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Digital Certificates

Obtaining a certificate using Firefox on Windows

Do you want to know more about certificates and why you may want to use them? Read Making Sense of Digital Certificates for a short overview.

Important Notes. Please read before you begin:

If you have a desktop support person, we strongly recommend that you schedule time for them to help you with this process. The Help Desk can also assist you.

Complete this process on the computer where you plan to use encryption, if at all possible. The process immediately stores two certificate files on your computer, one for signing and one for encryption.Do not perform this process on a computer where you do not have a designated user name.

Perform this procedure after you have been authorized to download a certificate. You will receive an e-mail message with these instructions if you are authorized.

  1. Print these instructions. This process requires multiple steps in different programs and windows.
  2. Go to https://certificates.austin.utexas.edu/. (Opens in a new window.)
  3. Log into the Digital Certificates Enrollment page with your UT EID and password.
  4. Click Download Certificate in the left-hand menu.
  5. Leave the encryption strength at the default (High Grade).
  6. Click Submit. If Firefox prompts you to enter a Software Security Device password (aka, a Master Password), do so. If you do not have a Software Security Device password, please create one. Do not do anything else in the browser while the certificate is generated. Click OK.
  7. You will receive a confirmation message that the certificate has been installed. Click OK.

    8. At this point, Firefox has automatically added the signing certificate to the Firefox Software Security Device. Continue below to add the encryption certificate to the Windows Certificate Store.

  8. Copy or print the password provided on the Web page. You will need this to import your certificate into other certificate stores, as well as to perform backups.
  9. Click Download P12 File.
  10. Click Run. This begins the process of saving your encryption certificate to the Windows Certificate Store.
  11. In the Certificate Import Wizard Dialog, click Next.
  12. Specify the location of the certificate file if it is not already displaying in the field and click Next.
  13. Enter the password from step 8 and select the following options:
    • Clear the Enable Strong Private Key protection option.
    • Select the Mark this key as exportable option. This allows you to export the file back out of the Windows Certificate Store and create a new backup password so that you don't have to remember the random password the Certificates Downloads Web page gave you. Click Next.
  14. Make sure the default option Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certificate is selected and click Next.
  15. The application displays a summary of the settings. Click Finish. Your encryption certificate is now saved to the Windows Certificate Store.
  16. Return to Firefox. You must now export your signing certificate from the Firefox Certificate Manager. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  17. Click the Advanced icon and select the Encryption tab.
  18. Click the View Certificates button and select the Your Certificates tab.
  19. Look in the Purpose column to identify your signing certificate. Select the Signing Certificate from the list and click the Backup button.
  20. Enter a file name and location to export the certificate and private key to and click Save.
  21. You will likely be prompted for your master password for the software security device (the password that you entered or created in step 6).
  22. From the Choose a certificate backup password dialog box, enter a strong password to create/export the certificate. Confirm the password and click OK. You should receive a successful backup password message.
  23. From here you must now take steps to make the encryption certificate available to the Windows Certificate Store. Double-click the .P12 file that you just exported from Firefox.
  24. In the Certificate Import Wizard Dialog, click Next.
  25. Specify the location of the certificate file if it is not already displaying in the field and click Next.
  26. Enter the password from step 22 and select the following options:
    • Clear the Enable Strong Private Key protection option.
    • Select the Mark this key as exportable option. This allows you to export the file back out of the Windows Certificate Store to create backups. Click Next.
  27. Make sure the default option Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certificate is selected and click Next.
  28. The application displays a summary of the settings. Click Finish. Your encryption certificate is now saved to the Windows Certificate Store.
  29. After you have completed this procedure, you can go to the main Help page for instructions on setting up your e-mail to use certificates and backing up your certificates.

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