Certificate Manager API

1.0 References

[1] Software Architecture Document, Version 1.1 Revision 1.4, LiMo Foundation, 11 September 2007

2.0 Overview

The Certificate Manager implements the administration and processing of security certificates for a particular system. The main services supplied by the certificate are:
  • Certificate Processing (parsing, verification etc).
  • Certificate Storage.
  • Certificate Meta data administration.
  • Certificate Revocation discovery.
  • Limited cryptographic services.
  • Digital signature processing.

2.1 Certificate Manager Architecture

The Certificate Manager services are split into Foundation and Framework sections. The Foundation consists of a set of plug-in modules which implement the services listed above. The Framework is used to implement common services and the routing and control of service requests to the plug-in modules.
The following plug-ins have been defined:
  • Cryptography Plug-in
  • Certificate Processing Plug-in
  • Digital Signature Plug-in
  • Certificate Revocation Status Plug-in
  • Certificate Store Plug-in
CertManArchitecture.jpg

Certificate Manager Architecture Diagram

Each plug-in is a separate Linux shared object. The actual shared object that implements a plug-in is specified in the Certificate Manager configuration file. When the Certificate Manager requires access to a particular plug-in, it will search the configuration file for the appropriate entry. Once found, the Certificate Manager will load the shared object and call the required API functions. For the Certificate Processing and Certificate Store plug-ins, multiple instances can be defined for use at the same time. This allows extra functionality to be added easily. For example, there may be an existing Certificate Processing plug-in that understands X.509 certificates. If WTLS certificates are also required, a new shared object (conforming to the Certificate Processing Framework API) can be written. This shared object can be added to the platform installation and the Certificate Manager configuration updated. There will now be two Certificate Processing plug-ins listed in the configuration file: one for X.509 and one for WTLS. The Certificate Manager can use either plug-in when attempting to process a certificate.

2.2 Certificate Verification Diagram

VerifyCertificate.jpg

Example Sequence Diagram for Certificate Verification

3.0 Industry Standard

None

4.0 External API Documents

None

5.0 Plug-in Extension Point Interface

None

6.0 Other Interfaces

None

7.0 Other Notes

None
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