Understanding certificate profiles

Certificates are created based on certificate profiles that outline requirements and configuration options to determine certificate behavior and the information included in the certificate. While pre-configured certificate profiles are provided, additional certificate profiles can be created and customized to meet the unique requirements of your organizations and departments.

Certificate profiles are used to control:

Certificate features — By creating new certificate profiles, you can customize the information included in the certificates issued using that profile. Some customizable options include the certificate validity period, allowed key types, and approval requirements.
Certificate issuance — Unique certificate profiles can be created and delegated to specific organizations and departments. This enables you to use certificate profiles to selectively control certificate issuance for any given organization or department.

Certificate profiles can be managed on the Enrollment Certificate Profiles page.

The following table describes the settings and controls of the Certificate Profiles page.

Column	Description
Name	The name of the certificate profile
Certificate Type	The type of certificate that can be issued using this certificate profile (Client, SSL, Code Signing, or Device) The supported certificate types are determined by the CA backend.
CA Backend	The name of the CA backend in SCM
Delegation Mode	The mode determining which organizations and departments inherit the certificate profile The possible values are: General — The certificate profile is available for all organizations and departments Customized — The certificate profile is available for selected organizations and departments
Table Controls
Search	Enables you to search certificate profiles by ID or name
Filter	Enables you to sort the table information using custom filters
Group	Enables you to sort the table information using predefined groups
Refresh	Refreshes the information presented in the table
Manage Columns	Enables you to select which table columns to display
Template mapping controls
Add	Opens the Create Certificate Profile dialog where you can add a new certificate profile
Delete	Removes the selected certificate profile
Edit	Opens the Edit Certificate Profile dialog where you can manage an existing certificate profile
Delegate	Opens the Delegate Certificate Profile dialog where you can specify which organizations and departments inherit the certificate profile
View Audit	Opens the Profile Audit dialog where you can view or download audit logs

Column

Description

Name

The name of the certificate profile

Certificate Type

The type of certificate that can be issued using this certificate profile (Client, SSL, Code Signing, or Device)

The supported certificate types are determined by the CA backend.

CA Backend

The name of the CA backend in SCM

Delegation Mode

The mode determining which organizations and departments inherit the certificate profile

The possible values are:

General — The certificate profile is available for all organizations and departments
Customized — The certificate profile is available for selected organizations and departments

Table Controls

Enables you to search certificate profiles by ID or name

Filter

Enables you to sort the table information using custom filters

Group

Enables you to sort the table information using predefined groups

Refresh

Refreshes the information presented in the table

Manage Columns

Enables you to select which table columns to display

Template mapping controls

Add

Opens the Create Certificate Profile dialog where you can add a new certificate profile

Delete

Removes the selected certificate profile

Edit

Opens the Edit Certificate Profile dialog where you can manage an existing certificate profile

Delegate

Opens the Delegate Certificate Profile dialog where you can specify which organizations and departments inherit the certificate profile

View Audit

Opens the Profile Audit dialog where you can view or download audit logs