Store certificates on CloudGuard WAF's AppSec Gateway

Note About Certificate Renewal

When a certificate is renewed, you must update the certificate according to the instructions below, then enforce policy again (even if configuration has not changed) by clicking on "Enforce" on the top bar of the web administration application for CloudGuard WAF in the portal, or by using management API.

Certificates Usage

In order to use encrypted traffic (HTTPS) a managed reverse proxy must have access to the relevant certificates of the domains and URLs it exposes.

Example - you have two applications and one API endpoint to protect:

  • www.acme.com

  • www.acme.com/sales

  • products.acme.com/catalog

ExamplesCertificates usedRequired action

Case 1

You have one wildcard certificate for *.acme.com

Place the certificate in the desired certificate storage by following the instructions below. CloudGuard WAF will use it for all relevant applications

Case 2

You have two certificates: (1) for www.acme.com and (2) for products.acme.com

Place both certificates in the desired certificate storage by following the instructions below. CloudGuard WAF will automatically use certificate 1 for the first two Applications/APIs and certificate 2 for the last Application

Storing certificates locally on CloudGuard WAF's AppSec Gateway

Follow these steps to store your certificates and private keys locally on the gateway that can be used by CloudGuard WAF to process HTTPS traffic:

  • Advantage: you have full control of your secrets

  • Disadvantage: does not support automatic scaling

Step 1: Download command-line tool

The tool's purpose is to verify the certificate and key files and generate an output .pkg file with a unique name

Linux Download or run: wget https://sc1.checkpoint.com/nano-agent/certverify/linux/certverify && chmod +x certverify

Mac Download

Windows Download

You can use this tool on any machine where you have the files, before you actually store them on your CloudGuard WAF's AppSec Gateway(s).

Step 2: Run the command-line tool

Linux and Mac:

  • PEM certificates: ./certverify --cert {certificate.pem} --key {private-key.key}

  • PFX certificates: ./certverify --cert {certificate.pfx} --pass {password}

Windows:

  • PEM certificates : certverify --cert {certificate.pem} --key {private-key.key}

  • PFX certificates : certverify --cert {certificate.pfx} --pass {password}

Repeat this step for each certificate/private key you wish to use

Only certificates that contain Subject Alternative Name (SAN) are supported

The tool will verify the certificate and key files, and generate an output .pkg file with a unique name that includes both.

Step 3: Store certificate and private key on your CloudGuard WAF AppSec Gateway using SCP

You must store the files in directory /etc/certs on CloudGuard WAF's AppSec Gateway or else it will not be identified.

If the commands below end with an error, navigate to /etc and make sure a directory exists called "certs" (in linux, use the mkdir command).

The input pkg file for this step is the uniquely named pkg output file of the previous step.

  • Linux or Mac: ./scp {unique-name.pkg} admin@{gateway-ip}:/etc/certs

  • Windows: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP\WinSCP.com" /command "open scp://admin:{password}@{gateway-ip}" "put cert_cert.pkg /etc/certs/" "exit"

Repeat this step for each certificate/private key you wish to use and for each CloudGUard WAF AppSec Gateway.

Step 4: Enforce Policy

CloudGuard WAF will now use the relevant certificates with HTTPS clients that are trying to access your applications.

Step 5: Change relevant DNS entries

You can now change your DNS entries as relevant to point to your CloudGuard WAF AppSec Gateway IP or to a Load Balancer in front of several CloudGuard WAF's AppSec Gateways.

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