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Enable TLS 1.3 in Web Help Desk

This article describes how to enable Transport Layer Security version 1.3 (TLS 1.3) in Web Help Desk 12.7.5 and later.

First published date

10/5/2023 9:45 PM

Last published date

10/5/2023 9:45 PM

Overview

Web Help Desk 12.7.5 and later now supports TLS 1.3 for improved data protection over a network. Follow the steps in this article to enable TLS 1.3 in your FIPS or non-FIPS deployment.

Product section

Web Help Desk

Cause

N/A

Resolution

Enable TLS 1.3 in a non-FIPS deployment

  1. Back up your Web Help Desk deployment.
  2. Log in to your Web Help Desk server as an administrator.
  3. Navigate to the C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf directory.
  4. Open the tomcat_server_templates.xml file in a text editor (such as Notepad).
  5. In the file, scroll down and locate the following header:  
    <Connector port="@@@WEBHELPDESK_SSL_PORT@@@" protocol="HTTP/1.1 SSLEnabled="true"
  6. Under the header, locate the following line:  
    clientAuth="false"sslEnabledProtocols="TLSv1.2" sslProtocol="TL
  7. Add TLSv1.3 to the line after TLSv1.2, separated by a comma.  
    clientAuth="false"sslEnabledProtocols="TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3" sslProtocol="TLS
  8. Under the same header, locate the line that begins with:  
    ciphers=
  9. Replace the current ciphers with the following ciphers:  
    ciphers=TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256,TLS_AES_128_CCM_SHA256,TLS_AES_128_CCM_8_SHA256
  10. Save and close the file.
  11. Restart the Web Help Desk server.

Enable TLS 1.3 in a FIPS deployment

  1. Back up your Web Help Desk deployment.
  2. Log in to your Web Help Desk server as an administrator.
  3. Navigate to the C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf directory.
  4. Open the tomcat_server_templates.xml file in a text editor (such as Notepad).
  5. In the file, scroll down to the following header:  
    <Connector port="@@@WEBHELPDESK_SSL_PORT@@@" protocol="HTTP/1.1 SSLEnabled="true"
  6. Under the header, locate the following line:  
    clientAuth=”false”sslEnabledProtocols=”TLSv1.2” sslProtocol=”TLS”
  7. Add TLSv1.3 to the line after TLS1.2 separated by a comma.  
    clientAuth=”false”sslEnabledProtocols=”TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3” sslProtocol=”TLS”
  8. Save and close the file.
  9. Restart the Web Help Desk server.