Skip to content

Host Certificates

Note

This document describes how to get host certificates. For instructions on how to get user certificates, see the User Certificates document.

Host certificates are X.509 certificates that are used to securely identify servers and to establish encrypted connections between services and clients. In the OSG, some grid resources (e.g., HTCondor-CE, XRootD, GridFTP) require host certificates. If you are unsure if your host needs a host certificate, please consult the installation instructions for the software you are interested in installing.

To acquire a host certificate, you must submit a request to a Certificate Authority (CA). We recommend requesting host certificates from one of the following CA services:

Use this page to learn how to request and install host certificates on an OSG resource.

Before Starting

Before requesting a new host certificate, use openssl to check if your host already has a valid certificate, i.e. the present is between notBefore and notAfter dates and times. If so, you may safely skip this document:

[email protected] $ openssl x509 -in /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem -subject -issuer -dates -noout
subject= /DC=org/DC=opensciencegrid/O=Open Science Grid/OU=Services/CN=host.opensciencegrid.org
issuer=/DC=org/DC=cilogon/C=US/O=CILogon/CN=CILogon OSG CA 1
notBefore=Jan  4 21:08:09 2010 GMT
notAfter=Jan  4 21:08:09 2011 GMT

If you are using OpenSSL 1.1, you may notice minor formatting differences.

Requesting InCommon IGTF Host Certificates

Many institutions in the United States already subscribe to InCommon and offer certificate services. If your institution is in the list of InCommon subscribers, continue with the instructions below. If your institution is not in the list, Let's Encrypt certificates do not meet your needs, and you do not have access to another IGTF CA subscription, please contact us.

As with all OSG software installations, there are some one-time (per host) steps to prepare in advance:

From a host that meets the above requirements, follow the instructions below to request a new host certificate:

  1. Install the osg-pki-tools:

    [email protected] # yum install osg-pki-tools

  2. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and private key using the osg-cert-request tool:

    [email protected] $ osg-cert-request --hostname <HOSTNAME> \
             --country <COUNTRY> \
             --state <STATE> \
             --locality <LOCALITY> \
             --organization <ORGANIZATION>

    You may also add DNS Subject Alternative Names (SAN) to the request by specifying any number of --altname <SAN>. For example, the following generates a CSR for test.opensciencegrid.org with foo.opensciencegrid.org and bar.opensciencegrid.org as SANs:

    [email protected] $ osg-cert-request --hostname test.opensciencegrid.org \
             --country US \
             --state Wisconsin \
             --locality Madison \
             --organization 'University of Wisconsin' \
             --altname foo.opensciencegrid.org \
             --altname bar.opensciencegrid.org

    If successful, the CSR will be named <HOSTNAME>.req and the private key will be named <HOSTNAME>-key.pem. Additional options and descriptions can be found here.

  3. Find your institution-specific InCommon contact (e.g. UW-Madison InCommon contact), submit the CSR that you generated above, and request a 1-year IGTF Server Certificate for OTHER server software.

  4. After the certificate has been issued by your institution, download it on its intended host and copy over the key you generated above.

  5. Verify that the issuer CN field is InCommon IGTF Server CA:

    $ openssl x509 -in <PATH TO CERTIFICATE> -noout -issuer
issuer= /C=US/O=Internet2/OU=InCommon/CN=InCommon IGTF Server CA

  6. Install the host certificate and key:

    [email protected] # cp <PATH TO CERTIFICATE> /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem
[email protected] # chmod 444 /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem
[email protected] # cp <PATH TO KEY> /etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem
[email protected] # chmod 400 /etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem

Requesting Host Certificates Using Let's Encrypt

Let's Encrypt is a free, automated, and open CA frequently used for web services; see the security team's position on Let's Encrypt for more details. Let's Encrypt can be used to obtain host certificates as an alternative to InCommon if your institution does not have an InCommon subscription.

  1. Install the certbot package (available from the EPEL 7 repository):

    [email protected] # yum install certbot

  2. If you have any service running on port 80, you will have to disable it temporarily to obtain certificates, as Let's Encrypt needs to bind on it temporarily in order to verify the host. For instance, if you already have an HTCondor-CE set up with the HTCondor-CE View service running, stop the HTCondor-CE View service, as it listens on port 80.

