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Intermediate Certificates

Intermediate certificates

Intermediate certificates provide a way for the browser to link your SSL certificate (which it doesn't trust by default) up to a root certificate that it does trust. Certificate Authorities (CA) often delegate some functions to an intermediate CA, which can in turn further delegate to another intermediate CA. Each CA in the chain must have it's own certificate issued by its parent. The information in each certificate allows the browser to build a chain of trust from your certificate to the trusted root CA.

Your web server must provide the intermediate certificates to the browser. If you are using IIS you would normally download your certificate in the PKCS7 format, which will automatically include the InCommon intermediate certificates. If you are using Apache and downloading your certificate in PEM format, you will need to follow the instructions below.

Apache configuration

Apache (version < 2.4.8) users configure intermediate certificates via the SSLCertificateChainFile directive.

Apache (version >= 2.4.8) users configure intermediate certificates via multiple SSLCertificateFile directives.

In either case you must provide:

  • The InCommon Server CA intermediate if you use an older, SHA-1 certificate.
  • The InCommon RSA Server CA and the USERTrust RSA Certification Authority if you use a new, SHA-2 certificate.

You can add all the intermediates to your certificate chain file without harm.

InCommon intermediate certificate for sha-1 certificates

 
subject= /C=US/O=Internet2/OU=InCommon/CN=InCommon Server CA
issuer= /C=SE/O=AddTrust AB/OU=AddTrust External TTP Network/CN=AddTrust External CA Root
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIEwzCCA6ugAwIBAgIQf3HB06ImsNKxE/PmgWdkPjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADBv
MQswCQYDVQQGEwJTRTEUMBIGA1UEChMLQWRkVHJ1c3QgQUIxJjAkBgNVBAsTHUFk
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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
InCommon intermediate certificates for sha-2 certificates
 
subject= /C=US/ST=MI/L=Ann Arbor/O=Internet2/OU=InCommon/CN=InCommon RSA Server CA
issuer= /C=US/ST=New Jersey/L=Jersey City/O=The USERTRUST Network/CN=USERTrust RSA Certification Authority
signature hash algorithm=sha512
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIF+TCCA+GgAwIBAgIQJbVdRZm0XXTm3MkhAFSBcjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQ0FADCB
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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
 
 
subject= C=US, ST=MI, L=Ann Arbor, O=Internet2, OU=InCommon, CN=InCommon RSA Server CA
issuer= C=US, ST=New Jersey, L=Jersey City, O=The USERTRUST Network, CN=USERTrust RSA Certification Authority
signature hash algorithm=sha384
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
 
 
subject= /C=US/ST=New Jersey/L=Jersey City/O=The USERTRUST Network/CN=USERTrust RSA Certification Authority
issuer= /C=SE/O=AddTrust AB/OU=AddTrust External TTP Network/CN=AddTrust External CA Root
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
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-----END CERTIFICATE-----