Adding an SSL Certificate
Ignition supports using SSL communications to the Gateway Webpage as well as Client/Designer communication with the Gateway. It is highly recommended that you purchase an SSL certificate from a certificate authority if you turn this feature on. The procedures for how to install a genuine SSL Certificate are below.
When you turn on SSL in Ignition, the web browser uses what is called a "self-signed" certificate. This gives you the encryption benefits of SSL, but not the identity validation, and it isn't a "real" certificate. This is why a web browser will display nasty warnings to users that they shouldn't trust the website.
We are not able to ship a real certificate with Ignition because security certificates have to be obtained individually from a Certificate Authority (CA). Ignition supports certificates from both your organization's internal CA, as well as commercial CAs (Verisign, GoDaddy, Comodo, etc). In either case, the procedure for how to install a certificate is listed below.
Note |
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After you have added an SSL certificate, the keystore KeyStore will automatically refresh every 15 minutes. You can disable this in the ignition.conf file by altering the ignition.ssl.refresh entry (Set to 0 to not refresh). |
Get a Certificate Signing Request
Since SSL/TLS requires the installation of an SSL certificate, filling out the form below will generate a certificate signing request (CSR) to provide to a certificate authority. It is the first step required in getting an SSL certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), which is why details such as Organization and Location are being collected.
- Go to the Config tab of the Gateway Webpage and choose Networking > Web Server.
- You'll see a warning message indicating that SSL/TLS is not enabled. Click on the Click here link.

- Click on the I don't have all the items above button. The Create Certificate screen is displayed.
Fill in the required fields on the screen, then click the Generate Certificate Signing Request button. This can be brought to a Certificate Authority.
Basic Details |
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Field | Definition |
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Common Name | Full DNS name (required). This is typically what you type in your browser URL bar in order to navigate to this gateway, for example: yourdomain.com |
Organization Name | Name of company (required). For example: Inductive Automation. |
Organization Department | Department or section (required). For example: Engineering. |
Email | Email address. For example: your@email.com. |
Country | Typically an ISO 3166 2 character code (required). For example: US. |
State / Province | State, province or region, for example: California. |
Locality (City) | Name of city. For example: Folsom |
Street | Street number and street name. For example: 90 Parkshore Dr |
Postal Code | Postal Code Example: 95630 |
Key Type | The algorithm of the key pair which will be generated for the self signed certificate. Options are RSA or EC. Recommended: RSA |
Key Size | The strength of the generated Key. Recommended: 2048 bits |
Expires in | The number of days the generated Certificate will be valid. Only applies to the self-signed certificate. |
Subject Alternative Names |
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Field | Definition |
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IP Addresses | The IP addresses of all the servers you plan on installing the certificate. Click the Add button for each additional IP address. |
DNS Names | DNS names which map to the list of IP addresses above. Click the Add button for each additional IP address. |
Install an SSL Certificate
Once you have an SSL certificate, it needs to be added to Ignition.
- Go to the Config tab of the Gateway Webpage and choose Networking > Web Server.
- You'll see a warning message indicating that SSL/TLS is not enabled. Click on the Click here link.
- The Setup SSL/TLS screen is displayed. Review the following list:
- Private Key
- Certificate Signed By A Certificate Authority (CA)
- Any Intermediate CA Certificates (Provided by your CA)
- Root CA Certificate (Provided by your CA)
- If you have the items, click on the I have all the items above button. If you don't have all the items, click on the I don't have all the items above button, and follow the previous procedure, To Get an SSL Certificate from a CA.

- The Certificate Wizard is displayed. The first step is to import your private key in one of the following three ways.
- Drag and Drop your certificate from your computer onto the screen.
- Click anywhere on the grey box to browse for the private key.
- Click Manually enter data button to type in the private key information

- If the private key is encrypted, click the checkbox to enable a password for this certificate and enter the password in the field. Click Continue.
The next step is to import the server certificate. This is the The DER or PEM encoded X.509 SSL Certificate that Ignition will use for SSL / TLS. Drag and drop the certificate file, browse for it, or manually enter the data.

The next step is to import the certificate chain. This gives you the Intermediate CA Certificate. Drag and drop the certificate file or bundle, browse for it, or manually enter the data.
You'll see a message that the Intermediate CA Certificate was successfully uploaded.

Finally, import the root CA certificate: Drag and drop the certificate file, browse for it, or manually enter the data. You'll see a message that the Root CA Certificate was successfully uploaded.
Editor_notes |
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Why does the description for the previous certificate, the intermediate one, change to say Root certificate now? - This is a question for Dev., probably a bug. The text is a duplicate of the step 4 too.This is a bug. Alex Lu submitted FB14677 for it. |

Click the Continue button.
You'll see a confirmation message that the certificate is installed and SSL/TLS is enabled.

- If you have a redundant installation, you'll need to repeat this procedure on your backup server.