> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.futurex.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configure TLS authentication

> Step-by-step guide to configure TLS authentication, including certificate creation and upload for mutual authentication.

<Note>
  For this step, you must log in with an identity that has a role with the following permissions: Keys:All Slots, Management Commands:Certificates, Management Commands:Keys, Security:TLS Sign, and TLS Settings:Upload Key. You can use the default Administrator role and Admin identities.
</Note>

To configure TLS authentication, choose one of the following methods:

1. Enable server-side authentication.
2. Create connection certificates for mutual authentication.

We recommend option 2, mutual authentication.

## Enable server-side authentication

We recommend mutually authenticating to the HSM using client certificates, but the Vectera Plus also supports server-side authentication. The following steps outline the process for enabling server-side authentication.

Choose one of the following methods to enable server-side authentication:

### Excrypt Manager

To use Excrypt Manager to enable server-side authentication, go to the **SSL/TLS Setup** menu.

Then, select the **Excrypt Port** in the **Connection Pair** drop-down list, check the **Allow** **Anonymous** box, and select **\[ Save ]**.

### FXCLI

To use FXCLI to enable server-side authentication, run the **tls-ports set** FXCLI command to enable server-side authentication with the **Allow** **Anonymous** SSL/TLS setting:

```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
  tls-ports set -p "Excrypt Port" --anon
```

## Create connection certificates for mutual authentication

As mentioned previously, we recommend mutually authenticating to the HSM by using client certificates, and the system enforces mutual authentication by default. The following example shows how to use FXCLI to generate a CA to sign the HSM server certificate and a client certificate. Then, it shows how to generate the client keys and CSR by using OpenSSL.

<Note>
  * For this example, you must connect the computer that is running FXCLI to the front USB port of the HSM.
  * If you do not specify a file path for commands that create an output file, FXCLI saves the file to the current working directory.
  * Using user-generated certificates requires you to load a PMK on the HSM.
  * If you run help by itself, a full list of available commands displays. You can see all options for a command by running the command name followed by help.
</Note>

<Steps>
  <Step>
    Open the FXCLI prompt by running `fxcli-hsm` in a terminal.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Connect your laptop to the HSM by using the USB port on the front, and run the following command.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      connect usb
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Run the following command to log in with both default Admin identities. When prompted for the username and password, enter them. You must run this command twice.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      login user
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Generate a TLS CA and store it in an available key slot on the HSM.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      generate --algo RSA --bits 2048 --usage mak --name TlsCaKeyPair --slot next
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Create a root certificate.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      x509 sign \
          --private-slot TlsCaKeyPair \
          --key-usage DigitalSignature --key-usage KeyCertSign \
          --ca true --pathlen 0 \
          --dn 'O=Futurex\CN=Root' \
          --out TlsCa.pem
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Generate the server keys for the HSM.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      tls-ports request --pair "Excrypt Port" --file production.csr --pki-algo RSA
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Sign the server CSR with the newly created TLS CA.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      x509 sign \
          --private-slot TlsCaKeyPair \
          --issuer TlsCa.pem \
          --csr production.csr \
          --eku Server --key-usage DigitalSignature --key-usage KeyAgreement \
          --ca false \
          --dn 'O=Futurex\CN=Production' \
          --out TlsProduction.pem
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Push the signed server PKI to the production port on the HSM.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      tls-ports set --pair "Excrypt Port" \
          --enable \
          --pki-source Generated \
          --clear-pki \
          --ca TlsCa.pem \
          --cert TlsProduction.pem \
          --no-anon
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    To generate client keys and CSR, run the following OpenSSL commands from Windows **PowerShell** rather than from the FXCLI program:

    ```powershell expandable lines wrap title="Powershell" theme={null}
    # Generate the client keys
    $ openssl genrsa -out privatekey.pem 2048
    ```

    ```powershell expandable lines wrap title="Powershell" theme={null}
    # Generate a client CSR
    $ openssl req -new -key privatekey.pem -out ClientPki.csr -days 365
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Using FXCLI, sign the client CSR that was just generated using OpenSSL.

    ```shell title="FXCLI" expandable lines wrap theme={null}
      x509 sign  \
       --private-slot TlsCaKeyPair \
       --issuer TlsCa.pem \
       --csr ClientPki.csr \
       --eku Client --key-usage DigitalSignature --key-usage KeyAgreement \
       --dn 'O=Futurex\CN=Client' \
       --out SignedPki.pem
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Run the following command from **PowerShell**. Use OpenSSL to create a PKCS #12 file that you can use to authenticate as a client by using our PKCS #11 library:

    ```powershell expandable lines wrap title="Powershell" theme={null}
    openssl pkcs12 -export -inkey privatekey.pem -in SignedPki.pem -certfile TlsCa.pem -out PKI.p12
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>