This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
The chain checker and the key matcher read what you paste. A mismatch is a fact. Disabling verification is not the fix.
You do not replace a production certificate during the reading. You write the error and the file names.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the system named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the system, then decide.
Rollback is the file, the record, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Paste the certificate and the chain, or the key, that you hold.
- Read the mismatch.
- Write the file names.
- Do not install anything.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the statement
Troubleshooting Certificate Errors goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- Verification disabled.
- A new certificate installed during the reading.
- The wrong host.
Decisions to write down
One decision for Troubleshooting Certificate Errors: The error is one sentence. No certificate was installed. And verification stayed on.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: The files are named. The mismatch is written. Nothing was installed. Verification is on. And the host is yours. If one of those fails, stop.
# Read the chain or the key match.
# Do not disable verification.
# 192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.Before you leave the system
Troubleshooting Certificate Errors ends when the system in the note is the system in the ticket. If it is not, stop.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log in, does not scan, and does not send mail.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you publish because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the scope aloud. If they cannot find it in the ticket, the note is not done.
This page is a planning guide. It is not legal advice, not an audit opinion, not a vendor manual, and not the text of a standard. You do not disable a security control to make a check pass. You do not use the page against a system you do not administer.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.
- Pillar: PKI & Certificates Guide
- Cheat Sheet: OpenSSL Cheat Sheet
- How-To: Preparing for 47-Day Certificate Lifetimes
- Explainer: Certificate Revocation: OCSP and CRL
Companion: System: SSL on Nginx and Apache.