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This article describes how to configure Nexus OCSP Responder to validate a certificate. This is done in the "Validation" section of the Nexus OCSP Responder configuration file. Certificates can be validated by checking for revocation data locally in a CRL (Certificate Revocation List) or (if enabled) in a CIL (Certificate Issuance List) cache or by forwarding the request to a remote OCSP responder.
It is recommended to configure no more than one validator per type (CRL or CIL). A validator can be configured with multiple providers of different types (pull or push).
Each validator works against a cache, where all the CRLs/CILs that are obtained by the configured providers are placed. The cache is stored in a directory on disk where every new CRL/CIL is saved. The default cache directories are crls for the CRL validator and cils for the CIL validator. At restart, the caches are initialized from these directories. You can manually copy certain CRLs/CILs to the directories before you start Nexus OCSP Responder the first time.
Step-by-step instruction
A validator can be of type: CRL or CIL.
In the OCSP configuration file, specify as follows:
ocsp.validation.<v#>.type=[crl|cil]
See this table for description of constants and values:
Constants and Values Description <v#>
Replace <v#>
with the validator sequence number.crl | cil
Enter
crl
to indicate that the validator shall work with the CRL cache.Enter
cil
to indicate that the validator shall work with the CIL cache.
For each validator:
- Specify at least one provider to keep the CRL cache constantly up-to-date. This can be done by pull or push methods:
type=pull
- Periodically polling a directory for new CRL versions. Note that pull is not available for CILs.type=push
- Waiting for incoming CRLs/CILs, pushed from a CA, for example, Nexus Certificate Manager.
For each provider, specify as follows in the OCSP configuration file:
ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.type=[pull|push]
See this table for description of constants and values:
Constants and Values Description <v#>
Replace <v#>
with the validator sequence number.<p#>
Replace <p#>
with the provider sequence number.pull | push
- Enter
pull
to indicate that the provider shall fetch CRL information. See Configure CRL provider type Pull for additional specifications. - Enter
push
to indicate that the provider shall listen for CRL/CIL information. See Configure CRL/CIL provider type Push for additional specifications.
CRL providers with
type=pull
are not available for CILs.- Enter
The CA that provides the directory service can supply one or more alternative site(s). If so, you can specify a list of URLs.
Specify the LDAP/LDAPS URL(s) for the directory according to RFC 2255 The LDAP URL Format. See also Introduction to LDAP.
For each CRL provider with
type=pull
, configure how to find the directory. This can be done by the use of either the LDAP/LDAPS protocol or the HTTP/HTTPS protocol. Identify the specifications for each site by a URL sequence number. In the OCSP configuration file, specify as follows:ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.url.<u#>= [[ldap|ldaps]://<host>[:<port>]/<dn>? [certificaterevocationlist|deltacertificaterevocationlist]] | [[http|https]://<host>[:<port>]/<path>]
If login is required for a certain provider you must specify the parameters
...username
and ...password
.ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.url.<u#>.username=<user name> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.url.<u#>.password=<password> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.period=<time expr> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ignoreIDP=[true|false]
See this table for description of constants and values:
Constants and Values Description <v#>
Replace <v#>
with the validator sequence number.<p#>
Replace <p#>
with the provider sequence number.<u#>
Replace <u#>
with the URL sequence number.ldap | ldaps
- Enter
ldap
to indicate that the LDAP protocol shall be used (TLS is not needed). - Enter
ldaps
to indicate that the LDAPS protocol shall be used (TLS is needed).
<host>[:<port>]
Replace <host>
with the name of the directory host. Replace<port>
with the port number (if needed).<dn>
Replace
<dn>
with the distinguished name of the directory entry.certificaterevocationlist |
deltacertificaterevocationlist
- Enter
certificaterevocationlist
if the URL provides full CRLs. - Enter
deltacertificaterevocationlist
if the URL provides delta CRLs.
http | https
- Enter
http
to indicate that the HTTP protocol shall be used (TLS is not needed). - Enter
https
to indicate that the HTTPS protocol shall be used (TLS is needed).
