How Do I Complete the Certificate File When Uploading a Certificate?

You can upload your external certificates to SCM so that you can centrally manage all your certificates.

When uploading an existing certificate to SCM, you need to upload a certificate file. Figure 1 shows an example.

Figure 1 Certificate

Currently, only certificate files in the PEM format can be uploaded to SCM.

When uploading a certificate file, open the .PEM file you want to upload with Notepad and copy the content to the Certificate File text box as shown in Figure 1.

If the system displays a message indicating that the certificate chain is incomplete during the upload, perform the following operations:

Generally, a certificate file issued by an intermediate agency contains multiple certificates, for example, a server certificate and a certificate chain in *.PEM format. A certificate chain is an ordered list of certificates, containing an SSL certificate and Certificate Authority (CA) certificates, that enable the receiver to verify that the sender and all CA's are trustworthy. You need to combine all certificates into a single, complete certificate file before upload. For more information about the certificate chain, see How Do I Configure a Certificate Chain?

A server certificate must be placed before the certificate chain in a certificate file. Perform the following steps to make a certificate file:

1. Use Notepad to open all *.PEM certificate files.
2. Paste the server certificate before the certificate chain.

   Generally, an instruction will be issued by the intermediate agency together with the certificate. Be aware of the rules in the instruction. The general rules are as follows:

   • There are no empty lines between certificates.
   • The format of the certificate chain is as follows:

     -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

     -----END CERTIFICATE-----

     -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

     -----END CERTIFICATE-----

Figure 2 shows a complete certificate file.

Figure 2 A complete PEM certificate file