How to Fix Root Certificate for Fortinet Is Required but Isn’t Installed Error?

What is a Root Certificate?

A root certificate is a certificate that is created by a trusted CA and forms the foundation of the PKI system. The root certificates are used to build a trust chain in SSL/TLS related transactions.

When for instance a firewall from a company like Fortinet attempts to create a secure connection, it does so with the root certificate to validate the credentials presented by other devices or services.

This will lead to certain connection failures and security warnings or errors if the root certificate is not available or is untrusted. By installing root certificates on devices, SSL/TLS connections are made secure and the data exchanged is also encrypted and authenticated.

Why is the Root Certificate for Fortinet Required?

Enable SSL/TLS Inspection

The root certificate is essential to perform SSL/TLS inspection on Fortinet devices that include the Fortinet firewalls.

SSL/TLS inspection implies the process of decrypting the encrypted SSL/TLS sessions passing through the firewall to check and filter them for threats such as malware, phishing etc.

After passing through the inspection process, the traffic is encrypted again and then forwarded to its intended destination.

For this process to be effective, the Fortinet device needs to be capable of decrypting and re-encrypting traffic without presenting problems to the users.

This means that the root certificate helps the Fortinet device do this encryption and decryption by providing it with certificates that the other devices of clients trust.

If this certificate is not present, then the inspection process is stopped, and all encrypted traffic will go through the network unnoticed, which makes the network possibly compromised.

Establish Trust

The root certificate is vital as it enables the Fortinet device to trust the client devices within the network. When the SSL/TLS inspection feature is enabled, the Fortinet device becomes a “man-in-the-middle” for encrypted connections.

To avoid having the client devices consider this interception a security risk, the Fortinet device is required to provide certificates that are trusted by the client devices.

This trust has its basis in the root certificate, which confirms the validity of the certificates obtained during the inspection.

They make sure that the clients have a copy of the root certificate to enable them trust the certificates that are being given out by the Fortinet device this is because if the root certificate is missing then the client will not be able to trust certificates from the Fortinet device hence the flow will be blocked and warnings will be issued.

This trust relationship is necessary to ensure uninterrupted and secure message exchange across the members of the network.

Maintain Secure Connections

The root certificate also makes it possible for users to sustain secure connection with HTTPS websites rather than having it disrupted by SSL/TLS inspection.

If the root certificate is missing, client devices will not be able to validate the certificates shown by the Fortinet device and users will see warning messages such as “Your Connection is Not Private” or “Certificate Not Trusted.”

Also Read: How to Fix “Secure Connection Failed” Error in Firefox?

Such messages may lead to interruptions with secure site access. In this way, installing the root certificate on client devices helps users avoid these problems and establish a secure connection to https sites.

This not only ensures safe encryption of data passed within and through the network but also gives the user more comfortable browsing experience.

How to Identify if a Root Certificate Is Missing?

Security Warnings in Web Browsers

The first and probably the most obvious sign that a root certificate is lost is the presence of security alerts in web browsers.

When users try to connect to HTTPS sites they get messages such as “Your connection is not private,” “The site’s security certificate is not trusted,” or “Received untrusted certificate”.

These messages mean that the browser is not able to confirm the validity of the SSL/TLS certificate displayed by the website due to the client hosts lacking a root certificate that could verify the SSL/TLS certificate.

These alerts, while can interfere with the authenticated access to secure websites, can also indicate that the root certificate required for authentication may be missing.

Failed SSL/TLS Connections

If a root certificate is missing SSL/TLS connections between client devices and websites or services may not even occur at all.

This can present itself in the form of inability to access certain sites particularly those that need secure connection like banking sites, email accounts or any site that uses https.

Users may encounter connection issues, timeouts or possibly inability to form secure connections.

This failure usually happens when the client side device cannot perform the SSL/TLS handshake which requires the presence of a valid root certificate that can help authenticate the server.

Network Monitoring Tools and Logs

Lacking root certificates can also be discovered by network administrators by analyzing the tool for network monitoring and log. It is possible to diagnose failed SSL/TLS inspections together with the help of the FortiAnalyzer appliance or logs from the Fortinet firewall.

Common logs may contain error or warning messages pointing to certification validation problems and suggesting that client devices are refusing certificates issued by the Fortinet device because of the absence of the trusted root certificate.

Showing increasing effectiveness in diagnosing problems in connected networks, these tools can be particularly effective when it comes to identifying the source of connection problems in the SSL/TLS.

Inability to Install or Update Applications

Certain applications that rely on SSL/TLS connections for installation or updates could potentially fail if the root certificate needed is not installed.

Many a time, users are likely to experience issues during installation, or when applications fail to install correctly or update, there are messages on certificate validation issues.

This is especially prevalent in enterprise applications where applications depend on secure connections to retrieve information updates or contact the server.

These processes usually fail because the application can not force a SSL/TLS connection that is trusted due to the absence of the root certificate.

Manual Certificate Checks

There is another approach on how it is possible to know that a root certificate is missing and it relates to the direct examination of the client’s certificate store.

