XCA Signing Problem

Question

I am trying to make a self-signed SSL Certificate for Sun WebServer 6.1 using the XCA Certificate GUI. Here is my process:

1. Login to Sun Webserver admin console.
2. Use the "Generate CSR" function to create the cert to be signed.
3. Import the CSR into XCA.
4. Try to sign the CSR in XCA.
5. XCA throws the following error message:

"The following error occured: The key you selected for signing is not a private one."

Sun WebServer does not have an option to control whether or not the private key is included with the CSR. Does anyone know of a workaround to sign a Sun Webserver CSR (preferably with XCA)?

Answer 1

You need to create a CA certificate and use it for signing the CSR. The private key of the CSR remains on the Sun Webserver.

Answer 2

Just for future reference (took me 15 minutes to clear this today):

When you are using XCA to generate self-signed certs you have to generate the certificate directly. XCA > Certificates > New Certificate > Source > Signing: Create self signed certificate Generating the CSR and then trying to sign it will result in the error you experienced.