This chapter introduces Micro Focus Demo CA.
The user interfaces of certain Micro Focus products include controls and parameters to configure and enable SSL security. For example reUZE Server is enhanced in this way.
For communications, the tools provided by Micro Focus products use a module called the Common Communications Interface (CCI). For example, Fileshare clients and servers communicate via CCI. As a user of any of these tools, you do not use CCI directly, but the configuration options of many tools include options that in fact configure CCI.
CCI can use any of several standard communications protocols, including TCP/IP. Because SSL is built on top of TCP/IP, you may find that any Micro Focus software tool that uses CCI across TCP/IP has been enhanced to provide options for enabling SSL. These options enable the tool to send and receive encrypted messages, and (depending on the tool) do things such as installing and checking certificates.
No callable interface from COBOL to SSL is provided.
Micro Focus Demo CA enables secure communication between your computer and other Micro Focus products.
Encryption uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and is fully interoperable with standard (non-Micro Focus) SSL clients and servers. Micro Focus Demo CA also provides support for integration with Public Key Infrastructures (PKIs) and PKI functions, such as processing certificates.
Micro Focus Demo CA includes the utility openssl.exe plus a set of directories for use by the utility. You can use the demonstration CA to generate and process certificates and keys during training, development and testing.
By default, the Micro Focus Demo CA installation file is installed in the following location:
We recommend that you do not use the demonstration CA for production use, but there are elements that might be useful. See the warnings in the section Is the Demonstration CA a Real CA? in the chapter Demonstration Certificate Authority.
To install Micro Focus Demo CA:
Note: The Readme information for Micro Focus Demo CA is available from the installation program. Run the installation program, and click the Readme button to access the Readme information.
OpenSSL is an organization that has developed a toolkit implementing SSL. A subset of this toolkit is provided with this pack, as a command-line utility called openssl.exe. It provides functions you need for using SSL and PKIs - notably, functions for creating and checking certificates. For details on the OpenSSL organization, see their Web site www.openssl.org.
The SSL support in the Micro Focus Demo CA is based on the OpenSSL source distribution, and provides a subset of the features in full OpenSSL source. Therefore, documentation on the Web regarding OpenSSL applies to the SSL support provided by this pack, although some features might not be relevant. The SSL documentation on the Web can be a useful guide.
If you are new to SSL, we recommend that you learn about it from the many sources available, such as the Web and published books. There is a brief introduction in the Background Information folder of the Help in the chapters:
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