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Adding a Let's Encrypt (ACMEv2) certificate authority

Before you begin

You're going to need a few things to complete the CA configuration.

DNS provider details

The Let's Encrypt CA in TLS Protect Cloud uses DNS Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA). TLS Protect Cloud supports the following DNS providers. Click your DNS provider of choice to see what information TLS Protect Cloud needs.

The account you use must have read, create, update, delete, and save permission.

  • Access Key ID
  • Secret Access Key
  • Hosted Zone ID

The account you use must have read, create, update, delete, and save permission.

  • Subscription ID
  • Resource Group
  • Client Secret
  • Client ID
  • Tenant ID

Note

For additional information on Azure DNS requirements, refer to Reference: Azure DNS.

  • For email and global API Key authentication type
    • Account email
    • Global API Key
  • For DNS and zone tokens authentication type
    • Edit zone API token
    • Read zone API token

The account you use must have read, create, update, delete, and save permission.

  • Service account JSON file

VSatellite

All ACMEv2 CAs require a VSatellite. If you already have a VSatellite installed, it will be available for you to select during configuration.

If not, you'll be able to set up a VSatellite during configuration. Just be sure to have a machine ready that meets the system requirements before you start.

To set up the CA

Step 1: Set up the connection

  1. Sign in to Venafi Control Plane.
  2. Click Integrations > Certificate Authorities.
  3. Click New > Let's Encrypt (ACMEv2).
  4. Enter a Name for this CA as it should appear in TLS Protect Cloud.

  5. From the Server URL drop-down, select either the production or staging URL.

    Note

    These URLs are provided by Let's Encrypt and can't be changed. The Custom ACMEv2 CA in TLS Protect Cloud allows you to enter custom server URLs if needed.

  6. Select a VSatellite. If you don’t have one deployed yet, click Deploy a VSatellite, and follow the steps to deploy a new VSatellite.

    To take advantage of high availability for certificate issuance and management, select a primary VSatellite that belongs to a high availability group. The system will automatically choose a healthy VSatellite from that group to initiate operations. This helps ensure reliability even if one VSatellite becomes temporarily unavailable.

  7. Click Test Connection.

  8. After the connection is successful, click Next.

Step 2: Enter additional information

  1. Enter the Email address of the person or team responsible for certificates issued by this CA.
  2. Review and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
  3. Click Next.

Step 3: Enter DNS provider details

  1. From the DNS Provider drop-down, select a DNS provider.

  2. Complete the credential fields for your provider.

  3. Click Test Connection.

  4. Click Done.

    After completing the configuration, you're returned to the Certificate Authorities page.

What's Next

This CA is now ready to be added to one or more certificate issuing templates. To do this, select this CA when creating certificate issuing templates.

  1. You must create a service principal in Azure AD, and assign it the DNS Zone Contributor role at the appropriate scope. See Microsoft's docs on creating service principals for help. ↩