Create a keystore file

The keystore file is a key database file that contains both public keys and private keys. Public keys are stored as signer certificates while private keys are stored in the personal certificates. The keys are used for a variety of purposes, including authentication and data integrity. We can use both the key management utility (iKeyman) and the keytool utility to create keystore files.

 

Before you begin

Read the documentation located at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/jdk/security/iKeymanDocs.zip for further information.

 

Procedure

  1. Start the iKeyman utility, if it is not already running.

  2. Open a new key database file by clicking Key Database File > New from the menu bar.

  3. Select the Key Database Type: JKS (default), PKCS12, and JCEKS. This is the key file format (or the value of com.ibm.ssl.keyStoreType property in the sas.client.props file) when you configure the SSL setting for your application.

  4. Type in the file name and location. The full path of this key database file is used as the key file name (or the value of the com.ibm.ssl.keyStore property in the sas.client.props file) when you configure the SSL setting for your application.

  5. Click OK to continue.

  6. Then, type in password to restrict access to the file. This password is used as the key file password (or the value of com.ibm.ssl.keyStorePassword property in the sas.client.props file) when you configure the SSL setting for your application. Do not set an expiration date on the password or save the password to a file; then reset the password when it expires or protect the password file. This password is used only to release the information stored by the key management utility during run time.

  7. Click OK to continue. The tool displays all of the available default signer certificates. These certificates are the public keys of the most common certificate authorities (CAs). We can add, view or delete signer certificates from this panel.

 

Result

A new SSL keystore file is created.

 

What to do next

Prepare keystore files for an SSL connection.

Specify the keystore file in the configuration of WebSphere Application Server. Create a truststore if one does not yet exist.

 

See also


Creating self-signed personal certificates
Requesting certificate authority-signed personal certificates
Creating certificate signing requests
Receiving certificate authority-signed personal certificates
Extracting public certificates for truststore files

 

See Also


Secure Sockets Layer