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Configuring PKI
Overview
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is an asymmetric key infrastructure to encrypt and decrypt data for securing
network services. Data encrypted with the public key can be decrypted only with the private key. Likewise,
data encrypted with the private key can be decrypted only with the public key.
PKI uses digital certificates to distribute and employ public keys, and provides network communication
and e-commerce with security services such as user authentication, data confidentiality, and data
integrity.
HP's PKI system provides certificate management for IPsec and SSL.
PKI terminology
Digital certificate
A digital certificate is an electronic document signed by a CA that binds a public key with the identity of
its owner.
A digital certificate includes the following information:
• Issuer name (the name of the CA that issued the certificate).
• Subject name (name of the individual or group to which the certificate is issued).
• Identity information of the subject.
• Subject's public key.
• Signature of the CA.
• Period of validity.
A digital certificate must comply with the international standards of ITU-T X.509, of which X.509 v3 is the
most commonly used.
This chapter covers the following types of certificates:
• CA certificate—Certificate of a CA. Multiple CAs in a PKI system form a CA tree, with the root CA
at the top. The root CA generates a self-signed certificate, and each lower level CA holds a CA
certificate issued by the CA immediately above it. The chain of these certificates forms a chain of
trust.
• Registration authority (RA) certificate—Certificate issued by a CA to an RA. RAs act as proxies for
CAs to process enrollment requests in a PKI system.
• Local certificate—Digital certificate issued by a CA to a PKI entity, which contains the entity's public
key.
• Peer certificate—Digital certificate of a peer, which contains the peer's public key and is signed by
a CA.
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