How to Install SSL Certificate on Radware Alteon Application Switch?

Setting up an SSL certificate on the Radware Alteon Application Switch is an important step to secure your applications traffic. Once you’ve created the Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and received your SSL certificate from the Certificate Authority (CA), this walkthrough provides step by step instructions to install your SSL certificate.

Prerequisites

CSR Generation Completed

• You must have previously found a way to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on the Alteon device or other compatible system.
• The CSR contains your domain and organization information and will usually contain many other parameters that the Certificate Authority (CA) needs in order to provide you with a valid SSL certificate.

SSL Certificate Issued by CA

• You must have received your issued SSL certificate files from the CA by now.
• These will usually be the primary cert (e.g.,www_yourdomain_com.crt) and also any intermediate certs (e.g.,DigiCertCA.crt).
• We can then use the intermediate certs to establish a chain of trust for the SSL communication.

Create a PEM File

• You need to combine your primary certificate which was presented as a SSL CRT file and the intermediate certificate as a PEM file.
• This is done in PEM format to present the complete certificate chain to clients. The order is primary certificate first then intermediate certificate.

Also Read: How to Convert CRT to PEM, DER to PEM, and CER to PFX?

Access the Alteon Device (CLI or Web UI)

• Ensure that you have administrative privileges as to the Radware Alteon Application Switch so that you can either utilize the Command-Line Interface (CLI) or the Web User Interface from the Vision Management Console to install the certificate.

Backup your Existing Certificates and Keys

• It would be prudent to back-up your existing SSL certificates and private keys before modifying the SSL settings/configuration.
• This is done so that you are capable of reverting the configuration back to its original state should the installation of the certificate contain issues.

Same Component ID for Certificate and Key

• If you are importing a certificate and a private key into the Alteon system your certificate and private key will both respectively have to have the same component ID for the correct association of the SSL certificate to the corresponding private key during the use of HTTPS.

Steps for Installing SSL Certificate on Radware Alteon Application Switch

Step 1: Generate a PEM file

To create a PEM file, combine the SSL certificate and the intermediate certificate into a single PEM file.

Here’s how to do it:

• Open an editor.
• Paste the contents of www_yourdomain_com.crt (your SSL certificate).
• Then, the immediate next action is to paste the contents of the intermediate certificate file (such as DigiCertCA.crt)
• Save this file as yourdomain_combined.pem.

This file will maintain the correct chain of trust when browsers are validating your site.

Step 2: Access the Alteon Device

Connect to the Radware Alteon Application Switch either via console or SSH.

Type at the command prompt: cfg

This will place you in configuration mode.

Step 3: Start installing certificate

Enter into certificate configuration: cert

Just paste the entire contents of your yourdomain_combined.pem file into the CLI.

Once you have pasted the contents, type: …

(The three dots denote the end of the PEM input.)

Then finish and apply changes: apply

This saves and enables the SSL Certificate on the switch.

Optional: Install via Web Interface

In the case that you would prefer GUI: 

• Navigate to Vision > Configuration > Application Delivery > SSL. 
• Check Enable SSL. 
• In the Certificate Repository, click Import. 
• Select the Type ( certificate, key or both), provide a Unique ID, add the Key Passphrase if necessary. 
• Import using Text or File method. 
• Click Apply and Save. 

Make sure the certificate and key use the same ID.

Conclusion

Secure your Radware Alteon Application Switch with an SSL certificate from CheapSSLWEB you can trust. You will get competitive pricing, 24×7 customer service and to top it off, lightning fast issuance from trusted Certificate Authorities around the world! Start today and secure your network!