Private Certificate SSL

Using SSL is very simple. For any html page, or CGI application that you want to be transferred using an SSL (encrypted) connection just change the URL to be "https" instead of "http". For example, to view your home page using an SSL connection you would use <https://your_sitename>. The only thing to remember about SSL enabled pages is to be sure that any URLs you include on the page are also "https" based or your page will contain both secure and non-secure parts which will result in a warning being displayed to the viewer.

Shared Certificate SSL

Using SSL in a shared certificate model (where you utilize our certificate to enable the SSL connection) is a little more complicated. Since you will be using the servers digital certificate any URLs you use to enable SSL connections must also use the servers name or a serious warning about certificate/server name mismatch will be displayed to the viewer. For example, to view your home page using an SSL connection you would use <https://netgate_server_name/~your_login_name/>. The "netgate_server_name" can be learned by typing "hostname" in the UNIX shell or by sending an e-mail to "support@netgate.net".

Using secure CGI applications also means that you have to use the servers URL to access those resources. This in turn means that Personal CGI will not function. CGI applications executed using a shared certificate must be installed into the server cgi-bin directory. Any CGI application you want installed must be submitted to "support@netgate.net" for security review and installation. Once the application has been approved and installed it would be accessible using a URL such as <https://netgate_server_name/cgi-bin/your_login/app_name>. Any usage or errors generated by the execution of the application would be logged to the server http_access_log, http_error_log, and cgi_log files and not to the logs located in your raw logs directory.