Altair SLC Hub self-signed certificates

Ian Balanzá-Davis

As part of Altair SLC Hub installation, a Hub Administrator may create a self-signed certificate to provide secure access to a Hub instance. This certificate can then be used to test HTTPS, Altair Analytics Workbench or the Excel plug-in over a secure connection.

Note, that while it is always recommended for communication with Hub to be secure, use of a self-signed certificate is not recommended for production use of Hub.

To use a self-signed certificate, the certificate should be installed in the Windows certificate store using the Microsoft Management Console. Adding a certificate to the store requires administration permission for the Windows device.

Acquire a self-signed certificate

To download the self-signed certificate:

1. In a browser, for example Google Chrome, navigate to the Altair SLC Hub URL. Click the Not secure notice to the left of the address bar, then click Certificate is not valid.
2. In the Certificate viewer dialog box, click the Details tab and click Export. Select a filename and download location to save a copy of the certificate. Close the Certificate viewer dialog box.

Other browsers will provide similar mechanisms to download the certificate.

Storing a self-signed certificate

Once downloaded, store the certificate:

1. From the Windows Start menu, run mmc to open the Microsoft Management Console.
2. In the File menu, click Add/remove snap-in.
3. In the Add or Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Certificates and then click Add.
4. In the Certificates snap-in dialog box, select Computer account. Click Next, select Local computer and click Finish. Close the Add or Remove Snap-in dialog box.
5. Expand Console root and expand Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
6. Right-click Certificates. Select All Tasks and click Import. A Certificate Import Wizard opens.
7. Click Next and then click Browse to select the downloaded certificate file.
8. Click Next and accept the default options to automatically select the certificate store.
9. Click Next and then click Finish to store the certificate.
10. Save your changes and close the Microsoft Management Console.

When successfully stored, user access to the Hub instance can be verified. For example, open Microsoft Excel and from the Hub tab click Connect. Enter the required information in the Connection dialog (see Using the Microsoft Excel plugin for the Altair SLC Hub for more information), ensuring you select HTTPS as the Protocol, and click Connect to access the Hub instance.