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    OpenVPN and selfsigned Certificates, can i exceed the 390 days ?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved OpenVPN
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    • bingo600B
      bingo600
      last edited by

      I am going to generate a lot of OpenVPN users w. Certs (Self signed by the OpenVPN CA)
      Created in user manager , and exported via the OVPN Export tool.

      I read about the 395 ? - Days max valid time that Apple has imposed on Certificates.
      Does that affect self signed certificates too ?

      I would like to give my Client certs a 2 year lifetime if possible.

      My primary userbase would be Win10 based (90%)

      But i have a few Linux users , and i think 2 MAC users.

      TIA
      /Bingo

      If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

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      • kiokomanK
        kiokoman LAYER 8
        last edited by kiokoman

        workaround may exist

        https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211025

        this change will affect only TLS server certificates issued on or after September 1, 2020
        set date before September 1 ...

        This change will not affect certificates issued from user-added or administrator-added Root CAs.

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        • bingo600B
          bingo600 @kiokoman
          last edited by

          @kiokoman said in OpenVPN and selfsigned Certificates, can i exceed the 390 days ?:

          workaround may exist

          https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211025

          this change will affect only TLS server certificates issued on or after September 1, 2020
          set date before September 1 ...

          I'd like to avoid that

          This change will not affect certificates issued from user-added or administrator-added Root CAs.

          In plain english , does that mean that my pfSense created CA is not affected ?

          /Bingo

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          • kiokomanK
            kiokoman LAYER 8
            last edited by

            i suppose .. maybe you try and tell us

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            • johnpozJ
              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
              last edited by

              Those restrictions on age of the certs is for browsers.. I have not heard that openvpn is limiting the age of their certs..

              Your openvpn client should have no issues if the cert is set valid for 1 day or 10000 days.. As long as its valid..

              https://openvpn.net/faq/why-are-vpn-certificates-valid-for-10-years/

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              • bingo600B
                bingo600
                last edited by

                @johnpoz
                Thanx

                I just think i saw @jimp mention something about setting the default cert length to match the new restriction , due to some apple client issue.

                I might have misunderstood that message.

                /Bingo

                If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

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                • jimpJ
                  jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                  last edited by

                  I haven't heard of OpenVPN limiting the time either, but the shorter the lifetime, the more secure it is. Less convenient, but more secure.

                  The user certs can still be whatever length you like. Server cert won't matter too much since that doesn't need distributed to clients. CA lifetime still isn't limited either as far as I recall.

                  So you can have a CA with a 10 year lifetime, a server cert with the 398 day limit, and user certs with your 2-year limit or whatever you want.

                  On 2.5.0 you can renew a CA or cert with just a couple clicks so renewing the server cert when it expires is practically trivial so you may as well go with the limited lifetime.

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                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                    last edited by

                    Yeah the defaults for cert manager have been adjusted - because quite often these certs are installed on things you would be hitting with a browser. Say a web gui for pfsense ;) Or your web server your setting up, or some other gui for other software, or appliances like switches, etc.

                    But when it comes to your openvpn - this is pretty isolated. The only thing using these certs are limited to the openvpn server/client. So the limitations for life of these certs would be controlled by the software and not the OS running the software.

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