Certificate management using iKeyman prior to SSL

Starting in WebSphere Application Server v6.1, we can manage certificates from the administrative console. When using versions of WAS prior to v6.1, use iKeyman for certificate management. iKeyman is a key management utility.

WAS certificate management requires defining the keystores in our WAS configuration. With iKeyman, we need access to the keystore file only. We can read a keystore file with personal certificates and signers created in iKeyman. A keystore file can be read into the WAS configuration using the createKeyStore command.

The majority of certificate management functions are the same between WAS and iKeyman, especially for personal certificates and signer certificates. However, certificate requests are special. The underlying behavior is different in the two certificate management schemes. Because of the different behavior, when a certificate request is generated from iKeyman, the process must be completed in iKeyman. For example, a certificate generated by a certificate request that originated in iKeyman must be received in iKeyman as well.

The same is true for WAS. For example, when a certificate is generated from a certificate request that originated in WAS, the certificate must be received in WAS.

We can perform the following certificate operations using iKeyman:

Types of certificates	Functions	Description
Personal certificates	Create a self-signed certificate	Creates a self-signed certificate and stores it in a keystore.
	List personal certificates	Lists all the personal certificates in a keystore.
	Get information about a personal certificate	Gets information about a personal certificate.
	Delete a personal certificate	Deletes a personal certificate from a keystore.
	Import a certificate	Import a certificate from a keystore to a keystore.
	Export a certificate	Export a certificate from a keystore to another keystore.
	Extract a certificate	Extract the signer part of a personal certificate to a file.
	Receive a certificate	Reads a certificate that comes from a certificate authority (CA) into a keystore.
Signer certificates	Add a signer certificate	Adds a signer certificate from a file to a keystore.
	List signer certificates	Lists all the signer certificates in a keystore.
	Get information about a signer certificate	Gets information about a signer certificate.
	Delete a signer certificate	Deletes a signer certificate from a keystore.
	Extract a signer certificate	Extract a signer certificate from a keystore, and stores the certificate in a file.
Certificate requests	Create a certificate request	Creates a certificate request that can be sent to a CA.
	List certificate requests	Lists the certificate requests in a keystore.
	Get information about a certificate request	Gets information about a certificate request.
	Delete a certificate request	Deletes a certificate request from a keystore.
	Extract a certificate request	Extract a certificate request to a file.

Related:

Certificate management in SSL

Create a keystore configuration for a preexisting keystore file