Uwe Gradenegger - Page 46 - Passionate about PKI

Requesting certificates via the Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) fails with error message "No certificate templates could be found.", or the desired certificate template is not displayed

Assume the following scenario:

A Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) server is installed on the network.
The role is installed on a separate server, not on the certification authority directly.
A user attempts to submit an existing certificate request to the certification authority via the certification authority web enrollment.
The desired certificate template is missing from the list of selectable certificate templates, or the list is completely empty.
If the list is empty, the following error message is also issued:

No certificate templates could be found. You do not have permission to request a certificate from this CA, or an error occurred while accessing the Active Directory.

Perform functional test for certification authority web registration (CAWE)

After installing and configuring Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE), it is essential to test the component extensively before releasing it to users. Below are instructions for a detailed functional test.

Description of certificate template generations

Below is a description of the different generations of certificate templates (schema versions) and the innovations introduced with them.

Installing Certification Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE)

The following describes how to install Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE).

Requesting certificates via Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) fails with HTTP error code 500 "Internal Server error".

Assume the following scenario:

A Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) server is installed on the network.
The role is installed on a separate server, not on the certification authority directly.
A user attempts to request a certificate via the certification authority web enrollment or submit an existing certificate request to the certification authority.
The request takes a very long time and finally fails with HTTP code 500 "Internal server error":

There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.

Configure the Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) for use with a domain account.

The following describes how to set up Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) so that the service runs under a domain account.

Requesting certificates via Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) fails with error code "ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED".

Assume the following scenario:

A Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) server is installed on the network.
The role is installed on a separate server, not on the certification authority directly.
A user attempts to request a certificate via the certification authority web enrollment or submit an existing certificate request to the certification authority.
The request fails with the following error message:

Your request failed. An error occurred while the server was processing your request. Contact your administrator for further assistance.

In the details of the error message you will find the following note:

CCertRequest::Submit: Access is denied. 0x80070005 (WIN32: 5 ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED)

Configure Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) for use with a Group Managed Service Account (gMSA).

For security reasons, it may make sense to operate the CAWE with a Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) instead of a normal domain account. This option offers the charming advantage that the password of the account is changed automatically, and thus this step does not have to be done manually, which is unfortunately forgotten far too often.

Windows security permissions required for Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE)

Assuming one implements Microsoft's Active Directory Administrative Tiering Model, or applies similar hardening measures to one's servers, this will impact Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE).

Required firewall rules for the Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES)

Implementing a Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES) often requires planning the firewall rules to be created on the network. The following is a list of the required firewall rules and any pitfalls.

Required Firewall Rules for Certificate Enrollment Policy (CEP) Web Service

Implementing a Certificate Enrollment Policy (CEP) web service often requires planning the firewall rules to be created on the network. The following is a list of the required firewall rules and any pitfalls.

Required firewall rules for the Certificate Enrollment Web Service (CES)

Implementing a Certificate Enrollment Web Service (CES) often requires planning the firewall rules to be created on the network. The following is a list of the required firewall rules and any pitfalls.

Required firewall rules for the online responder (OCSP)

Implementing an online responder (OCSP) often requires planning the firewall rules to be created on the network. The following is a list of the required firewall rules and any pitfalls.

Enabling Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE).

In the default configuration, Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) accepts only unencrypted connections via HTTP. It is recommended that the CAWE be configured for HTTP over TLS (HTTPS) to make network traffic interception more difficult. Instructions are provided below.

Requesting certificates via the Certification Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) takes a very long time

Assume the following scenario:

A Certificate Authority Web Enrollment (CAWE) server is installed on the network.
The role is installed on a separate server, not on the certification authority directly.
A user attempts to request a certificate via the certification authority web enrollment or submit an existing certificate request to the certification authority.
The process is successful, but the application takes a long time (up to several minutes).