Importing and exporting certificates

Install a certificate as a root trust certificate

If you're using a self-signed certificate or a certificate authority (CA)-issued certificate that is not preinstalled in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store of your devices, you'll have to manually install it before your device can work with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)-enabled server. The following sections illustrate how to determine whether you need to install a certificate manually, how to export the certificate using a web browser, and how to install the certificate on your field devices. See About securing communication pipeline for details about SSL certificates.

Determine whether you need to install a certificate manually

For Windows devices, connect the device to your ArcGIS for Server site via a web browser and make sure your uniform resource locator (URL) starts with "https://". Windows Internet Explorer (IE) is recommended in this case. If you see a certificate error screen similar to the following image, you should export and install the certificate manually:

For Windows Mobile devices, connect to your ArcGIS for Server site via a web browser from IE on the Windows Mobile Operating System. If you see a screen similar to the following image, you should export and install the certificate manually:

Export a certificate using Internet Explorer from a desktop machine

Steps:

1. On your desktop machine, once you see the certificate error screen, choose Continue to this website (not recommended).

   You'll then be directed to your ArcGIS for Server site's main page.

2. Click Certificate Error beside the address bar and click View Certificates.
3. After you open the certificate, on the Details tab, click Copy to File.

   If the Copy to File option is unavailable, close IE and run again as administrator. You can also export the certificate as a .cer file for Windows Mobile installation.

4. In the Certificate Export Wizard, choose the DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER) option, and click Next.
5. Type a name for the certificate, and click Next to save the certificate by default, or browse to the location where you want to save. Then click Finish to complete.

You can also use other browsers to export a certificate. The concept and steps needed are similar to those for IE.

Install a certificate on a Windows or a Windows Mobile device

Install a certificate on a Windows device

Steps:

1. Browse to the location where you have exported the certificate to, then double-click the certificate file.
2. The Certificate window appears, click Install Certificate.
3. The Certificate Import Wizard window appears, click Next, on the next page choose the Place all certificate in the following store option, and click Browse.
4. The Select Certificate Store window appears, select Trusted Root Certificate Authorities, and click OK.
5. Click Next and Finish in the next two screens to close the wizard and complete the process.
6. Click Yes on the security warning to install the certificate.
7. Click OK to dismiss the Certificate window.

After installation, use IE to go to your ArcGIS Server site again with "https://" and the SSL port number in the URL to verify you don't see a security warning anymore.

Install a certificate on a Windows Mobile device

Steps:

1. Connect your mobile device to your computer running ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center and verify that the connection is established.
2. Copy the certificate exported from IE to the mobile device.
3. On the mobile device, use File Explorer to navigate to the location where you saved the certificate.
4. Tap the certificate to run, then tap Yes to install.

After installation, use IE to go to your ArcGIS Server site again with "https://" and the SSL port number in the URL, and make sure you don't see a security warning anymore.