

   Important: The common name field must be filled in with the fully qualified domain name of the server to be protected by SSL. If you are generating a certificate for an organization outside of the US, please refer to the link: http://www.iso.org/iso/english_country_names_and_code_elements for a list of 2-letter, ISO country codes.

   Generating a 1024 bit RSA private key
   ....................++++++
   ................++++++
   writing new private key to 'my_key_name.key'
   -----
   You are about to be asked to enter information that will be incorporated
   into your certificate request.
   What you are about to enter is what is called a Distinguished Name or a DN.
   There are quite a few fields but you can leave some blank
   For some fields there will be a default value,
   If you enter '.', the field will be left blank.
   -----
   Country Name (2 letter code) [US]:Your_2_letter_ISO_country_code
   State or Province Name (full name) [Some-State]:Your_State_Province_or_County
   Locality Name (eg, city) []:Your_City
   Organization Name (eg, company) [Internet Widgits Pty Ltd]:Your_Company
   Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:Your_Department
   Common Name (i.e., your server's hostname) []:secure.yourwebsite.com
   Email Address []:johndoe@yourwebsite.com
   

   You will also be prompted to input "extra" attributes, including an optional challenge password. Please note that manually entering a challenge password when starting the server can be problematic in some situations (e.g., when starting the server from the system boot scripts). You can skip inputting a challenge password by hitting the "enter" button.

   ...
   Please enter the following 'extra' attributes
   to be sent with your certificate request
   A challenge password []:
   An optional company name []:
   

   After finalizing the attributes, the private key and CSR will be saved to your root directory.

   Important: If you make a mistake when running the OpenSSL command, you may discard the generated files and run the command again. After successfully generating your key and Certificate Signing Request, be sure to guard your private key, as it cannot be re-generated.
6. Send CSR to your signing authority

   You now need to send your unsigned CSR to a Certifying Authority (CA). Once completed, you will have valid, signed certificate.

   Important: Some Certificate Authorities provide a Certificate Signing Request generation tool on their Website. Please check with your CA for additional information.
7. (Optional) Generate a Self-Signed Certificate.

   At this point, you may need to generate a self-signed certificate because:

   • You don't plan on having your certificate signed by a CA
   • Or you wish to test your new SSL implementation while the CA is signing your certificate

   You may also generate a self-signed certificate through OpenSSL. To generate a temporary certificate (which is good for 365 days), issue the following command:

   openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in my_csr_name.csr -signkey my_key_name.key -out my_cert_name.crt

8. Create the PEM file.

   After generating a new certificate, you must create a cert.pem file that contains both the private key and the certificate. To do so, copy and paste the entire body of the key and cert files into a single text file and save the file as cert.pem. Lastly, place a copy of the cert.pem file in the Faspex\config\ssl directory (shown below).

   • (Windows 32-bit) C:\Program Files\Aspera\Faspex\config\ssl\
   • (Windows 64-bit) C:\Program Files (x86)\Aspera\Faspex\config\ssl\

   Important: Your cert.pem file should contain the list of CA Root Certificates in PEM format. Please refer to the sample cert.pem (described in Step 1, above) as a reference.

   To verify this setup, create a Faspex package and confirm that your remote transfer server is able to send the package to another user.