Set Up PKI Service on a Cisco Router
This is how I tend to create a PKI service on a Cisco router. Some of the details here were non-obvious to me after reading the documentation several times. Maybe I can save somebody else a headache or two.First, create a directory for the PKI server to work in. This step may be optional if the router is going to be using some network-based storage for all of its elements, but I find it handy to have, and it's easy to move things around afterward. I like using removable media when keeping things on routers, so that it's easy to snag the critical data if there's a hardware failure.
mkdir usbflash:/MY_ROOT_CA
Next, generate an RSA keypair. It needs to be exportable, which is the reason I'm doing it manually, rather than let the router generate it automatically at CA startup. Name it the same as the CA will be named in the crypto pki server <whatever> configuration section.
crypto key generate rsa label MY_ROOT_CA modulus 2048 exportable storage nvram:
Now export the keys. Having a copy of them squirreled away somewhere will be absolutely critical if you ever need to replace the CA. Replacing the CA will be Continue reading