Client Certificate Renewal in Linux/Windows

This section provide information on how client certificate renewal will be implemented in CADP For C (Linux/Windows).

Utility for Certificate Renewal

While installing CADP for C, if you chose to proceed with registration token, the installer internally calls 'cadp_for_basic' utility with registration token to register a client.

The utility returns the following status:

• Success:

  • Linux - An entry (job) for client certificate renewal is added to the Crontab.

  • Windows - An entry (job) for client certificate renewal is added to the Window Task Scheduler.

• Failed: Check the 'cadp_c_basic.log' file for the reason.

The cadp_for_basic utility can be called through the following ways:

1. Manually

   To call the utility manually, execute the following command:

   cadp_for_basic -d <CADP_For_C Installation Path> --renew_cert --force_update
   

2. Auto

   A scheduler for certificate renewal is automatically added to:

   • Crontab (Linux)

   • Windows Task Scheduler (Windows) - A task CipherTrust\CADP_for_C\Cert_Expiry_Check_n_Update is added to the Windows Task scheduler.

   This scheduler will run daily at 12:00 p.m. (as per Client system timezone). If the certificates are due for renewal, the utilities present in the installed directory will update the certificates and configuration file to renew the certificates.

   cadp_for_basic -d <CADP_For_C Installation Path> --renew_cert
   

   where,

   • renew_cert: is the utility that checks expiration time of the certificates for the time interval (x) between 90 to 60 days and shows a notification log 'Your certificates are going to be renewed in next days' in cadp_c_basic.log. Here, <x> will be 60 <= x <=90.

     If the remaining time is equal to 60 days it will renew the certificates and shows a notification log 'Your certificates are auto renewed successfully' in cadp_c_basic.log.

   • force_update: If this flag is given along with --renew_cert, then utility will not check remaining time of certificates expiration and will forcefully renew the certificates at that instant and shows a notification log 'Your certificates are renewed successfully' in cadp_c_basic.log.

This utility also provides a feature to return the number of days remaining for certificate expiration by executing the following command:

Example

cadp_for_c_basic  -d <CADP_For_C Installation Path> --checkCertExpiry

Output:

Client Cert Expiration Days Remaining: <x>

Sample Commands

Linux

• To fetch the number of days remaining for certificate expiration:

  cadp_for_c_basic -d "/opt/CipherTrust/CADP_for_C/" --checkCertExpiry
  

• To force renew the certificates:

  cadp_for_c_basic -d "/opt/CipherTrust/CADP_for_C/" --renew_cert --force_update
  

Windows

• To fetch the number of days remaining for certificate expiration:

  cadp_for_c_basic.exe  -d "C:\Program Files\CipherTrust\CADP_for_C\\" --checkCertExpiry
  

• To force renew the certificates:

  cadp_for_basic.exe -d "C:\Program Files\CipherTrust\CADP_for_C\\" --renew_cert --force_update