Netscape Certificate Management System 6.0, Manual

Page: 20 / 377

Overview of Authentication Modules
20 Netscape Certificate Management System Plug-Ins Guide • March 2002
If you don’t have a directory deployed, you may use the Netscape Directory Server
instance created at the time of CMS installation; in the documentation, this instance
is identified as the Configuration Directory. For a demonstration on how to use this
directory for issuing certificates to end users, see Chapter 3, “Default Demo
Installation” of CMS Installation and Setup Guide.
If you determine that the default authentication modules do not meet your
requirements, you can develop a custom authentication module using the CMS
SDK, which is available in the form of Javadocs at this location:
<server_root>/cms_sdk/cms_jdk/javadoc
For general guidelines on developing custom authentication modules and adding
them to the CMS authentication framework, check the tutorials on authentication.
Be sure to take a look at the authentication-specific samples available at this
location:
<server_root>/cms_sdk/cms_jdk/samples/authentication
For instructions on how to configure a Certificate Manager and a Registration
Manager to use one or more of the authentication methods, see section
“Configuring Authentication for End-User Enrollment” in Chapter 15, “Setting Up
End-User Authentication” of CMS Installation and Setup Guide.
Keep in mind that in an automated certificate management setup, the Certificate
Manager and Registration Manager use the configured authentication methods
only during certificate enrollment. During certificate renewal, the servers rely on
end users SSL client certificate for automated renewal. For automated revocation,
the users can use their SSL-client certificate or a challenge password. For more
information, see sections “Authentication for End Users During Certificate
Renewal” and “Authentication for End Users During Certificate Revocation” in
Chapter 15, “Setting Up End-User Authentication” of CMS Installation and Setup
Guide.
Certificate Management System also provides HTML forms-based interfaces for all
the authentication methods it supports. Your end entities can use these forms for
certificate enrollment. Explanation of each enrollment form, along with the
corresponding authentication module, is covered in “Enrollment Forms” on
page 53. Certificate renewal and revocation forms are covered as a part of those
processes. For details on individual form elements in the enrollment, renewal, and
revocation forms, see the online help available by clicking the Help buttons on the
HTML forms. You can also customize these forms to suit to your organization’s
requirements. For customization information, see CMS Customization Guide.