Deploy Client Certificates to the GlobalProtect Satellites Using SCEP
Table of Contents
Deploy Client Certificates to the GlobalProtect Satellites Using SCEP
As an alternative method for deploying client
certificates to satellites, you can configure your GlobalProtect portal
to act as a Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) client
to a SCEP server in your enterprise PKI. SCEP operation is dynamic
in that the enterprise PKI generates a certificate when the portal
requests it and sends the certificate to the portal.
When
the satellite device requests a connection to the portal or gateway,
it also includes its serial number with the connection request.
The portal submits a CSR to the SCEP server using the settings in
the SCEP profile and automatically includes the serial number of
the device in the subject of the client certificate. After receiving
the client certificate from the enterprise PKI, the portal transparently
deploys the client certificate to the satellite device. The satellite
device then presents the client certificate to the portal or gateway
for authentication.
- Create a SCEP profile.
- Select and then Add a new profile.Enter a Name to identify the SCEP profile.If this profile is for a firewall with multiple virtual systems capability, select a virtual system or Shared as the Location where the profile is available.(Optional) To make the SCEP-based certificate generation more secure, configure a SCEP challenge-response mechanism between the PKI and portal for each certificate request.After you configure this mechanism, its operation is invisible, and no further input from you is necessary.To comply with the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), use a Dynamic SCEP challenge and specify a Server URL that uses HTTPS (see step 7).Select one of the following options:
- None—(Default) The SCEP server doesn’t challenge the portal before it issues a certificate.
- Fixed—Obtain the enrollment challenge password from the SCEP server (for example, http://10.200.101.1/CertSrv/mscep_admin/) in the PKI infrastructure and then copy or enter the password into the Password field.
- Dynamic—Enter the SCEP Server URL where the portal-client submits these credentials (for example, http://10.200.101.1/CertSrv/mscep_admin/), and a username and OTP of your choice. The username and password can be the credentials of the PKI administrator.
Specify the settings for the connection between the SCEP server and the portal to enable the portal to request and receive client certificates.To identify the satellite, the portal automatically includes the device serial number in the CSR request to the SCEP server. Because the SCEP profile requires a value in the Subject field, you can leave the default $USERNAME token even though the value isn’t used in client certificates for LSVPN.- Configure the Server URL that the portal uses to reach the SCEP server in the PKI (for example, http://10.200.101.1/certsrv/mscep/).Enter a string (up to 255 characters in length) in the CA-IDENT Name field to identify the SCEP server.Select the Subject Alternative Name Type:
- RFC 822 Name—Enter the email name in a certificate’s subject or Subject Alternative Name extension.
- DNS Name—Enter the DNS name used to evaluate certificates.
- Uniform Resource Identifier—Enter the name of the resource from which the client will obtain the certificate.
- None—Don’t specify attributes for the certificate.
(Optional) Configure cryptographic settings for the certificate.- Select the key length (Number of Bits) for the certificate. If the firewall is in FIPS-CC mode and the key generation algorithm is RSA, the RSA keys must be 2,048 bits or larger.
- Select the Digest for CSR that indicates the digest algorithm for the certificate signing request (CSR): SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, or SHA512.
(Optional) Configure the permitted uses of the certificate, either for signing or encryption.- To use this certificate for signing, select the Use as digital signature check box. This enables the endpoint use the private key in the certificate to validate a digital signature.
- To use this certificate for encryption, select the Use for key encipherment check box. This enables the client use the private key in the certificate to encrypt data exchanged over the HTTPS connection established with the certificates issued by the SCEP server.
(Optional) To ensure that the portal is connecting to the correct SCEP server, enter the CA Certificate Fingerprint. Obtain this fingerprint from the SCEP server interface in the Thumbprint field.- Enter the URL for the SCEP server’s administrative UI (for example, http://<hostname or IP>/CertSrv/mscep_admin/).Copy the thumbprint and enter it in the CA Certificate Fingerprint field.Enable mutual SSL authentication between the SCEP server and the GlobalProtect portal. This is required to comply with the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).FIPS-CC operation is indicated on the firewall login page and in its status bar.Select the SCEP server’s root CA Certificate. Optionally, you can enable mutual SSL authentication between the SCEP server and the GlobalProtect portal by selecting a Client Certificate.Save and commit the configuration.
- Click OK to save the settings and close the SCEP configuration.Commit the configuration.The portal attempts to request a CA certificate using the settings in the SCEP profile and saves it to the firewall hosting the portal. If successful, the CA certificate is shown in .(Optional) If after saving the SCEP profile, the portal fails to obtain the certificate, you can manually generate a certificate signing request (CSR) from the portal.
- Select and then click Generate.Enter a Certificate Name. This name can’t contain spaces.Select the SCEP Profile to use to submit a CSR to your enterprise PKI.Click OK to submit the request and generate the certificate.
