Command: nems-cert
When you run nems-init NEMS generates your SSL certificates. However, if you ever want to update your certs, you definitely don’t want to run nems-init again - that’d wipe out your configuration.
So nems-cert has you covered.
sudo nems-cert
This will take you through the certificate creation process once again, generate your certificates and certificate authority, install them, and restart the services which use them.
If you generate a new certificate for NEMS you may need to delete the old one from your browser and restart, and then create a new exception for the self-signed certificate.
nems-cert temporarily uses Debian Snakeoil certificates - so all the information covered in this doc (other than how to run the program) is irrelevant at present. For now, when you run nems-cert, it will just do its thing with no user input. This is to resolve an issue with Windows 10 users unable to connect to their NEMS 1.3 server. A fix will be issued in future bringing back the nems-cert interface.
Modes Of Operation
Generic Settings
Do you want to create a certificate quickly? The Generic Settings option allows you to create and deploy a certificate very quickly with absolutely no user input needed.
Custom Settings
Custom Settings allows you to manually specify some of the information for your certificate. This is not generally public information, but will be seen when you view the certificate in your browser (for example).
Country Code - This is your 2-digit country code. US for United States of America, or CA for Canada, for example. By default, the country code from your keyboard locale settings will be used.
Province/State - The textual representation of your province/state. For me, this is: Ontario
Your City - The textual name of your city. For me, this is: Barrie
Company Name or Your Name - Like all other fields for your cert, you have to fill this in. So if you don’t have a company, just use your name, or make something up.
Your email address - Your complete email address. This will not be shared, but is required to generate a self-signed certificate.
Specifications
nems-cert generates SHA256 encrypted certificates with RSA 2048 keys.
Viewing Your Certificate Information
Once you have generated your SSL Certificate, you can view it with the following command:
sudo nems-info sslcert
Use of nems-cert Outside of NEMS Linux
Of course, the work I do on NEMS is freely available. Just don’t forget to throw something in the Tip Jar if you like what I do.
If using nems-cert (or, gen-cert.sh in this case) outside NEMS, you’ll simply need to install a few components:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install openssl dialog
You’ll also want to change where the certs are saved to within the source code since the NEMS locations won’t be relevant.