Token for CDP and AIA configuration of a certification authority

The following is an overview of the tokens for the CDP and AIA configuration of a certification authority.

Token	Name	Description
%1	ServerDNSName	The fully qualified DNS name of the server on which the certificate authority is installed.
%2	ServerShortName	The NETBIOS name of the server on which the certificate authority is installed.
%3	CaName	The Common Name (CN) of the certification authority.
%4	CertificateName	The certificate index ffor the name of the certification authority certificate.
%6	ConfigurationContainer	The path to the Configuration Container of the Active Directory forest.
%7	CATruncatedName	Name of the certification authority limited to 32 characters, with a checksum.
%8	CRLNameSuffix	The key index for the name of the blacklists.
%9	DeltaCRLAllowed	Replaced by a "+" for a delta CRL.
%10	CDPObjectClass	Placeholder for the cRLDistributionPoint object class in the LDAP path of the CRL Distribution Point extension...
%11	CAObjectClass	Placeholder for the certificationAuthority object class in the LDAP path of the Authority Information Access (AIA) extension.

Sensible adjustments

Make LDAP revocation list paths agnostic from the hostname of the certificate authority server

By default, the following LDAP path is configured for revocation list publishing when a certificate authority is installed.

ldap:///CN=%7%8,CN=%2,CN=CDP,CN=Public Key Services,CN=Services,%6

The ServerShortName token (%2) ensures that the LDAP path contains the NETBIOS name of the certification authority server. This can cause problems with Migration of the certification authority to another server bring

A simple trick to get around this is to replace the token with CaName (%3), which describes the common name of the certificate authority.

ldap:///CN=%7%8,CN=%3,CN=CDP,CN=Public Key Services,CN=Services,%6

The setting is made in the following registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CertSvc\Configuration\{Name-of-certification authority>\CRLPublicationURLs

After this configuration adjustment has been made, the certification authority service must be restarted.

In addition, the LDAP path, which now differs from the default, must be created once by first creating a blacklist and then publishing it to Active Directory as Enterprise Administrator.

certutil -f -dspublish {blocklist>.crl

When creating the blacklist, the Event no. 74 logged, since the certificate authority directly tries to publish to LDAP and initially fails. However, after the revocation list has been manually uploaded once, the error no longer occurs.

See also article "Publish a certificate revocation list (CRL) to an Active Directory revocation list distribution point (CDP).„.

Related links:

• Configuring Certificate Revocation List (CDP) Distribution Points and Authority Information Access (AIA) Extension of a Certification Authority
• Description of the CRL Distribution Point (CDP) and Authority Information Access (AIA) Extensions

External sources

• How CA Certificates Work (Microsoft)