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diff --git a/ncat/certs/README b/ncat/certs/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..39d511b --- /dev/null +++ b/ncat/certs/README @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +The file ca-bundle.crt contains root certificates. +These are installed and used as the default trusted root +certificates when SSL certificate verification is requested with +--ssl-verify. On some platforms (some Unixes), these certificates are +used in addition to any certificates installed by the operating system. + +Originally, these certificates were extracted from Windows' certificate store. +Microsoft's bundle was preferred over Mozilla's because Microsoft may be +more selective in the organizations it trusts. When this bundle was +created, Microsoft's store had 107 certificates while Mozilla's had 126. + +Unfortunately for us, Windows' certificate trust store is not accessible in this +way any longer. Therefore we have migrated to the Mozilla trust store. + +== How to extract the trusted root CA certificates on Windows (obsolete) + +These instructions require the openssl command-line utility. + +On Windows XP, run the rootsupd.exe tool to downoad the full list of +trusted certificates. Otherwise there is only a partial list +(certificates are downloaded on demand). + +http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931125 +http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/rootsupd.exe + +Press "Start", then "Run...". Type "certmgr.msc" and press Enter. Open +the folder "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" and its subfolder +"Certificates". Click on "Expiration Date" to sort. Select the first +certificate that is not expired, then press Shift+down arrow until all +the non-expired certificates are selected. Right-click on the list of +certificates, and in the context menu, select "All Tasks", then +"Export...". Export to the file ca-bundle.p7b. + +In a Cygwin shell, enter the directory containing ca-bundle.p7b and run +the command + openssl pkcs7 -in ca-bundle.p7b -inform der -print_certs -out ca-bundle.crt +That will create a file ca-bundle.crt containing all the certificates, +each preceded by its subject and issuer. + +== Retrieving the Mozilla trust store. + +Another commonly used trust store is the one provided by Mozilla. The +cURL package includes a script that automatically creates a suitable PEM +file from a file in Mozilla's source repository. They also provide +ready-made PEM files to download. See http://curl.haxx.se/docs/caextract.html. + +Here is how to download Mozilla's trust store: + +$ wget https://raw.github.com/bagder/curl/master/lib/mk-ca-bundle.pl +$ perl mk-ca-bundle.pl |