  3. Run the following command to obtain the host certificate with Let's Encrypt:

    [email protected] # certbot certonly --standalone --email <ADMIN_EMAIL> -d <HOST>

  4. Set up hostcert/hostkey links:

    [email protected] # ln -s /etc/letsencrypt/live/*/cert.pem /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem
[email protected] # ln -s /etc/letsencrypt/live/*/privkey.pem /etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem
[email protected] # chmod 0600 /etc/letsencrypt/archive/*/privkey*.pem

Renewing Let's Encrypt host certificates

Before the host certificate expires, you can renew it with the following command:

[email protected] # certbot renew

To automate the renewal process, you need to choose between using a cron job (SL6 and SL7 hosts) and a systemd timer (SL7 hosts only). The two sections below outline both methods for automatically renewing your certificate.

Automating renewals using cron

To automate a monthly renewal with a cron job; you can create /etc/cron.d/certbot-renew with the following contents:

* * 1 * * root certbot renew

Automating renewals using systemd timers

To automate a monthly renewal using systemd, you'll need to create two files. The first is a service file that tells systemd how to invoke certbot. The second is to generate a timer file that tells systemd how often to run the service. The steps to setup the timer are as follows:

  1. Create a service file called /etc/systemd/system/certbot.service with the following contents

    [Unit]
Description=Let's Encrypt renewal

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet --agree-tos

  2. Once the certbot service is working correctly, you will need to create the timer file. Create the timer file at /etc/systemd/system/certbot.timer) with the following contents:

    [Unit]
Description=Twice daily renewal of Let's Encrypt's certificates

[Timer]
OnCalendar=0/12:00:00
RandomizedDelaySec=1h
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

  3. Update the systemd manager configuration:

    [email protected] # systemctl daemon-reload

  4. Start and enable the certbot service and timer:

    [email protected] # systemctl start certbot.service
[email protected] # systemctl enable certbot.service
[email protected] # systemctl start certbot.timer
[email protected] # systemctl enable certbot.timer

You can verify that the timer is active by running systemctl list-timers.

Note

Verify that the service has started correctly by running systemctl status certbot.service. The timer may fail without warnings if the service does not run correctly.

Requesting Service Certificates

Previously, the OSG recommended using separate X.509 certificates, called "service certificates", for each grid service on a host. This practice has become less popular as sites have separated SSL-requiring services to their own hosts.

In the case where your host is only running a single service that requires a service certificate, we recommend using your host certificate as your service certificate. Ensure that the ownership of the host certificate and key are appropriate for the service you are running.

If you are running multiple services that require host certificates, we recommend requesting a certificate whose CommonName is <service>-hostname and has the hostname in the list of subject alternative names.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use any host to request a certificate for a different host?

YES, you can use any host to create a certificate signing request as long as the hostname for the certificate is a fully qualified domain name.

How do I renew a host certificate?

For Let's Encrypt certificates, see this section

For other certificates, there is no separate renewal procedure. Instead, request a new certificate using one of the methods above.

How can I check if I have a host certificate installed already?

By default the host certificate key pair will be installed in /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem and /etc/grid-security/hostkey.pem. You can use openssl to access basic information about the certificate:

[email protected] # openssl x509 -in /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem -subject -issuer -dates -noout
subject= /DC=org/DC=opensciencegrid/O=Open Science Grid/OU=Services/CN=host.opensciencegrid.org
issuer= /DC=org/DC=cilogon/C=US/O=CILogon/CN=CILogon OSG CA 1
notBefore=Apr  8 00:00:00 2013 GMT
notAfter=May 17 12:00:00 2014 GMT

How can I check the expiration time of my installed host certificate?

Use the following openssl command to find the dates that your host certificate is valid:

[email protected] # openssl x509 -in /etc/grid-security/hostcert.pem -dates -noout
notBefore=Jan  4 21:08:41 2010 GMT
notAfter=Jan  4 21:08:41 2011 GMT

References