Sunday, June 10, 2012

Difference Between SSLCACertificateFile and SSLCertificateChainFile


I provide SSL pages on my web server, and I have a question. What is the difference between SSLCACertificateFile and SSLCertificateChainFile?



When I use SSLCertificateChainFile, I got warnings from Japanese cellular phone browser, but when I use PC browser(like IE, FF), there was no problem. On the other hand, SSLCACertificateFile didn't cause any problem for both browsers.



Is there any difference when browsers connect to apache?


Source: Tips4all

2 comments:

  1. SSLCertificateChainFile is generally the correct option to choose, as it has the least impact; it causes the listed file to be sent along with the certificate to any clients that connect.

    SSLCACertificateFile (hereafter "CACert") does everything SSLCertificateChainFile does (hereafter "Chain"), and additionally permits the use of the cert in question to sign client certificates. This sort of authentication is quite rare (at least for the moment), and if you aren't using it, there's IMHO no reason to augment its functionality by using CACert instead of Chain. On the flipside, one could argue that there's no harm in the additional functionality, and CACert covers all cases. Both arguments are valid.

    Needless to say, if you ask the cert vendor, they'll always push for CACert over Chain, since it gives them another thing (client certs) that they can potentially sell you down the line. ;)

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  2. More info is needed before this question can be properly answered
    e.g. type of cert, browsers you are accessing from, Apache server version, etc

    For more info on the SSLCertificateChainFile option, see here, pay particular attention to the last note.

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