How To Use An SSL Certificate With Room Alert Manager

Before you begin, you must have a PKCS #12 file (which can have the file extension .pfx or .p12) that includes both your certificate and private key.

You can find more information in this Wikipedia post: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKCS_12

Follow these instructions to create a Java Key Store (JKS) file from your PFX file:

To create the JKS file, you’ll need access to Java’s Keytool utility, which is bundled into Room Alert Manager. It’s located here by default:
C:\Program Files\AVTECH Room Alert Manager\jre\bin\keytool.exe.

1. Open Windows Command Prompt.

2. First change your directory to the location of your cert.pfx file by entering this command:
   
   cd <path to cert.pfx file>
   
   
   • Our .pfx file “cert.pfx” was previously saved in a folder on our base C:/ drive named “ssl cert files.”

3. Next, at the prompt, enter the following command:
   
   "<path to keytool>" -importkeystore -srckeystore cert.pfx -srcstoretype pkcs12 -destkeystore cert.jks -deststoretype jks
   
   
   • In Enter destination keystore password, enter a new password that Room Alert Manager will use later to connect to the SSL certificate.
   • Repeat this password in Re-enter new password.
   • In Enter source keystore password, enter the password you previously created for the .pfx file.

4. After you run the command, the new .jks file should appear in the folder with your cert.pfx file.
   
   

Follow these instructions to save the JKS file to Room Alert Manager’s installation directory.

1. Stop the Room Alert Manager service.
   • This FAQ shows you how: How To Stop, Start And Restart The Room Alert Manager Service.
2. Navigate to the “home” folder in Room Alert Manager’s installation directory. By default, it’s located here:
   C:\Program Files\AVTECH Room Alert Manager\home
3. Add a new subfolder within the “home” folder, and name it “ssl” as shown below:
   
4. Save the JKS file into this new “ssl” folder.
   The JKS file must be named: cert.jks. Please rename the file when you save it to this folder, if needed.
5. Don’t start the Room Alert Manager service yet — we’ll do that in Step 3.

Follow these instructions to configure Room Alert Manager to use the certificate.

1. The Room Alert Manager service should already be stopped.
   • This FAQ shows you how to check: How To Stop, Start And Restart The Room Alert Manager Service.
2. Navigate to Room Alert Manager’s installation folder on its host system. By default, it’s at C:\Program Files\AVTECH Room Alert Manager.
3. Locate the “config” folder and open it.
4. In the “config” folder, locate the “application.properties” file.
5. Open that file in any text editor, such as Notepad or Notepad++.
6. Add the following lines to the end of your application properties:
   
   server.ssl.enabled=true
server.ssl.key-alias=1
server.ssl.key-password=<the password you set for your PFX file>
server.ssl.key-store-password=<the password you set for your JKS file>
server.ssl.key-store=./home/ssl/cert.jks
server.ssl.key-store-type=JKS
server.ssl.key-store-provider=SUN
   
   
7. When you’re done making changes, save the “application.properties” file.
8. You may now close Room Alert Manager’s installation folder.
9. Then start the Room Alert Manager service.

Based on the SSL certificate, your web browser expects to see a particular domain included within the web address. As a result, when you access the software’s web interface at localhost:9393 or <IP address of host system>:9393, your browser may display a certificate warning.

To avoid the certificate warning from appearing in your web browser, you can either setup the proper zone in your local DNS or add an entry to your local computer’s hosts file.

Add an entry to your hosts file

These instructions apply to Windows 10 and Windows 8 systems. If you’re using a different Operating System, you can find the proper instructions by doing a Google search for “add entry to hosts file + <your operating system>”

1. Go to c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc on your computer.
2. Open the hosts file in a text editing program, such as Notepad.
   • You’ll need to run the text editing program as an administrator in order to save your changes later.
3. Add a new entry for Room Alert Manager.
   • Be sure to include the proper domain so that your browser recognizes the SSL certificate.
   • In our example, we want our hostname to be “roomalertmanager.yourexampledomain.com” so we’re adding the following line to our hosts file:
     127.0.0.1 roomalertmanager.yourexampledomain.com
     
     
4. Save your changes.
5. You can then enter “https://<hostname>:9393” into your web browser’s address bar to open the software’s web interface.
   • Be sure to include https:// in the web address, as shown below.