Is a certificate signing request (csr) for websites only?
Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I supposed to be more correct, it would be client-server applications. The server needs to verify that the client signing in is who they are, thus this is part of authentication. We use a private git which, while accessible from anywhere, also does require that we have a signature file even when we are in the office.
Sure you can generate all the certificates you want, but if no server knows anything about them, then they serve no purpose.
I supposed to be more correct, it would be client-server applications. The server needs to verify that the client signing in is who they are, thus this is part of authentication. We use a private git which, while accessible from anywhere, also does require that we have a signature file even when we are in the office.
Sure you can generate all the certificates you want, but if no server knows anything about them, then they serve no purpose.
I use key pairs to login to remote machines without passwords--password login is considered pretty insecure these days, as it's hard to remember one complicated enough to thwart dictionary attacks--so you can create a key pair, and store them in your users .ssh folder on the local and remote systems, and then login with ssh -i ~/.ssh usersshkey remote.host and it never asks for a password! You can then turn off password authentication in /etc/ssh/sshd_config and your host is safe from dictionary attacks!
I use key pairs to login to remote machines without passwords--password login is considered pretty insecure these days, as it's hard to remember one complicated enough to thwart dictionary attacks--so you can create a key pair, and store them in your users .ssh folder on the local and remote systems, and then login with ssh -i ~/.ssh usersshkey remote.host and it never asks for a password! You can then turn off password authentication in /etc/ssh/sshd_config and your host is safe from dictionary attacks!
Yes, I know this and I currently do this now.
I just though that csr was something similar to public/private keys authenication.
If I create one, are there other ways to use them besides for websites?
Is it the same as using gpg to sign files, emails and etc?
There are many applications that use HTTP as their protocol. Anything that implements a RESTful API or something similar. They are not web sites but benefit from making their communication more secure using HTTPS.
I just though that csr was something similar to public/private keys authenication.
this is not wrong. http://www.cacert.org/ is using certificates for user authentication.
i believe the process is explained somewhere; good luck finding it, that site's a mess. maybe easiest if you send them a message and ask.
Certificate Signing Requests is part of public/private keys authentication: the part that asks for a certificate from a certificate authority--if you use a CA on the list of trusted CAs, then mail clients, web clients, vpn clients, and whatever other clients in a server/client architecture, won't give out any warnings about distrusted or unknown certificates... you can sign your own though, and each client can add your CA's certificate (you become your own CA when you sign your own) to their list of trusted certificates, and the warnings go away after that. In addition to the cacert documentation... the easyrsa tools that openvpn uses have straight forward documentation. Letsencrypt.org is another free CA, but the ACME and JOSE protocol that they automate their signing process with stinks.
I personally wish that gnuzilla or fsf, or entity like that could make a people's CA that could issue icon of a little tye-died figure, instead of green lock, and that browsers like ICECAT could display these little hippy icons on sites that were running and secured completely with free tools only -- in the gnu sense of a free tool...
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.