Security Compliance

How to generate a WSUS self-signed publishing certificate - Video

View this two minute video to learn how to create and deploy a self-signed certificate for the WSUS and Patch Manager.

First published date

11/20/2018 4:22 PM

Last published date

11/20/2018 4:22 PM

Overview

This video (2:07) walks you through the creation and deployment of a Self-Signed Certificate for the WSUS and Patch Manager. This will enable you to publish and distribute 3rd party updates.

This video is available in the following languages: English

Product section

Patch Manager

Resolution

Related Resources

Generate a software publishing certificate

Video Transcription

In order to distribute third-party packages with WSUS, packages need to be signed with a certificate. This video demonstrates the steps involved in creating and distributing those updates to the WSUS and Patch Manager environments.

To generate your publishing certificate, log in to the Patch Manager server as an administrator and open the application.

In the Patch Manager menu, expand the ‘Administration and Reporting’ option and select 'Software Publishing.'

Click the ‘Server Publishing Setup Wizard’ to open it.

Select your primary WSUS server from the drop-down list.

If the WSUS server is not already provisioned with a certificate, choose 'Create self-signed certificate.'

If a certificate already exists, you will see the certificate information displayed.

Click, Next.

Select the Patch Manager server and any WSUS servers that will be used to deploy third-party updates.

Click 'Next.'

When the Server Publishing Setup Wizard is complete, a summary window shows you the results. If you get a failure message, please refer to the link at the description section.

If successful, the certificate will be distributed to the 'Trusted Publishers' and 'Trusted Root Certification Authorities' certificate stores of the servers selected.

When you click 'Finish,' the Group Policy Requirements page pops up. This shows the GPO requirements for distributing third-party updates to the client machines.

Click 'OK' to close the window.

To verify that Patch Manager contains your current certificate, navigate back to the primary WSUS server listed inside the Patch Manager Application Window.

Right-click on the WSUS server name and select 'Refresh Update Server.'

After the refresh, open the ‘Software Publishing Certificate' to view the details of the certificate.

Disclaimer: Please note, any content posted herein is provided as a suggestion or recommendation to you for your internal use. This is not part of the SolarWinds software or documentation that you purchased from SolarWinds, and the information set forth herein may come from third parties. Your organization should internally review and assess to what extent, if any, such custom scripts or recommendations will be incorporated into your environment. You elect to use third-party content at your own risk, and you will be solely responsible for the incorporation of the same if any.