Both administrators and users can always verify the list of the root certificates that are installed in the operating system’s certificate database, such as the Certificate Manager in Windows or Keychain Access on Mac OS X.

However, if the Fortinet root certificate is not listed, then it has to be said that the certificate is lost.

This approach can actually only check directly if the root certificate that is required is actually present and if it is input of the system as SSL/TLS problems can be solved before run-time.

Symptoms of the Issue

The manifestations of the issue may differ depending on the conditions in the specified environment. However, some common symptoms include:

• Error messages: The client may get error messages like “The root certificate for Fortinet is required but isn’t installed” or “The certificate is not trusted”.
• Security warnings: The client may show security messages like ‘The connection is not secure’ or ‘The certificate is invalid.’
• Connection issues: The client may experience a situation where he or she cannot reach the Fortinet device, or the connection may be intermittent.

How to Resolve the Issue?

In order to resolve the issue, follow these steps:

Step 1: Verify SSL Inspection is Enabled on the Fortinet Firewall

• To access Fortinet Firewall, enter your username and password, and then, go to Policy & Objects from the main panel, then click Security Profiles.
• Here, verify that an SSL inspection profile like ‘certificate-inspection’ is configured here.
• If SSL inspection is disabled then HTTPS traffic with SSL will pass through without decryption and no Fortinet certificate will be presented to the client.

Step 2: Confirm the Root Certificate Downloaded Matches Your Fortinet Firewall

• Other recent firmware versions with newer firmware might have different root certificates altogether. Ensure that the root certificate downloaded corresponds to the firmware version of the Fortinet firewall.
• To view the firmware version of your firewall go to System -> Dashboard.

Step 3: Check if the Root Certificate is Installed Correctly on Client Devices

• To install the Fortinet root certificate, different procedures are taken depending on the operating system and browsers. Check that the certificate was installed only for a definite client device and for the definite type of browser.
• For Windows, the root certificate should lie under Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
• On Mac, Keychain Access should show the Fortinet root certificate as “Always Trust”.
• In the case of Firefox browsers, one can always import the certificate through Firefox’s certificate manager list.

Step 4: Verify There are No Interception or Inspection Issues

• Another approach you can employ is to use packet capturing tools such as Wireshark to intercept traffic between your client and the Fortinet firewall.
• Scan the traffic intercepted by those intermediary devices such as proxies or additional firewalls to see if they are replacing the original Fortinet certificate with their own.
• This can also generate certificate errors.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• After the installation of the certificate, clear the browser cache and then restart the browser. Otherwise, certificate errors may be cached.
• You should open the same HTTPS websites in incognito or private window to check if the websites load. This utilizes non-cached certificate store which is not influenced by caching.
• To fix this issue, disable the SSL inspection of the Fortinet firewall in a temporary basis. This leads to getting so far into the actual website with no inspecting.
• Check if it is reproducible when testing on different clients’ devices and operating systems. Such read, writing, and link breakages may hint at a flaky network.
• Check the HTTP headers on your browser for different error messages such as ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID in order to find the exact problem with the certificate.
• To ascertain the exact certificate issue use the internet based SSL testing tools to self diagnose.
• Forward the issue to Fortinet support and provide packet captures, debug logs and further troubleshooting information if the issue continues.

Best Practices for Managing Certificates on Fortinet

Regularly Update Certificates

It is very important to update certificates since this makes sure that connections are secure and there are no interferences in the existing network.

The consequent update of the certificates means that the Fortinet devices and the client systems accept only the current certificates including the root ones.

Any certificates that are expiring soon must be renewed immediately so as to forestall any vulnerability in the system.

This way, you can avoid situations where errors might occur when a certificate has expired or cURL stops recognizing it as valid and have a well secure and well functioning network.

Monitor Certificate Expirations

Certificates have expiry dates, and one needs to check them regularly to prevent system outages or security alerts. Another nice feature of Fortinet is that it has several inbuilt tools for tracking the certificates’ validity and getting notices on their expiration.

This feature is very useful where there are many certificates as it guarantees no certificate is left behind.

Furthermore, third-party software can be installed which alerts an organization about the expiry of certificates for an extended period so that the certificates can be renewed on time.

This can be done without posing a threat to the organization’s operations or, in the worst-case scenario, data breaches due to expired certificates.

Implement Certificate Management Policies

It is therefore important to ensure that certificate management policies are well developed as this is essential for the stability of one’s network security.

These policies should entail measures that involve checking periodically the certificates that have been installed on the Fortinet devices as well as on the client systems to ascertain that the root certificates are as well included and recognized.

Other specifics which should be clearly defined are the procedures for certificate’s rotation, renewal, and final decommissioning to guarantee its proper management.

These policies, if adopted and enforced, will help in preventing and minimizing certificate related problems as well as controlling network compliance.

Conclusion

Secure your website today with CheapSSLWEB’s trusted SSL certificates. Protect your users and boost your SEO with top-notch encryption!