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Q: How do I get MIT personal certificates using the Google Chrome browser?

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Context

  • Google Chrome is a web browser for PC, Mac, or Linux
  • IS&T does not support Google Chrome

Answer

On Windows and Mac, Google Chrome uses the native certificate store of the operating system. This means that Google Chrome on Windows will use the certificates that Internet Explorer uses, and Google Chrome on Mac OS X will use the certificates that Safari uses. Thus, to use certificates, install them for the native browser for that operating system.

On Linux, Google Chrome uses a native certificate store that is not widely shared. However, getting certificates for Chrome on Linux is straightforward: get them from http://ca.mit.edu/

Installation

Windows

To use certificates in Google Chrome installed on Windows, install certificates in Internet Explorer.

Mac OS X

To use certificates in Google Chrome installed on Mac OS X, install certificates as for Safari:

Linux

To use certificates in Google Chrome installed on Windows, go to http://ca.mit.edu/ and follow the steps in the web forms - it works much like Firefox.

  1. Download the MIT Certificate Authority (MIT CA) the link on the final page
  2. Go to the Wrench menu > Preferences
  3. Choose Under the Hood, then click the button for Manage Certificates
  4. Go to the Authorities tab and press the button for Import...
  5. Find the mitca.crt from your download folder and Open it to import it into Chrome.
  6. If you are asked to Edit trust settings, choose Trust this certificate for identifying web sites.

Management and Removal

Windows

Version 30.0.x and higher

  1. Click the 3 bars icon in the upper right.
    3 bars icon
  2. From the drop-down menu, select Settings.
  3. Scroll to the bottom and click Show Advanced Settings.
  4. Click Manage Certificates.
  5. Select the Personal tab.
  6. Select your certificate and choose Remove.

Earlier versions

  1. Click the wrench icon in the upper right to open the drop-down menu.
  2. Select Options.
  3. Choose Under the Hood, then click the button for Manage Certificates

Mac OS X

  1. Go to the Wrench menu in the top right-hand corner and select Preferences
  2. Choose Under the Hood, then click the button for Manage Certificates

Linux

  1. Go to the Wrench menu in the top right-hand corner and select Preferences
  2. Choose Under the Hood, then click the button for Manage Certificates

Community

Documentation and information provided by the MIT Community


Last Modified:

October 11, 2013

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  1. Jun 18, 2018

    These installation instructions no longer work in Chrome for Linux either, since Chrome’s builtin support for key generation was removed in Chrome 57.

    The official IS&T recommentation is to download and install their custom CertAid utility on supported platforms, or to get your certificate in Firefox and import it.

    If you don’t want to install separate software or use a different browser, you can use SIPB’s CertAssist service to get your personal certificate directly in Chrome. CertAssist is a web application that doesn’t require any installation; all cryptography is performed in client-side JavaScript. Simple instructions for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android are given on the page.

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