<host>[:<port>]/<path>
Replace <host>
with the name of the directory host and<path>
with the path to use. Replace<port>
with the port number (if needed).<user name>
Replace
<user name>
with the user name that is required for this directory.<password>
Replace <password>
with the password that is required in combination with<user name>
for this directory.<time expr>
Replace
<time expr>
with a time period expression (short form), specified according to ISO 8601 Representation of dates and times. (see section “Specify OCSP client request” in Back end client section). This value will set the periodicity of updates.Default:
PT1H
true | false
The CRL may contain an Issuing Distribution Point (IDP) extension. IDP marks a CRL as being incomplete, and thus reliable revocation queries cannot be answered from it. If you have out of band information that a CRL with an IDP is indeed complete, you may force Nexus OCSP Responder to accept this CRL.
- If an IDP extension exists and
ignoreIDP
is set totrue
, always accept the CRL. - If an IDP extension exists and
ignoreIDP
is set tofalse
, reject the CRL. In both cases a message will be written to the log file.
Default:
false
Example:
ocsp.validation.1.type=crl ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.type=pull ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.url.1= ldap://directory/cn=Test CA2, o=Nexus OCSP Responder, c=se?certificaterevocationlist ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.url.1.username=cn=admin,c=se ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.url.1.password=**** ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.url.2=http://backuphost.com/testca2.crl ocsp.validation.1.provider.1.period=P1D
- Enter
For each provider with
type=push
, specify as follows in the OCSP configuration file:ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.listen.url=<URL> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ignoreIDP=[true|false] ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ssl.clientauth=[true|false] ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ssl.certificate=<certificate pattern> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ssl.pin=<PIN> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ssl.cipher=<cipher suites> ocsp.validation.<v#>.provider.<p#>.ssl.protocol=<protocols>
See this table for description of constants and values:
Constants and Values Description <v#>
Replace <v#>
with the validator sequence number.<p#>
Replace <p#>
with the provider sequence number.<URL>
Replace
<URL>
with the URL the provider shall listen to (HTTP or HTTPS only).<certificate pattern>
If HTTPS is used, a key and certificate needs to be specified. See Key management section.
<PIN>
If HTTPS is used, a key and certificate needs to be specified. See Key management section. true | false
for parameter..ignoreIDP
The CRL/CIL may contain an Issuing Distribution Point (IDP) extension. IDP marks a CRL/CIL as being incomplete, and thus reliable revocation queries cannot be answered from it. If you have out of band information that a CRL/CIL with an IDP is indeed complete, you may force Nexus OCSP to accept this CRL/CIL.
- If an IDP extension exists and
ignoreIDP
is set totrue
, always accept the CRL/CIL. - If an IDP extension exists and
ignoreIDP
is set tofalse
, reject the CRL/CIL. In both cases a message will be written to the log file.
Default:
false
true | false
for parameter..ssl.clientauth
- If client TLS authentication is required, set this to
true
(HTTPS only). - If client TLS authentication is not required, set this to
false
.
Default:
false
<cipher suites>
for parameter..ssl.cipher
A comma separated list of TLS cipher suites that should be enabled.
If HTTPS is enabled, then limit the number of enabled cipher suites to a subset of the default. If no ciphers are specified all the following default will be enabled:
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256<protocols>
for parameter..ssl.protocol
A comma separated list of TLS protocols that should be enabled.
If HTTPS is enabled, then limit the number of enabled security protocols to a subset of the default. If no protocols are specified the following default will be enabled:
TLSv1.3
TLSv1.2Example:
ocsp.validation.1.type=cil ocsp.validation.1.provider.3.type=push ocsp.validation.1.provider.3.listen.url=http://ocsphost.com:87/
- If an IDP extension exists and
This article is valid for Nexus OCSP Responder 6.2.2 and later
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