18.3. Renewing the IdM CA renewal server certificate using an external CA

Procedure

1. Create a CSR to be submitted to the external CA:

   • If the external CA is an AD CS, use the --external-ca-type=ms-cs option. If you want a different template than the default subCA template, specify it using the --external-ca-profile option:

     ~]# ipa-cacert-manage renew --external-ca --external-ca-type=ms-cs [--external-ca-profile=PROFILE]
     Exporting CA certificate signing request, please wait
     The next step is to get /var/lib/ipa/ca.csr signed by your CA and re-run ipa-cacert-manage as:
     ipa-cacert-manage renew --external-cert-file=/path/to/signed_certificate --external-cert-file=/path/to/external_ca_certificate
     The ipa-cacert-manage command was successful

   • If the external CA is not an AD CS:

     ~]# ipa-cacert-manage renew --external-ca
     Exporting CA certificate signing request, please wait
     The next step is to get /var/lib/ipa/ca.csr signed by your CA and re-run ipa-cacert-manage as:
     ipa-cacert-manage renew --external-cert-file=/path/to/signed_certificate --external-cert-file=/path/to/external_ca_certificate
     The ipa-cacert-manage command was successful

     The output shows that a CSR has been created and is stored in the /var/lib/ipa/ca.csr file.

2. Submit the CSR located in /var/lib/ipa/ca.csr to the external CA. The process differs depending on the service to be used as the external CA.

3. Retrieve the issued certificate and the CA certificate chain for the issuing CA in a base 64-encoded blob, which is:

   • A PEM file if the external CA is not an AD CS.

   • A Base_64 certificate if the external CA is an AD CS.

     The process differs for every certificate service. Usually, a download link on a web page or in the notification email allows the administrator to download all the required certificates.

     If the external CA is an AD CS and you have submitted the CSR with a known template through the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority management window, the AD CS issues the certificate immediately and the Save Certificate dialog appears in the AD CS web interface, asking where to save the issued certificate.

4. Run the ipa-cacert-manage renew command again, adding all the CA certificate files required to supply a full certificate chain. Specify as many files as you need, using the --external-cert-file option multiple times:

   ~]# ipa-cacert-manage renew --external-cert-file=/path/to/signed_certificate --external-cert-file=/path/to/external_ca_certificate_1 --external-cert-file=/path/to/external_ca_certificate_2

5. On all the IdM servers and clients, update the local IdM certificate databases with the certificates from the server:

   [client ~]$ ipa-certupdate
   Systemwide CA database updated.
   Systemwide CA database updated.
   The ipa-certupdate command was successful