ndncert

The first step in realizing automated certificate issuance and maintenance is to create a client side command-line tool that will communicate with the CA to acquire a certificate. This 'User Agent' program is responsible for managing all steps of issuance, particularly:

(1) Creating certificate/account keys,

(2) sending certificate signing requests to the CA,

(3) presenting user with information on challenges,

(4) requesting challenge validation from the server,

(5) installing signed certificates.

The client will also have to setup future tasks to acquire renewed certificates as well as handle rollover requests; this will be addressed in a separate task on handling certificate maintenance. Details of the full protocol are in the attached slides.