How to obtain a CILogon Silver CA certificate

Intended for:

CILogon personal certificate users

Scenario/Use case:

To meet the needs of Fermilab's scientific users, the certificate authority (CA) for issuing CILogon personal certificates was changed from CILogon Basic CA to CILogon Silver CA on Nov. 7, 2019.  The steps for requesting a CILogon Silver CA certificate are the same as those for requesting a CILogon Basic CA certificate.

This article provides instructions on how to get a CILogon Silver CA certificate and load it in your browser. You do not renew your CILogon Silver CA certificate. Instead, you follow the same process as getting a new certificate.

NOTE: CILogon certificates are valid for for up to 13 months (9516 hours). You will NOT receive a reminder when your certificate is close to expiration or has expired. You may wish to set a reminder to renew your certificate before it expires.

Instructions:

How to get a CILogon Silver CA certificate (follow this same process if you have a CILogon Silver CA certificate that will expire soon and you need to get a new one)

1. Go to https://cilogon.org
2. Look through the list of Identity Providers.
3. If your institution is in that list, select it and click Log On.
4. If your institution is not in that list, and you have accounts at Fermilab:
   • Select Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and click Log On.
   • Enter your Services account username and password, and click Login
     .
5. Enter a password to protect your certificate and click Get New Certificate.
6. Click Click Here To Download Your Certificate and save your certificate to your computer.

How to load the CILogon Silver CA certificate into your browser

For Windows users:

• Internet Explorer
  1. Double click on the saved certificate file.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Click Next again.
  4. Type the password you entered earlier for the certificate.
  5. Keep the default settings and click Next. 
  6. Keep the default settings and click Next again.
  7. Click Finish
• Firefox
  1. Click Privacy & Security  on the left navigation bar and then scroll down to the Certificates section.
  2. Click View Certificates.
  3. Select the Your Certificates tab.
  4. Select the certificate you and click Import... and follow the instructions to import your certificate.

For Mac users:

• Safari
  1. Click the certificate that you have saved earlier. This will add it to your keychain for use with Safari.
• Firefox
  1. Open Firefox preferences on the Firefox menu bar.
  2. Click Advanced on the left navigation bar and then select the Certificates tab.
  3. Click View Certificates.
  4. Select the Your Certificates tab.
  5. Click Import... and follow the instructions to import your certificate.

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