Chapter 1. Overview of Red Hat Certificate System Subsystems
Note
This chapter is an overview of Red Hat Certificate System and the various subsystems. For details on evaluated product features, please see the NIAP Product Compliant List at https://www.niap-ccevs.org/Product/PCL.cfm.
Note
Network security services (NSS) and Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) hardware security modules (HSM) were the only evaluated cryptographic providers.
Every common PKI operation — issuing, renewing and revoking certificates; archiving and recovering keys; publishing CRLs and verifying certificate status — is carried out by interoperating subsystems within Red Hat Certificate System. The functions of each individual subsystem and the way that they work together to establish a robust and local PKI are described in this chapter.
1.1. Uses for Certificates
The purpose of certificates is to establish trust. Their usage varies depending on the kind of trust they are used to ensure. Some kinds of certificates are used to verify the identity of the presenter; others are used to verify that an object or item has not been tampered with.
For information on how certificates are used, the types of certificates, or how certificates establish identities and relationships, see the Certificates and Authentication section in the Red Hat Certificate System Planning, Installation, and Deployment Guide (Common Criteria Edition).
