Secure Global Desktop Administration Guide > Security > What are X.509 certificates and why do I need one?

What are X.509 certificates and why do I need one?

An X.509 certificate is an encoded file that a secure service, such as a web server, uses to identify itself to a client. A Secure Global Desktop server with security services enabled also requires a certificate in the same way.

Certificates are generated by Certificate Authorities (CAs) -- trusted third parties that sign a certificate for a particular server. To obtain a certificate for a server you must send a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) to one of these CAs. When a CA receives a CSR they check the validity of the request and return an X.509 certificate. You then install the certificate using the tarantella security certuse command.

By default, Secure Global Desktop supports a number of Certificate Authorities.

In some cases, you can share a certificate between a web server and the Secure Global Desktop server on the same host.

Related topics
Obtaining and installing an X.509 certificate What certificates does Secure Global Desktop support? How do I support additional Certificate Authorities?