From time to time I have to create a new virtual server on my NetScaler box, along with a new SSL certificate. Recent NetScaler versions provide you an easy option to create a test certificate with one click, but at some point you will need a real certificate there. In may cases the certificate you have is in FPX (aka PKCS#12) format, while NetScaler requires certificate and key pair in PEM or DES format. Solving this puzzle may not be so easy.

Fortunately, NetScaler itself comes with embedded OpenSSL support, and the following steps will help you handle certificate installation task even without deep OpenSSL knowledge.

root@ns1#
root@ns1# pwd
/nsconfig/ssl
root@ns1# ls my-test*
my-test.pfx
root@ns1# openssl pkcs12 -nokeys -in my-test.pfx -out my-test.cert
Enter Import Password:
MAC verified OK
root@ns1# openssl pkcs12 -nocerts -nodes -in my-test.pfx -out my-test.key
Enter Import Password:
MAC verified OK
root@ns1# ls my-test*
my-test.cert    my-test.key     my-test.pfx
root@ns1#
root@ns1#

Pay attention to the highlighted lines above – those are the commands that create certificate and keys files respectively. Continue reading “How to Install PFX Certificate on NetScaler” →