Disable "certificate warning" for default webmin/virtualmin SSL certificate

Submitted by isdahlc on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 08:13 Pro Licensee

Is there a way to disable the certificate warning that appears when accessing virtualmin on :10000 or :20000? In particular we are having trouble resolving this issue with IE. FireFox doesn't seem to have a problem importing the cert and bypassing the warning on future visits.

Thanks!
Craig

Status: 
Active

Comments

Submitted by andreychek on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 10:19

Hi Craig -- you would indeed get a warning when using a self-signed certificate to secure a website. The warning is something your browser pops up, to explain that it doesn't know who generated the certificate.

You could configure your browser to accept the certificate, and not display a warning.

However, the way that's typically resolved is to purchase a commercial SSL certificate that matches the domain you use to access Virtualmin.

Then, you can import that SSL certificate into Webmin/Virtualmin, and browsers would no longer display the warning message.

Submitted by isdahlc on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 10:25 Pro Licensee

You could configure your browser to accept the certificate, and not display a warning.

This is what we want to do but have been unsuccessful in accomplishing this in IE. Since I'm sure you've been asked this before I was hoping you could point me in the direction of some good documentation. Firefox works fine - IE is the problem. Any docs you can suggest?

Craig

Submitted by andreychek on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 15:33

I haven't actually tried this on IE before, but in doing some tinkering, it looks like you can import the certificate by using the following steps:

  • When prompted that there's a problem with the certificate, click "Continue onto website"

  • When viewing the website, you'll see a "Certificate Error" warning in the address bar. Click the text that says "Certificate Error".

  • Click "View Certificate"

  • Click "Install Certificate"

At that point, Internet Explorer should allow you to view the website without prompting you for a warning.

Remember though that for $20 or $30 dollars a year, you can purchase a commercial SSL certificate that is already trusted by your browser and would prevent such popups without having to manually correct each client :-)