A passport is necessary to validate your identity and board an international airplane. In this context, the passport serves as a fundamental identification document, essential for gaining access to airport facilities and boarding a flight.
Similarly, digital certificates also act as passports that confirm the identity of devices and facilitate encrypted communication, ensuring data remains secure and private. They simplify the task of IT teams to authenticate devices and check for security when the devices are operating in unknown networks.
Digital certificates in Windows device management ensure secure authentication, encryption, and code integrity. They facilitate device enrollment, management, and secure remote access, enhancing overall security and compliance within the Windows ecosystem.
This blog will act as a step-by-step guide on how to manage Windows digital certificates on Scalefusion.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Manage Windows Certificates
By following the given steps you can streamline configuring certificates on Windows from the Scalefusion dashboard.
1. Upload Certificates
To upload a certificate to the dashboard, follow these steps:
a. Click the Device Profiles and Policies tab on the Scalefusion dashboard, then navigate to Certificate Management and click on Upload Certificate.
b. This opens a new window: Upload a Certificate. Here, you need to enter a name for the certificate and upload the certificate file.
c. Click Save after entering all the details to upload the certificate on the dashboard.
The uploaded certificate with the details will be displayed on the Certificate Management screen.
2. Apply Certificates
After uploading, the certificates need to be pushed to device profiles/devices. This is done through Publish under Actions.
Follow these steps to publish a certificate on selected device profile(s) / device(s):
a. Click Publish under Actions in front of the certificate that has to be published.
b. This opens a new window containing a list of all device profiles and devices configured on the dashboard.
c. In this window, you select the device profiles and devices on which the certificate has to be published and click the Publish button on the bottom right corner.
Once the certificate is installed on the device, the count of devices for the published certificate reflects under the Installed On heading on the Certificate Management screen.
3. Unpublish Certificates
To unpublish a certificate from device profiles/devices, follow these steps:
a. Click Unpublish under Actions in front of the certificate that has to be unpublished.
b. This opens a new window containing a list of all the device profiles and devices on which the certificate is already published.
c. Select the profiles and devices and click the Unpublish button.
The certificate will be uninstalled from all the selected device profiles and devices.
Note: If a certificate has been published to the Device Profile and Device separately and is unpublished from the Device Profile, then the certificate is still retained on the device as it has been installed on the device also.
4. Delete Certificates
Deleting a certificate will uninstall it from all devices and delete the stored certificate permanently.
Follow these steps to delete a certificate:
a. Click Delete under Actions in front of the certificate that has been deleted.
b. This will show a Dialog for Confirmation stating “This certificate is currently installed on the XX device profiles and used in XX Wifi configuration. Are you sure you want to delete?”
c. Click Confirm to delete that particular certificate.
The certificate will be permanently deleted from all the selected device profiles and devices.
Which Types of Digital Certificates Does Scalefusion Support?
With Scalefusion, you can upload, deploy, and manage the following types of certificates:
Identity Certificate: Apps/browsers can use these for user identification and certificate-based authentication. These are in .p12 and .pfx formats.
Certificate Authority (CA) Certificate: These verify the trust of the certificate presented.
Chained Certificates: These are certificates linked in a hierarchy from a Leaf Node to the certificate payload/body.
Note: Scalefusion supports certificates of two formats—PKCS12(.p12) and PKCS1(.cer, .pem)
With Scalefusion, you streamline the processes of Windows certificate management. Configure digital certificates right from uploading to deleting through the Scalefusion dashboard in a few simple steps. Try our 14-day free trial today.
