11.3.5.3. The Edit Certificates menu

Most of the actual PKI-related tasks can be performed using the Edit Certificates menu item. Selecting this item displays the PKI management window of the selected site.

The Edit Certificates menu

Figure 11.5. The Edit Certificates menu

This window has the following tabs:

  • PKI management tab is used for managing local CAs. This includes managing certificates and certificate signing requests, refreshing keys, and so on.

  • Trusted CAs tab is for managing trusted certificate authorities, creating new ones, grouping them, and so on.

  • Certificates tab is for managing certificates: creating new certificate signing requests (CSRs), as well as for importing/exporting certificate entities.

On all three tabs, information about the currently selected certificate (or CA certificate) is displayed in the lower section of the panel. This information includes the following data:

Certificate information

Figure 11.6. Certificate information

The following data is displayed:

  • the distinguished name of the CA issuing the certificate

  • the subject of the certificate

  • the validity period of the certificate

  • the information on the algorithm used to generate the keys, including the length of the key

  • any X.509 extensions used in the certificate

    Note

    The X.509 standard for certificates supports the use of various extensions, for example, to specify for what purposes the certificate can be used, and so on. For details on the possible extensions, see Appendix B, Further readings.