Understanding CAs

Certificate Authorities (CAs) are entities that issue digital certificates. SCM supports both public and private CAs.

CAs are represented by a root CA and one or more issuing CAs:

The root CA is the top-level CA in the hierarchy and is responsible for signing the certificates of the issuing CAs.
The issuing CAs are responsible for signing the certificates of the end entities.

In SCM, you can do the following:

Create and manage private CAs for existing private CA backends.
Download CA certificates for available public and private CA backends.

For more information on CA backends, see Understanding CA backends.

CAs can be managed on the CAs page.

The following table describes the controls on the CAs page.

Control	Description
Name	The name of the private CA.
Trial Mode	Indicates whether the private CA is in trial mode.
Subject	The subject field of the private CA certificate.
Key Type	The type of algorithm used for certificate encryption.
Signature	The type of signature algorithm used for signing the certificate.
State	The state of the private CA. The most common values are: Signed — The private CA certificate been signed by the issuer and is available for use. Revoked — The private CA certificate has been revoked.
Serial Number	The unique serial number of the private CA certificate.
Expires	The expiration date of the private CA certificate.
Parent Issuer	The parent CA that issued the private CA certificate.
Table controls
Filter	Enables you to sort the table information using custom filters.
Refresh	Refreshes the information presented in the table.
Manage Columns	Enables you to select which table columns to display.
Admin controls
Select CA backend	Expands the list of available private and public CA backends.
Add	Opens the Request Trial CA dialog where you can request a new trial private CA.
Delete	Deletes the selected root private CA.
Download Certificate	Downloads the certificate of the selected CA.
Revoke	Revokes the selected issuing private CA.

Control

Description

Name

The name of the private CA.

Trial Mode

Indicates whether the private CA is in trial mode.

Subject

The subject field of the private CA certificate.

Key Type

The type of algorithm used for certificate encryption.

Signature

The type of signature algorithm used for signing the certificate.

State

The state of the private CA.

The most common values are:

Signed — The private CA certificate been signed by the issuer and is available for use.
Revoked — The private CA certificate has been revoked.

Serial Number

The unique serial number of the private CA certificate.

Expires

The expiration date of the private CA certificate.

Parent Issuer

The parent CA that issued the private CA certificate.

Table controls

Filter

Enables you to sort the table information using custom filters.

Refresh

Refreshes the information presented in the table.

Manage Columns

Enables you to select which table columns to display.

Admin controls

Select CA backend

Expands the list of available private and public CA backends.

Add

Opens the Request Trial CA dialog where you can request a new trial private CA.

Delete

Deletes the selected root private CA.

Download Certificate

Downloads the certificate of the selected CA.

Revoke

Revokes the selected issuing private CA.