Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IP AAM
- 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP APM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP Analytics
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP Link Controller
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP LTM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP AFM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP PEM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP DNS
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
BIG-IP ASM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1
SSL Certificate Management
Supported certificate/key types
The BIG-IP® system supports multiple cipher suites when offloading SSL operations from a target server on the network. The BIG-IP system can support cipher suites that use these algorithms:
- Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA)
- Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)
- Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)
When you generate a certificate request or a self-signed certificate, you specify the type of private key, which determines the specific signing or encryption algorithm that is used to generate the private key.
About RSA certificates
RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman) is the original encryption algorithm that is based on the concept of a public and a private key. When a public site attempts to communicate with a device such as the BIG-IP® system, the device sends the site a public key that the site uses to encrypt data before sending that data back to the device. The device uses its private key associated with the public key to decrypt the data. Only the private key can be used to decrypt data encrypted with the public key.
The RSA encryption algorithm includes an authentication mechanism.
About DSA certificates
DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) uses a different algorithm for signing key exchange messages than that of RSA. DSA is paired with a key exchange method such as Diffie-Hellman or Elliptical Curve Diffie-Hellman to achieve a comparable level of security to RSA. Because DSA is generally endorsed by federal agencies, specifying a DSA key type makes it easier to comply with new government standards, such as those for specific key lengths.
About ECDSA certificates
When creating certificates on the BIG-IP® system, you can create a certificate with a key type of ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm). An ECDSA key is based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and provides better security and performance with significantly shorter key lengths.
For example, an RSA key size of 2048 bits is equivalent to an ECC key size of only 224 bits. As a result, less computing power is required, resulting in faster, more secure connections. Encryption based on ECC is ideally suited for mobile devices that cannot store large keys. The BIG-IP system supports both the prime256v1 and secp384r1 curve names.
About SSL certificate management
You can obtain a certificate for the BIG-IP system by using the BIG-IP® Configuration utility to generate a certificate signing request (CSR) that can then be submitted to a third-party trusted certificate authority (CA). The CA then issues a signed certificate.
In addition to requesting CA-signed certificates, you can create self-signed certificates. You create self-signed certificates primarily for testing purposes within an organization.
When you install the BIG-IP software, the application includes a default self-signed certificate. The BIG-IP system also includes a default CA bundle certificate. This certificate bundle contains certificates from most of the well-known CAs.
Creating a self-signed digital certificate
Requesting a certificate from a certificate authority
About SSL file import
You can import several types of SSL files onto the BIG-IP system.
Importing a certificate signed by a certificate authority
Importing an SSL key
Importing a PKCS-formatted file
Importing an archive file
Exporting an SSL certificate
Viewing a list of certificates on the system
You can perform this task to view a list of existing digital certificates on the BIG-IP® system.
Digital certificate properties
When you use the BIG-IP® Configuration utility to view the list of digital certificates that you have installed on the BIG-IP® system, you can see information for each certificate.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Certificate | The name of the certificate. |
Content | The type of certificate content, for example, Certificate Bundle or Certificate and Key. |
Common name | The common name (CN) for the certificate. The common name embedded in the certificate is used for name-based authentication. The default common name for a self-signed certificate is localhost.localdomain. |
Expiration date | The date that the certificate expires. If the certificate is a bundle, this information shows the range of expiration dates that apply to certificates in the bundle. |
Organization | The organization name for the certificate. The organization name embedded in the certificate is used for name-based authentication. The default organization for a self-signed certificate is MyCompany. |