Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol used for transmitting data privately over the Internet. To use SSL, digital certificates are required. These certificates are used by the web browser to authenticate the server prior to establishing an SSL session. Proficy Portal provides support for the use of SSL. To use SSL with Proficy Portal, a server-specific digital certificate is required. This certificate should be purchased separately from a known certificate authority.

After the digital certificates have been set up, the secure connection is invoked simply by entering the "https" protocol rather than "http". For example:

Not secure – http://ge.portal.com/ProficyPortal/default.asp

Secure – https://ge.portal.com/ProficyPortal/default.asp

Default SSL Port

SSL traffic uses a different port number than normal HTTP traffic. By default, this port is 443. To verify that the port number is set correctly, open the IIS Manager, right-click on the web site and select Properties. For more information on using the IIS Manager, refer to the Microsoft IIS online help.

Certificates

A digital certificate can be purchased from a Certificate Authority (CA) that is specific to the server.

Before Java RMI can be used with SSL, the third-party certificate must be exported from IIS and made available to Proficy Portal. For an example of how to do this in IIS 6.0, see Exporting Certificates using IIS 6.0.

After the certificate is exported, Proficy Portal needs to know the location and name of the file, as well as the password, so that it may load the contents of the file. The keyconfig.cmd utility is provided for this purpose. For more information, see Using the keyconfig.cmd Utility.

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