Exporting to back up certificates
Once all certificates are in place, it is a good idea to back up all certificates to a thumb drive or other storage device,
such as a completely separate computer that resides in a vault.
Prerequisites: You are working in
Perform the following steps:
- Open the
The Certificate Export window opens.
- Click the option to Export the certificate’s private key.
- Create a strong password to protect this private key and click OK.The Export Certificate file path window opens.
- Add to the name text to indicate that this file contains the private key, navigate to the
rootcertfolder, and click Save. - Create a new folder under
certManagementcalledservercerts. - Navigate to each controller/station Certificate Management folder and save each server certificate with its private key in the new folder.
- Using Windows’ File Explorer, copy the entire
certManagementfolder to a thumb drive or other location. - Delete the contents of the
certManagementfolder.DANGER: Do not leave a root certificate or server certificates with their private keys in a PC file system that may be compromised! Store these certificates only on a thumb drive or PC that is in a secure and locked vault. As a best practice, avoid storing certificates in the cloud.
If you followed these procedures, the company’s communication within this system is secure. Bear in mind, that certificates
expire. When they expire you may need to sign and import new certificates again.