Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Some advice regarding certificates

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved ACME
    21 Posts 7 Posters 2.3k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • johnpozJ
      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
      last edited by

      Or just use your own CA and trust it... I mean really how many freaking people will need access to your firewall gui? Isn't it just easier to trust the CA and hand that out to the support crew that should be very limited that have access to pfsense gui..

      Set the cert for 10 years and be done with it..

      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

      wgstarksW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • wgstarksW
        wgstarks @johnpoz
        last edited by

        @johnpoz said in Some advice regarding certificates:

        Or just use your own CA and trust it... I mean really how many freaking people will need access to your firewall gui? Isn't it just easier to trust the CA and hand that out to the support crew that should be very limited that have access to pfsense gui..

        Set the cert for 10 years and be done with it..

        I agree that this would be much simpler (at least for my use case). Does this also work for the OpenVPN server? The main reason I setup Acme/LE was because I was under the impression (very possibly mistaken) that the certificate would be needed for remote clients connecting to my pfsense OpenVPN server.

        Box: SG-4200

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • jimpJ
          jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
          last edited by

          You should always use an internal CA with OpenVPN. Never use a public CA with it.

          The way CA validation works, any certificate signed by that CA will be valid. You don't want anyone else to be accepted onto your VPN unless you signed their certs, not LE. Then anyone with an LE cert could connect, which is not secure.

          Now for Mobile IPsec with EAP-MSCHAPv2 it could be useful since it's only used to validate the server identity and not client identity, but LE doesn't put in the IKE Intermediate oid so it can't be used for that anyhow.

          Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

          Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

          Do not Chat/PM for help!

          wgstarksW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • wgstarksW
            wgstarks @jimp
            last edited by

            @jimp
            So, as I posted earlier, I know next to nothing about certificates and just want to be sure I understand correctly.

            I should ditch the LE certificate completely and create a CA in pfsense? Then use that CA to create self signed certificates for OpenVPN clients and the webUI?

            Box: SG-4200

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • jimpJ
              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
              last edited by

              You can use the LE cert for the GUI, just don't try to use it for a VPN. If you don't want to bother with LE, then use a self-signed GUI cert, or one from your self-signed CA. This doesn't matter a ton, really.

              Use your own self-signed CA for OpenVPN (and IPsec if you use it).

              Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

              Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

              Do not Chat/PM for help!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • wgstarksW
                wgstarks
                last edited by

                Looking at the certificate manager in pfsense I see that I already have a CA (Private_CA) which shows in use by OpenVPN Server, so I think I’m ok there. In the certificates tab I have the LE certificate which also shows that it is in use by OpenVPN Server. I’m not sure how to correct this?

                Box: SG-4200

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • DerelictD
                  Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                  last edited by

                  Look at the configuration(s) for your OpenVPN Server(s) and see where that certificate is selected for use.

                  Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                  A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                  DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                  Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                  wgstarksW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • wgstarksW
                    wgstarks @Derelict
                    last edited by

                    @derelict
                    Peer CA is set to Private_CA
                    Server certificate is set to LE_cert

                    Can I just create a new certificate using Private_CA and use that for Server Certificate without creating problems? There’s only a couple of clients configured so not really a big deal if I have to export new client certificates.

                    Box: SG-4200

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DerelictD
                      Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
                      last edited by Derelict

                      Yeah. Create a server certificate signed by the Private_CA and change the OpenVPN server to use that. You will need to export new client configs.

                      https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/book/openvpn/using-the-openvpn-server-wizard-for-remote-access.html#creating-a-certificate-authority

                      Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
                      A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
                      DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
                      Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • wgstarksW
                        wgstarks
                        last edited by

                        Great. Thanks to everyone for your help.

                        Box: SG-4200

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • First post
                          Last post
                        Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.